Gary and Roxane (bereaved parents of Freddy)

Our son Frederick (Freddy) passed away aged 16 days, on 8 June 2017. He was a perfectly healthy and happy little boy, unexpectedly contracting late onset GBS (a type of Group B streptococcus infection). He passed away within 24 hours of the first signs of illness. He was cared for at Robina hospital and then the Queensland Children’s Hospital – with the care given during his admission, and after, nothing short of exceptional.

After some of the confusion and deep sadness of the first weeks and months had passed, both my husband and I felt strongly that we wanted to give something back or contribute in a more meaningful way than our day jobs.

I struggled with a lack of purpose or direction and felt that volunteering may allow me to take positive action in Freddy’s memory. I have a maths and analytics background and was keen to find a volunteering opportunity that made the best use of my skills so I could meaningfully contribute to an organisation. I really struggled to find the right opportunity for me and that is how the idea of FreddyMatch first came about!

I think I said to my husband, “wouldn’t it be great if there was a platform that matched volunteers and charities based on their skills and interests” and he said he thought it was a great idea and considering I had the skillset to do it – why not put my energy and time into setting up a charity that did exactly that?

Just like the grief journey, progress has been slow, relying on wonderful volunteers who appeared out of nowhere and finding time and energy where we could. Three years later, we have just launched freddymatch.org, a platform which matches people with volunteering opportunities based on their unique skills, interests, availability and location. Our mission is to increase volunteering participation rates and help everybody find their perfect volunteering opportunity and help every organisation find their perfect volunteer. It feels like a lifetime since Freddy was here but every day I think of him and building FreddyMatch has shown me that something wonderful can come out of the worst, darkest times.