South Warrnambool coach Mat Buck fosters children "as our way of helping out"

South Warrnambool mentor Mat Buck and his wife Rachael – both teachers by trade – welcome children less fortunate into their Koroit home on a regular basis.

The Bucks, who are parents to Oscar, 3, and Hugo, six months, enjoy doing emergency and respite care.

“Every other weekend we’d have a foster care child with us,” Mat said.

“They come along to footy and come along to training if they need to.

“It’s our way of helping out. It is great for Oscar, he enjoys meeting new people.

“It makes you appreciate just how good you’ve got it.

“There’s a lot of kids out there who need some help and need a place to stay.”

Mat said they’d housed more than 100 kids.

“We could get a call at two in the morning and in they’ll roll,” he said.

“It can change, from one night through to a few weeks or a month. We get some who come back in regularly.”