At our first member get together in Melbourne 2001 we decided to try and become a registered group so that we could raise money to support families and research etc.

I spent hours looking at all the options for registering our group and each thing I looked at just didn't suit - most groups in Australia are registered on a state basis but we are national and needed to register nationally.

In Brisbane 2006 one of our wonderful members, Linda mum of angel cherub Emma announced that we had been successful in obtaining the pro-bono services of solicitors from the company she worked for (national law firm).

It has taken 18 months working with solicitors but finally we have completed all of our legal requirements!

We are a registered non profit public company. We are endorsed by the Australia Tax Office as a Health Promotion Charity. We have received Deductible Gift Recipient status. Everything that we have worked so hard towards is finally in place. I am so excited and so very relieved that it has all worked out in the end.

Over the coming months we can turn our thoughts towards raising funds, applying for funding etc and trying to make a real difference to the lives of CDH children and their families from around the country.

A huge thank you to all of our Australian members who have spent so much of their spare time helping us achieve this. A special thank you to Dawn for all your support and for being the inspiration that you are.

We did it finally!