A friend of the Fraser family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help Samantha Fraser’s three children.

Rodney Boyle, who became friends with Sam’s father through their involvement in Rotary, hopes the funds will help cover the cost of caring for and educating the three children.

Sam’s father, Trevor Fraser said while the guilty verdict in the recent trial was an enormous relief for the family and Sam’s friends, there was still a mountain of challenges for the family, especially Sam’s young children.

“After 1368 days, justice had finally been served for Sam,” he said. “Although the sorrow and grief will never go away, maybe now we can begin to move on.”

He said the children, Jemima (13), Rex (11) and April (9) still cannot understand why their mother was killed.

“She was the very centre of their being; the sunshine of their everyday lives,” Trevor said. “Their lives over the past 45 months have not been easy; lives filled with confusion, grief and trauma.”

The children are living with Sam’s parents here on Phillip Island.

“Jemima is now in secondary college. She’s learning the piano and loves yoga,” Trevor said.

“Rex is taking tennis lessons and learning taekwondo and the violin and is house captain at his primary school. And April loves animals and wants to be a vet. She’s having horse riding lessons, playing netball and doing gymnastics.”

With three chooks, two guinea pigs, a cat named Minke and a dog called Mango, the children are surrounded by love, but nothing can replace their beloved mum.

Unfortunately the children are also battling a number of health conditions needing urgent attention, which is adding to the stress.

Trevor said while they have wonderful friends here and have received incredible support from the community, staying connected to Samantha’s siblings – sister Jo and brother Nick – is a challenge, with Jo based in Queensland and Nick living in the USA.

He said the children want to go to Queensland in July to see their aunty and meet their new cousin. They also dream of getting to America to visit their uncle and his three children … with another baby cousin due in June.

The fund has been set up in the hope the community will throw its support behind Sam’s children.

The cost of caring for and educating a second family is considerable and can be beyond retired grandparents.

“After the events of the last two years, the lockdowns, the home schooling and all this grief and trauma, the children have dreams of doing something special,” Trevor said.

Hopefully the kindness and support of the community will help make their dreams a reality.

To donate, go to gofund.me/b6e777cb or search on gofundme.com for “Caring for Sams Children”.