"We have 250 registered families in our area and in Kāpiti 47 families raising 87 grandchildren with 16 of those under 5 years," Wellington/Kāpiti coordinator Cecilee Donovan said.
"The latest ones on the register are the most amazing grandparents but he's 81 and she's in her late 70s and the child is 3."
Cecilee, from Paraparaumu, now in her early 80s, has been with the trust since it started.
"I was raising a grandchild, who was 8 at the time, and it was very isolating."
Children came under grandparent care for various reasons but the most common was because their parents had issues with "drugs, alcohol or mental illness".
The trust has various branches throughout New Zealand, including Kāpiti where meetings are held every fortnight in Paraparaumu.
"The support group is held to share, support, and inspire each other.
"We would like to encourage more grandparents and kin carers to join us for support, help, education, and friendship.
"The support group is there to share our difficulties and our joys.
"Sometimes success can be that we survived another week or that our grandchild has achieved something or said something to make us smile.
"Every day we think 'today I have made a difference in a child's life'.
"The trust does promote the wellbeing and best interests of children but it also gives grandparents support because they can feel very isolated."
Cecilee said the trust got a lot of support from various quarters such as Foster Hope, The Nest, Rotary, Lions, Zonta, Soroptomists, and more.
The trust has various clothing packs, and more, ready for when a grandchild comes under the care of a grandparent.
One of the latest initiatives is creating emergency backpack kits for every grandparent.
"The kits are for if they had to get out of their house in a hurry such as flooding, fire, earthquake."
Money from the Unsupported Child Allowance and the Extraordinary Care Fund makes a big difference for families too.
The best way to find out about the trust is to go to Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
