foreign country hundreds of miles from home, it can be devastating.

Women's Hospitals Auxiliary member Mrs. Mary Tucker realised this years ago and decided to do something about it.

Around 1980, Mrs. Tucker and former director of the Hospital's volunteers Mrs.

Kim Young, began providing assistance to family members of visitors who found themselves confined to the hospital. After being given a list of patients from overseas at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the ladies would visit them and family members to inquire about their needs.

In addition to giving moral support, the ladies also found reasonably-priced accommodation near the hospital for family members, made sure they were well fed, did laundry if necessary and took care of necessary travel arrangements.

Needless to say this was a mammoth responsibility for two people. So, Mrs.

Tucker said, in 1986 a committee was formed to WHA's handle Overseas Family Help Service.

Today, close to ten people, including Mrs. Tucker, serve on the committee headed by WHA member Mr. Scotty Richardson.

To avoid burn out -- which Mrs. Tucker experienced after five years of providing the service with Mrs. Young, the committee members are assigned duty at the hospital one day a week.

But, Mrs. Tucker noted that there is always someone on call and Mr.

Richardson, who lives near the hospital, is almost always available.

"Scotty's really organised,'' she said. "He has a list of all the places we use, bus and ferry schedules, and maps.'' The daily duties of Overseas Family Help Service volunteers can range from just popping in with a magazine or newspaper to see the foreign patient and helping his or her accompanying family with banking to -- in unfortunate cases of death, contacting a minister or priest and organising departure arrangements for the family of the deceased.

But Mrs. Tucker said finding accommodation is the service's main job.

WHA also arranges interpreters for patients who do not speak English and its office telephone at the hospital is available 24 hours for overseas calls.

"We mainly look after the patient's family,'' Mrs. Tucker explained.

The Overseas Family Help Service handled a total of 297 cases last year, compared to 334 in 1991 and 330 in 1990.

Most of those served where from the US -- 201. The others came from Canada, the UK, and a variety of countries in Europe, India and the Pacific.