A GREAT weight has been lifted from my mind this week. After eight years of thinking about it, and not getting off my bottom to actually get it organised, I have finally made my will.

It's nothing to do with the money - it's all about guardianship and who would look after our son if we were gone. Cheery thought I know.

When Alex was born eight years ago, we decided we ought to make our wills, but never got around to it.

When you have children, making sure your wishes are known and written down in a will makes it so much easier for those you leave behind.

Making a will had been burning in my mind since I read about a family who had spent a year trying to get a child out of the care system because no will was in place.

As grandparents, they had been the main carer of the child, but once their non-resident daughter died - without leaving a will with any instructions on guardianship for her child - the child was taken away.

They fought and won, thank goodness, but a year is long time in the life of a child.

You can download wills online or find simple will making kits in shops, but without getting a lawyer involved there's a good chance that you are wasting your time as your home-made will might not stand up in a court.

We used local firm Bird and Lovibond for our wills, although your own solicitor, if you have one, might be happy to oblige, or you can find one easily enough online or in Yellow Pages.

It was simple, quick and painless. Wills expert Niamh Minihane looked after us from start to finish, and it couldn't have been easier.

She emailed us 10 questions that took about 10 minutes to complete and return, draft wills were emailed for us to check, we made a few changes and then popped into the Uxbridge office for 10 minutes to sign them.

I couldn't really believe that something that had taken me eight years to organise took less than half an hour of my time to actually do.

If you've not written your will yet, don't be like me and take eight years to do it.

* On a happier note, I've heard about a fantastic project to renovate the aviary at Michael Sobell House at Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood. This amazing aviary houses more than 60 birds and really brightens up the day of the cancer patients who go there - but it requires some TLC.

The volunteers are looking for donations of seeds, nuts, feeders, bird food, big plants and containers.

Most of the windows have bird feeders on, to attract the birds so patients can see them.

It's such a lovely idea and the patients say it really lifts their spirits.

If anyone would like to donate items for the aviary, please contact Jacqui on 07901 735 089.