Mr Sillett, is a bereaved father who lost his son Isaac, who was born premature at 26 and a half weeks, after two days in the neonatal intensive care unit at Royal North Shore Hospital in December 2010.

During this time, Mr Sillett took on the responsibility of caring for his wife Amy and their toddler Callum (now three-years-old).

He was faced with the task of informing family and friends, completing the endless paperwork, organising the funeral as well as dealing with his own grief.

He found there was a big gap in support services available for fathers trying to cope with the death of their child or a life threatening illness.

Following this experience, in July 2011, Mr Sillett established an Australian-first charity called Pillars of Strength (www.pillarsofstrength.com.au) to provide time out and support for dads struggling with an ill baby, and also to assist bereaved fathers after the loss of their child.

Piloted at Royal North Shore Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in August 2011, Mr Sillett's Pillars of Strength program has since rolled out to Royal Women's Hospital NICU and Sydney Children's Hospital, and is also accessible to bereaved dads across NSW and the ACT.

Mr Sillett said until now there had been no services exclusively available for fathers to support them during such a difficult period.

"Mates want to provide support but many don't know how to reach out to engage or communicate so the tend to stay away," he said.

He said Pillars of Strength's purpose is to provide dads with support and an opportunity for a time out while their baby is sick, and also to bereaved dads after the loss of their baby.

This is done through by providing time-out for dads through access to sporting activities and opportunities like the footy or car races.

He said since opening the program more than 1200 timeout opportunities had been organised and more than 100 families, including some from Dubbo have been assisted. Another arm to the program was an accommodation support system specifically for families from regional areas with children at the above hospitals.

Pillars of Strength also acts as a conduit to connect fathers with other complementary services and information. In just over 12 months Pillars of Strength had supported over 100 families through its in-hospital parking program and had distributed over 1200 timeout opportunities to bereaved dads and to dads with sick babies in hospital.

Mr Sillett was born in Peak Hill and spent his early years in Dubbo and is currently the director of Pillars of Strength, and volunteers his spare time to help run the charity.

He is also the general manager of ICARE (www.icare.org.au), an international aid and development organisation.