‘You’ll be fine. It’s just reading a book, plus making a few silly voices here and there if you can.’

‘I’ll try my best.’

‘You two are going to get on like a house on fire,’ says Adrian, who’s sitting across the desk from us. He glances down at the folder in front of him. ‘Now, you’re going to meet Lola, who is new to the programme. She’s eight years old and currently lives with her aunt. Her mother died of cancer a few months ago and she’s not in touch with her dad.’

It feels like the breath’s being squeezed out of me as I imagine what it would have been like to lose my mum at such a young age.

I wonder if I should mention that I’ve lost my own mum, but I’m not sure I’m able to tell them without tears falling. Despite it having happened nearly seventeen years ago, certain things will trigger a memory of her dying and it’ll knock me for six. Talking about my mum or thinking of memories can make me either happy or sad, depending on my mood, but occasionally I get propelled back to the moment when I found out that she’d died and I get that suffocating feeling that I’m never going to see her again.

‘Edie, are you OK?’ asks Adrian, looking up from the file.

I blink back a tear. I knew it would be emotional; I just hadn’t expected I’d empathise so much. I want to ask him to assign me another child, but I know that’s not how it works. All the kids are going to have a back story.

‘Yes, sorry, I just can’t imagine what she’s gone through over the last few months,’ I finally manage.

‘I know, it’s awful. Poor Lola. But we’ve found in a few similar cases that these visits can really help. An escape from everything that’s going on in their lives.’

I nod again.

Arriving at Lola’s house, I take a few deep breaths. I help Arnold to unpack the fold-up stools and the box of books from the car.

‘I’ll take the lead, to let you familiarise yourself with everything, but please do as much talking as you feel comfortable with today,’ he says.

He’s about to knock on the door when he stops and turns to me.

‘Don’t expect too much from the first session. Sometimes kids take a while to warm up to us.’

Before I can ask any questions, a woman opens the front door.

‘Hello, come on in. I’m Kate, Lola’s aunt.’

‘I’m Arnold, this is Edie.’