By Victoria Morrell, Twins Trust. It can be exciting hearing that friends are expecting twins. Cute images may pop into your mind and you can’t help think of matching outfits and double everything! It’s a life changing experience and your friends will need you more than ever before.

Written by Amy Frankcom. Being a teen twin is strange. I have never known any different, of course, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to not have somebody constantly with you wherever you go, to share special days with. Even though I’ve spent nearly 14 years being a twin, I still struggle to explain what it’s like having one.

Twins Trust Family Crisis Support (formerly Helping Hands) is there to equip families of twins, triplets and more with the skills they need to get back on their feet at a really difficult time in their life.

The parents and carers who come to us are already doing at least two or three times the care of parents of singletons, and are usually experiencing social isolation, finding it harder to leave the house for appointments and social groups. To then add a bereavement, serious physical or mental illness, or other extreme circumstances on top can easily tip a family into crisis. Family Crisis Support exists to try and build these parents’ coping skills to a place where they can be confident and capable parents.

Twins Trust’s Bereavement Support Group offers a safe space for parents to talk to someone that has sadly been through the same experience of bereavement following the death of one or more of their children. Sharon is the first point of contact for parents and carers who get in touch. We met up with Sharon at the Twins Trust Volunteer day in March and talked to her about the important role that the group plays for bereaved parents.