In a weak moment at the start of the year, I "volunteered" to run the Great South Run to raise money for a charity close to my heart, Tamba (the Twins and Multiple Births Association).

Tamba is the only UK wide organisation that directly helps tens of thousands of parents of twins and more to meet the unique challenges that multiple birth families face.

Multiple mums have a much higher risk of premature birth and complications, including time in special care and neonatal intensive care and the long-term effects of being born too early. My twin boys were born 5 weeks early, were half the weight of a normal newborn and Luke spent 2.5 weeks in special care. Thankfully we escaped relatively lightly.

Tamba have developed a healthy pregnancy guide aimed specifically at women expecting more than one and have set up multiple birth antenatal classes  (which weren't in existance when I was pregnant) and are educating hospitals and midwives on the current research on multiple pregnancies.  They provide invaluable support in the early years by running Twinline - a freephone line run by volunteers who are all parents of multiples. Tamba are also lobbying to make sure that multiple birth children are not split up and put into different schools (believe me, it does happen).

Tamba is a small charity and it struggles to raise money because it relies on its members (multiple mums and dads) who are more busy than most parents to commit to fundraising. 

I have been trying hard to train whilst working 4 days a week, running a twins club on my day off and looking after my boys. With your support I am hoping I can run the whole 10 miles around Portsmouth.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

£15 will help Tamba to support a family whose 5 year old children are due to be split across different schools because the local authority refuses to accommodate them.

£75 pays for every expectant multiple birth mum at your local maternity unit to receive a free healthy multiple pregnancy guide and improve their chances of having happy healthy babies.

£150 pays for Tamba to support 30 bereaved families who have lost a baby. So please dig deep and donate now.

Thank you very much!