20 May 2020

Quad mum Rebecca Thompson says the practical help provided by Family Crisis Support was a life-saver and helped the family get through a very difficult time.

Rebecca and husband Barrie live in Carlisle with daughter Olivia, aged eight and six-year-old quadruplets Alfie, Sam, William and Jake.

Rebecca spent four weeks in hospital before the birth of her boys who were delivered by planned c-section at 30 weeks.

“Because I was away from home for so long, we weren’t very prepared and money was tight; buying four of everything seemed an impossible task,” said Rebecca.

I don’t think we could have ever fully prepared ourselves for the enormous task of looking after four babies, we just took each day at a time.

Rebecca had been looking at the Twins Trust website and saw that we offered help to families in a crisis. She contacted us when her son Alfie had to have surgery at a hospital miles away from their home.

Through our unique partnership with the prestigious Norland Agency, we were able to help.

Six volunteers from Norland, all qualified childcare support practitioners, helped and after an appeal we were able to pay for Jess who stayed with the family for a bit longer.

“They came in to help look after three of our boys and Olivia while Alfie was in hospital in Newcastle – a 1hr 30 drive from our home.

“This support was huge and without it we wouldn’t have been able to see Alfie, who at the time was extremely unwell. I also didn’t have much help at home as my husband had to go to work, so having someone there looking after the boys and Olivia was a life saver.

The support we received made things a lot easier and helped with feeling overwhelmed.

“I was a bit anxious at leaving my babies with people I didn’t know but from the support and information Twins Trust gave me it made me feel more at ease. They were all really lovely and couldn’t help enough.”

The family also received supportive calls from Twins Trust staff and were helped in their own community after a local radio station covered their story.

The family are doing well and have found their own routine – but financially life remains tough.