ADORABLE twins and triplets at a special childcare group celebrated with their siblings and parents ahead of their first day at pre-school.

The Swindon Twins And Multiples Group, aka STAMP, offers advice and support to parents of multiple children and meets every week at the Immanuel United Reform Church.

Its youngest members enjoyed a ‘graduation’ ceremony to mark the momentous moment they leave the group and head off to mainstream education for the first time.

Lauren Southgate has been part of the group for the last 16 months and it has been a lifeline for her while bringing up her twin boys.

She said: “The session went really well, it was nice to bring everyone together to celebrate and play. The kids had mortar-board hats and certificates and they always really enjoy socialising with each other.

"It was quite emotional because it was the last time that the kids of some of the parents who first set STAMP up three years ago will be part of the group and the baton is being passed to newer parents."

Helen Smith was one of the nine mums who started the group.

She said: "We'd formed good friendships with each other and decided to start this in Autumn 2016.

"We do arts and crafts, we have toys suitable for children of all ages, and we use the church's garden in the summer.

"My children aren't quite ready for pre-school yet, so they're staying with the group until Easter, but the children of other founders like Danielle Smith, Sooz Shaw, Sarah Clegg and Kim Roberts have left, which is a bit sad.

"We still get new members, we have a lot of people on facebook who don't attend the sessions but message us for advice instead, and word-of-mouth has really helped people find out about us."

Lauren added: “The group was set up just because nothing else like it existed in Swindon. I have twin boys and an older daughter - parenting twins is quite different from single children and sometimes, we just need to compare notes.

“Attending groups with two babies or toddlers when these groups are predominantly aimed at single children is so hard. I’ve done it and it’s almost impossible alone.

“This group is a massive support network, as all the other parents are in the same boat, they have the same problems and are always on hand to help, which is great, especially during those first few months.

"Someone from GWH told me about the group and

"We have a different number of parents there every week - 16 on a quiet week, or 50 at Halloween at Christmas parties."