A HAMPSHIRE based support group for single parents is so popular that it has been turned into a community interest company.

Nicky Booth, from Hythe, started Single Parents Support as a Facebook group in October, 2012, as a way to make contact with other single parents.

She hadn’t planned to be a single mother and felt isolated and lacking in confidence.

The group offered a place to chat online with other parents in a similar position, once her daughter had gone to sleep.

It quickly grew and members started organising meet-ups.

Now it has become a community interest company, helping Single Parents Support Group (SPSG) reach more mums, dads and grandparents who are raising children alone, with more than 3,500 members across the UK.

Nicky said that it is important for single parents to have an understanding support base – people who get the difficulties of finding time for oneself, getting back to work and not being able to easily pop out of the house for an evening, without a partner to support you.

“We are an inclusive group who are supportive to whatever anyone is going through. We have meet-up events and try to on-line events so we can all have some fun,” she said.

“We also have managed to get discounts with many places and offer varied services to our members for example our free on-line counselling service.

“And we have some lovely volunteers who are able to offer advice on a range of subjects, including housing, CVs and the job centre.”

SPSG has also partnered with Anxiety UK so its members can get discounted membership.

SPSG also runs a fortnightly free family law advice service, offers domestic abuse support to both men and women and is working on lots of new services coming up next year, to include Skype counselling for free.

l For more information, visit single-parents-support.co.uk or search for Single Parents support UK on Facebook.

l You can help support Single Parents Support while shopping online, via everyclick.com/single-parents-support-limited/ec19834 and giveasyoulive.com/join/singleparentssupport