A KEMPSHOTT woman is seeing a support group she has set up for mothers without their own mums thriving.

Kate Valentine has set up the mumsmissingmums group for women who are raising their children without the help and support of their own mothers, whether it be due to bereavement, estrangement or for another reason.

The 36-year-old set up the group after her own experiences.

Her mum, Sylvia Wells, died at the age of 66 of bladder cancer, in June 2013, three months after Kate married and before her son, Alex, now two, arrived.

Kate, a specialist palliative care nurse, said: "When I had Alex, I met lots of new mums at various stages who had their mums around to help them and that left me feeling a bit isolate. I was very aware of my loss.

"I thought 'I cannot be the only mum going through this'. So I wanted to create something really positive to come out of that feeling."

The network has both open and closed groups available to allow for the sharing of information in the former and speaking openly in the latter.

Kate added: "People share in the private forum very deep and personal stories that are very moving."

Already, the Facebook groups have members as far afield as Scotland and Northern Ireland.

However members also meet up in person on the first Tuesday of every month with the first event with it hoped to add a Sunday event also so mums can bring their children along.

Kate added: "What I'm hoping to achieve is for women who do not have their mums around to help them raise their children to have this supportive network around them. I want women to talk to each other and support each other.

"We are really in our infancy here but it is a subject which has not been really looked at and help given before. It is an area that needs to grow."

For more information about the network, search for mumsmissingmums online or email kcw103@hotmail.co.uk.