The first of September is a special date in the Doncaster Mumbler Calendar…it’s the anniversary of launch day!
Me with my mini mumblers
A year ago I launched Doncaster Mumbler, a new hyper local parenting community for the parents, carers, grandparents of my home town.
What a launch month it was. The support that Doncaster Mumbler received was overwhelming. It has been such a busy year, a fantastic year so here are a few of my favourite Mumbler Moments so far!
Women at The Game – Launching straight in to things with Club Doncaster, I was asked to help with a special event where mums could feel welcome attending a football game with their child on their own, with other mums. The first event that my ‘mini mumblers’ helped out, it was a real milestone in terms of seeing Doncaster Mumbler come to life. We had balloons, we had colouring, we had goody bags, we had a LOT of people in Donny Dog’s Kennel, we watched Doncaster Rovers and had a lot of fun! Read the blog.
Making a Difference – A couple of articles on the website made quite an impact in the early days of Doncaster Mumbler – talking about tooth decay (we have a really high rate amongst children in Doncaster) and eye health. Both topics prompted discussion on the Doncaster Mumbler Chat Group and it’s great to think that people are taking positive moves because of Mumbler in terms of their children’s health.
Doncaster Blogging/Vlogging Community – I don’t see myself as a blogger or vlogger, I don’t think i’m cool enough! However there are some brilliant people doing this , who are very cool and have tried (with not much luck so far) to give me a master class in vlogging (yes i’m talking about you David and Donetta!) When you work on your own it is great to come across other local people who support what you’re doing and help each other. The same is true for Lisa at Baby Dinosaurs, who launched at a similar time to Doncaster Mumbler and we have shared a few highs and lows of setting up websites and starting a business.
Being Recognised – This has happened quite a few times over the year and always takes me by surprise. It’s lovely when people say hello to me. It happened recently in MacDonalds and it’s so nice to have people tell me that they use the website – I know you’re out there, but I generally exist in a world of numbers and statistics. I remember the first time that someone recognised me and said they’d been reading a Mumbler blog in bed the night before! It was a brilliant Mumbler Moment.
Halloween Trick or Treat – I joined Cirque on Silver Street, who were one of the venues in Visit Doncaster’s Free Trick or Treat event. Besides spooky face painting, the Creation Station came along to make Halloween Spiders! We welcomed so many families and it was great to see everyone concentrating on some craft together. There are many free family events in Doncaster, a lot of which i’d never been aware of previously. It’s great to be able to shout about these and make people aware of them!
My Presenting Debut – A slightly nerve-wracking moment last December, presenting Visit Doncaster’s festive ‘5 of the best’ round-up at Cast! It was amazing to be asked to do it! The most memorable Mumbler moment was probably speaking with my head through the Robin Hood cut-out…Tess Daly’s never been asked to do that I bet. Watch the video again for old times sake here: https://youtu.be/TxrrQNPO7n4
Doncaster Mumbler in the Free Press – Featured in the Doncaster Free Press as the website hit 6,000 users after 5 months was a great milestone. Over 25,000 people have now used Doncaster Mumbler to find information about days out, events, weekly classes and groups and more.
100 Doncaster THiNGS to do before 11 – I was so excited to be a part of this fabulous campaign. Working with Doncaster Council, I helped curate a list of 100 things that Doncaster families could do together. These include Creative, Adventure, Outdoor, Nature, History, Learning and Perform THiNGS! My mini mumblers and I created the Doncaster Mumbler Geocache Trail, which is something we have loved doing as a family. The launch at Cusworth Hall was an absolutely buzzing day, with around 4,000 families picnicking and egg rolling, whilst enjoying the activities. I even met the Mayor. Some Mumbler friends came along, including Puddle Ducks, Creation Station and Rugbytots, to provide free activities on the day. The feedback about the 100 Things Campaign has been so positive, i’m proud and thankful to have been part of it.
Delicious Doncaster – What a few days we had! The Delicious Doncaster food festival back in May saw Doncaster Mumbler take over the Corn Exchange and provide a ‘Mumbler Parents Area’ for parents and children to hang out away from the hussle and bussle of the food festival, before diving back in for seconds! We had Tots Play with a baby sensory area, Reptile Rendezvous joined us with some popular visitors, including Tiny the BIG snake, we had baby yoga, a pop up Bake, Battle & Roll area with foodie related board games, free hand massages and colouring! One of the best moments for me was seeing a whole family sitting together colouring and another was getting some baby cuddles whilst another family ate their food! I remember never eating a meal hot whilst I had newborns, so it was great to help out (and newborn baby cuddles are amazing).
Getting on the radio! Thanks to Trax FM who dropped by the Mumbler area at the Dragon Boat Race. We had a great chat about all things Mumbler and it was my first time on the radio. Have a listen and see what you think…
(there are a lot of ‘erms’!) Since then Trax FM came along to the Big Latch On and I was also recorded for BBC Radio Sheffield (which as it was pre-recorded, I could listen to with the family over breakfast). The kids were so excited to hear me on the radio ‘live’!
Hosting the Big Latch On – Having struggled with breastfeeding myself, I was so happy to co-host this event along with Lisa from Baby Dinosaurs, with the aim of pulling together everyone that a new mum could possibly need to speak to in the early days of parenting and help make breastfeeding in public more ‘normal’. With the support of the Doncaster Health Visitors, Public Health, Family Hubs and Families Information Service, the event was a great success. We had sunshine, over 70 breastfeeding mums, over 200 people join us for a family picnic and free taster sessions.
Doncaster Mumbler Awards – A huge Mumbler moment was day one of the nominations for the Doncaster Mumbler Awards, when over 500 people nominated in one day. We had over 1.3K nominations during July. I’ve had to pinch myself quite a few times as the response and feedback about the awards has been brilliant. People are picking out dresses already! I’m so grateful for the support from Visit Doncaster, Lakeside Village, Edwards & Walker, Cirque and Doncaster Council too. The shortlist is out on Sunday 1st September and the voting will begin! See you on the 8th November at the Earl of Doncaster! Vote here
So many more brilliant Mumbler moments, i’d fill several blogs…here is to the next year! Whatever is in store it will be a good one. I set up Doncaster Mumbler so that I could work around my children whilst they are little. I love picking them up from school and the flexibility that I have, although I certainly don’t work part time. Working from home, often means working late nights after the children have gone to bed… Mumbler has become my third baby! I love building the website and keeping it filled with great content and ideas for you!
It’s great to get feedback too, so if you have any suggestions or know of events coming up, new groups, a day out that you would recommend, do get in touch here.
Thank you to everyone for your support.
If you know anyone who could do the same in another area, Mumbler HQ (as there are 26 Mumbler sites across the UK) would love to hear from you…i’d love a neighbour in Sheffield or Rotherham! You can find out more about Mumbler opportunities here.
