‘Mumbler is about helping people’

Caroline, who is a mum-of-two, runs Doncaster Mumbler, an online forum where parents and carers of Doncaster children of all ages can meet and then share advice and knowledge with each other as their children grow.

The Doncaster Mumbler website, and its associated social media pages, was initially set up in 2018 and provides details of a everything a parent or carer may need to know, such as where to access antenatal classes for mums-to-be or recommendations of where to take children for a fun family day out.

In these unprecedented times, however, Caroline realised that she needed to provide a different kind of support to fellow parents and carers.

Caroline said: “Over the past week, I have built new parts of the website to accommodate virtual classes as it quickly became evident that this was a great way for activity providers to keep in touch with their customers and continue giving much needed social interaction to parents, whilst self isolating themselves.

“I added a 'coping during coronavirus' area of the website and this is filled with relevant information, including updates from the council, as well as recipes to bake with kids, arts and crafts ideas and home learning ideas. There’s also a list of 101 things to do with kids indoors and in your garden.

“Doncaster Mumbler is still very much the website to go to to get everything in one place for families in Doncaster. Mumbler is about helping people. Information is so widely spread and the I’ve adapted the website to accommodate our changing needs at this time, pulling it all together.”

The Doncaster Mumbler brand has proved extremely popular in the borough, and is now followed via its various channels by over 13,000 parents and carers.

Caroline added that she has been pleased to see the way that everyone is pulling together and sharing tips and resources as they get to grips with turning teacher.

“The Doncaster Mumbler Parents Chat Group on Facebook is busier than ever and the sense of community is amazing.

“People are swapping recommendations of things to do at home for home learning and helping people in need. Plus I am sharing the virtual classes to the group for members to enjoy.

“Any parents, grandparents or carers can join the group and it really is a supportive and positive environment.”

Alongside keeping her Doncaster Mumbler page updated, Caroline is also now teaching her own two children – aged eight and six – from her home.

Her first day of teaching came on Monday, after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all schools to close at the end of the day on March 20.

She said: “The kids were very excited about being home schooled and I wanted to adopt some kind of schedule. I feel lucky that they are in year one and three, and not an exam year.

“Our day consisted of a nature walk, making a nature bracelet with things found along the way - an idea we got from the Doncaster Mumbler parents chat group.

“My children’s school, and a lot of schools, are using Microsoft Teams to communicate with their pupils, so we have been able to print off work and do it at home, plus the amount of free resources is incredible.

“We have had a lot of outdoor and indoor play too. Plus we pulled in the virtual help via Facetime from their grandparents, who are isolated and have loved having regular chats on video call.

“We asked their grandmas to do the nature trail themselves and send photos of the things they saw in their own gardens, plus they have been sending over challenges for the kids to do, such as drawing a tree.

“For their grandads, we had a 'live' STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) lesson today via Facebook, with an experiment.

“We then spent family time together playing a game in the evening and, overall, they went to bed tired and happy which I think is the sign of a good day.”

Caroline added that while she enjoyed home schooling her children, she is learning with them too and that in the following days and weeks what she – and many other parents – may need to change what they do, but that’s okay.

“We e had a structured day on Monday, but this may not last throughout the duration of the lockdown. We all have to muddle through this the best we can, reach out for support and keep talking to each other. There is no right way of doing this.”

Visit www.doncaster.mumbler.co.uk for more information and support.