Would it put you off going to a BF support group if it was upstairs?

[QueenOfFeckingEverything]

In the process of trying to start a peer support group in my nearest town. Currently the nearest one is 22 miles away and inaccessible on public transport.

Anyway, we have been trying to find a venue for a while (several months, due to protracted faffing from local Sure Start equivalent [not in England]) with no joy, but today I found one that is big enough, and available at a good time, and very central to town - but it is upstairs in a building with no lift [rolleyes]. Obviously this is far from ideal.

Would you go for it? Or would it be daft to even try it out for a few weeks?

So long as there is somewhere secure to put pushchairs I think it would be OK. At our Surestart you have to leave all pushchairs in a shelter outside anyway so stairs don't make much difference.

I have organised things for mums with babies. It doesn't matter what you put on the event listing/posters about no room for buggies or steps they ALWAYS turn up with a behemoth of a buggy and then expect it to be carried up the stairs rather than leaving it at the bottom. I think maybe twice someone has brought a baby in a sling and one of those times it was me!

I expect you'll find people come once then don't bother again because of the stairs. Very irritating.

Try it out, if it isn't working then you can keep looking for another, and then mass-advertise a relaunch.

I should have said btw - the room will also cost £8 an hour, so if nobody comes there will be no donations and therefore will have to pay for it myself. Mind you that could well happen anyway I suppose.

Is there space to leave pushchairs? Or is it a sling users only group? Slings are not suitable for everyone, and it is hard to carry older kids in sling?
Personally there is no problem with it being upstairs if you can leave pushchair downstairs securely. But since pushchairs are more commonly used then slings it would prevent a lot of mothers from attending if there is no space for pushchairs.

How can you organise events for babies and expect their to he no buggies, that is stupidity imo.

I'd look for somewhere else. Just because I know how hard it is to get something established and then having to faff about starting again is a pita. Have you tried church/community halls etc? Try nethun listings for mum and baby groups and contact the venue directly for prices.

Also see if GP surgeries or local clinics have a room you could use?

Also you could try applying for grants to cover the cost of the hall hire in the first place or look for a sponsor? If you do it as an NCT Bumps and Babies group with peer support you can apply for a grant of up to £5,000. You can also see if you can get funding for a Baby Cafe Local which is peer support and qualified bfing counsellor providing advice and support.

I used to go to a group that was in an upstairs location - you could leave buggies at the bottom of the stairs but it was at your own risk yadda yadda.

TBH, the sort of people who go to a group like that are going to be more likely to be sling wearing - I know that is a massive generalisation but from my experience, that's the way it is.

I personally woudn't have gone in the early days if the group was upstairs as I had issues with my CS scar and dodgy hips from SPD. I suppose after a couple of months I would have been better, but probably wouldn't have started going then IYSWIM.

Some new mums are quite precious about their prams and them not being right by their side 100% of the time. I was one of them

Sorry nailak were you suggesting I was stupid for suggesting people might think twice before bringing a tank of a pushchair somewhere where there is limited space? I have seen people refuse to leave them anywhere out of eyeline no matter how secure a space. I've even had people transport tiny babies in buggies less than 100 yards from the car and demand help carrying it. Madness!

btw the activities I have previously organised have been trips out to museums and other optional stuff in the context of plenty of accessible activities. Not essential like breastfeeding support.

OP, have you tried local nurseries? There may be one who'll do you a room in exchange for the free promotion hosting the group will bring.

Same as Indith, our surestart didn't let buggies in, they had a shelter outside. If you can, make sure there's somewhere to leave buggies. Wouldn't have thought it'd put people off... but then I was that desperate for support with bfing I walked two miles each way in 6 inch snow last year

Imo if you are trying to provide a service to mothers, and encourage people from all backgrounds to use it, and you are aware that the majority of people with babies use pushchairs, then it is stupidity not cater for pushchairs.

Everyone I know has breastfed for at least few months. And only one of them uses a sling. If you don't want people with pushchairs to turn up, make it a sling wearers group.

Personally I have tried to use a sling but I found it very uncomfortable and strenuous, and it caused me a lit of back, shoulder and neck pain, I also have a dodgy shoulder which dislocates itself so try not to stress it. Apart from that my ds is now 18 mnths still bf but too big to go in sling.

But I guess I wouldn't be welcome at your groups. I even used a double buggy for dd2 and ds, shock horror.

There is heaps of room for buggies downstairs.

Its such a small town in a rural area that there isn't much choice with rooms. There are a couple of church halls I am going to ring about tomorrow though.

I am more than a bit annoyed with the Flying Start bods tbh, as I know they have a really nice, accessible room with good facilities available twice a week, they are insisting they don't but they do God knows what that is about.

Wow you're unnecessarily rude nailak. Did you even read my posts because you are inferring something that is not there.

Upstairs would have put me off.

I had twins - would not want to leave one downstairs as I carried the other upstairs.

I never managed to carry both at once until they were sturdy enough to sit on their own.

I was about to ask what about twins?!

in that case if there was room downstairs i definitely wouldnt have an issue, the baby groups etc i attended were and are often upstairs.

in the case of twins, at my surestart centre the mother goes to reception with buggy and asks for help and someone comes out with her to buggy park to take one twin while she takes the other.

I would be worried about the cost of the hall though. It isn't much but could add up coming from your pocket. Our bf group is well attended but some weeks it is just us peer supporters. Add on the cost of keeping tea/coffee/biscuit tin filled then even if some weeks you have more people then you will struggle to break even.

Is there no room to negotiate on the cost? For example the toddler group I run charges £1.50 and gives £1 of that to the hall with the extra 50ps covering drinks and snacks. Some weeks I give the hall over £10, some weeks I give them £4.

Peeling - once they can sit up, they are far more sturdy - So you can carry one under each arm.

But impossible when they are still floppy newborns

Same for me with twins. I can't go to my local twins club atm as boys would have to be carried through a building with lots of doors. I could take newborns in car seats when using a travel system but they are too heavy now. Could carry them but not negotiate swinging doors and bags safely.

I live in Cardiff and one of the local drop ins is upstairs with no lift, u did have 2 buzz the building for someone to come and open the door though and anyone with a pram just left them downstairs. didn't bother anyone and it was a very busy group!

QofFE.....it's kind of swings and roundabouts. I would agree though, that finding a venue that isn't a financial drain is absolutely key to running a group on a sustainable basis. Re the stairs, I think how mothers are welcomed and directed to buggy parking is more important, and if you have peer supporters or other helpers this could be a valuable thing to ask them to help with. FWIW, the venue I use is a childrens centre who provide the space free but insist that buggies are left outside, access is via buzzer and no hot drinks are allowed. But actually..the staff are friendly and polite, they lend locks for a deposit, many mothers feel more secure as they know they won't be barged in on. I would say though, that it's taken 6 months to build up attendance so do think carefully about finances. It would be tempting to research what your Flying Start centre is tasked with providing, since bf support is often a key service, particularly if local rates are low. I'd agree that provided you apply under the auspices of a voluntary or community organisation you have a good shot t getting Awrds for Al funding. PM me if you'd like to know more.

lizzytee - I did google re. local Flying Start but couldn't find anything very helpful. I thought they did have to provide some sort of BF support which is totally lacking here, but cannot find anything to back that. Their building is free for at least one afternoon session a week but the area manager is insisting they can't accomodate a group, so I don't know where to go with that. The local FS workers (HV and playworker) are v supportive btw and want to see a group running, its just the area managers who seem to be less keen

I am an ABM member (currently applying for ABM training - am already Sure Start trained peer supporter) and so could have run it as an ABM group but unfortunately their nearest BFC is too far away to provide support to a group here.

nailak - you are being unnecessarily defensive here I don't know why you thing it will only be for those using slings - I want the group to meet the needs of those using it, hence my asking if it would be too much of a barrier to have it upstairs. The answer seems to be yes, so we probably won't use that room and will keep looking for an alternative. But given the trouble we have had finding any venue at all, I wondered if maybe a group with some access difficulties might be better than no group at all...

This might sound presumptuous but La Leche meetings are often held in the leader's own home...

Hmmm.....tricky as it's always harder to get someone to back down once they've explicitly said no. Might be worth discussing with HV, and asking to meet with area managers to understand their -objections- concerns. Innocently asking "please help me to understand your thinking on x.....(could be access, venue capacity, the "type" of family, worry that bf groups are there to bully/don't support mothers who mixed feed). If HVs etc are supportive, find out who the area managers report to and perhaps go to them - or cc them on a letter/email to the area managers asking them to explain exactly why they can't provide a venue for a community led initiative that benefits the 0 to 3 age group. Not that I am in any way a trouble maker, you understand.