Where to start with constantly muddy, boggy garden and a crap lawn?!

[need15]

God I hate our back garden, well the soil at least. I think it clay? It's always muddy and boggy and slippy. (Apart from the height of summer when it cracks in places...?) Winter is a nightmare. Kids still like to play out there and everything gets covered in mud! The lawn is always patchy too.
Where do I start sorting this out please? DIY solutions (I'm no great gardener...!) or get a gardener in? If the latter, are there fail safe solutions or is it trial and error (and expensive!) til they isn't what works? Thanks!

Sand is your friend.

www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-aerate-your-lawn.html

We've aerated it's few times, with a fork. That's what you mean is it? No difference unfortunately.
What's the deal with sand please?

Sweep sand I to the forked holes. It's not a one off job, you continue until the soil is improved.

Thanks. Roughly how often should you do the sand thing? Is it worth doing now, over the winter too?

Yes add as much sand as you can. Also, you could if you wanted to, rotavate a load of sand in, rake it flat and resow the grass a bit higher than it originally was. Depends on how you want to roll really.

Thanks Doreen!

But NOT builders sand, and also peat or compost should help.

Although, i suspect that no amount of sand is going to help the lawn if it is going to be trampled on all year round.
I have a similar problem. My DCs love to be out in the garden all year, and I'm afraid I've had to accept the fact that my lawn is shot. I aerate and rake sand into it regularly, but the grass is just not having a chance to recover with little feet continually squashing it!

I've wondered if using a lawn protection mesh www.matsgrids.co.uk/grass-protection-meshes/76-grass-protection-mesh-gm450.html?fo_c=730&fo_k=2feee943bffee6e8dd126fab13eb6cb9&fo_s=gplauk&gclid=CjwKEAiAhPCyBRCtwMDS5tzT03gSJADZ8VjRT65mEsINUhTl-wWVTF0Ql9gscAbRq77xfd4TmzVHKRoCmIDw_wcB#/grassmesh-gm450_1m_x10m/mesh-gm450_1m_x10m
might work ,but haven't tried it .

Has anyone any experience ?

ginger I keep wondering about these two mainly because Ddog1 keeps digging huge holes in the lawn which develop into muddy quagmires over time. I have used similar mesh in field gateways which were being used by horses and they made a big difference

Well if it worked with horses it sounds promising ..