We are delighted to feature the wonderful work by Emily Tredget from the United Kingdom (UK). Emily is a mother of one and has set up MummyLinks as she is ‘passionate about helping mums beat loneliness’. She also started the #ShoutieSelfie campaign to raise awareness of maternal mental health and remove the stigma. Emily is also supporting the work of IFWIP as a member of the Board of Adviser.
This is what Emily has to say about her recent focus of work:
“Maternal Mental Health week is just around the corner and I for one can’t wait! It’s the highlight of my year as it gets mums, dads, family, and friends talking about a hugely important topic – mums’ (and dads’!) mental health!
It’s a topic close to my heart as I struggled with Post Natal Depression (and Anxiety and PTSD) for 2 years. So I now spend my time (when not looking after my son!) helping mums beat loneliness – which can cause Post Natal Depression (PND) – and raising awareness of maternal mental health issues.
Last (2017) Maternal Mental Health week I started a campaign called #ShoutieSelfie. It helps to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of maternal mental health as everyone who has been affected by it – personally, or someone in their circles – can take a selfie of them shouting and post across social media (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) to say that they support someone with maternal mental health issues.
It was a huge success last year – getting maternal mental health trending in the first 30minutes and 1 million impressions. But this year I have a year of social media under my belt and have been planning rather longer than the 10 days I had last year!
So I’m super excited to be running it again this year – it is going to be larger than I ever imagined with various celebs, organisations, charities, and bloggers getting behind it ready to kick it off on 30th April to start Maternal Mental Health week.
If you’d like to get involved please email info@mummylinks.com and I will send details in the preceding days and weeks!
Raising awareness of maternal mental health issues is great, but I have also been working tirelessly the last two years to help mums beat loneliness. It’s a known fact that loneliness can contribute to depression and other mental health issues, so I am on a mission to reduce loneliness. I really struggled with loneliness, and I don’t want any mum to go through what I did.
So I’ve created a free service called MummyLinks – the safe place to meet mums for local playdates.
It’s a facebook group at the moment but I am putting the finishing touches to the app which will be launching super soon!
It’s been a long time coming – I had no idea how long tech could take, particularly if you have no funding (!), but we are almost there! To download the app when it launches you need to be invited to the facebook group, or you can ask to join and wait for approval. This is to keep mums safe knowing that they will be meeting a friend of a friend.
MummyLinks isn’t about collecting online friends. Or debating parenting techniques. It’s about one mum being home alone and wanting to get out and posting a playdate idea. It’s about another mum or two seeing that notification and also wanting to get out. And hey presto at least two mums are getting out of the house, for a little fresh air, perhaps some exercise, and a chat. I’m not promising lifelong friendships (although it has happened!), but a lifeline of local mum support when you need it most.
So, to get involved please:
1) Email info@mummylinks.com to become a #ShoutieSelfie initiator
2) Follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook ready for 30th April
3) Ask to join MummyLinks if you are a mum, or tell your mum friends about it if you’re not!”
On behalf of the IFWIP team, we wish Emily all the very best for her future!