April is Caesarean Awareness Month, and we've heard from some parents that they are a bit nervous about walking with their babies after a c-section because they don't know if it's safe or how to build themselves up to it. This month we’ll share real stories and tips to help you get out walking after a caesarean.
A step-by-step guide to joining our new Blaze Trails community on Mighty Networks
We’re so excited for you to join us in our Blaze Trails Mighty Network!
We’re trying out a fab new community platform to host our local parent & baby walking groups and events. We explain why in this blog post.
It’s quick and easy to sign up, on desktop or mobile. Mighty Networks is fully mobile-optimised, perfect for signing-up when you’re trapped on the sofa under a sleeping baby! Scroll down to see how the sign-up process looks on your mobile.
In this blog post there are step-by-step guides to:
joining our Blaze Trails Mighty Network
finding and joining your local group once you’re in the network
using the Mighty Networks app
We would really love to hear about your experience of signing up and using our Mighty Networks platform - we’re learning, and need honest feedback to be able to improve how it works for everyone. Please pop us a quick message at hello@blazetrails.org.uk
How to join the Blaze Trails Mighty Network
Visit community.blazetrails.org.uk and click ‘Request to Join’.
2. Tell us a little bit about you and click ‘Submit’. Scroll through the screenshots below to see what we ask you.
If you’re happy to, you can upload a photo - it feels more like a community when we can see each other’s lovely faces!
3. We approve your membership request ASAP, usually in a matter of moments.
4. This bit’s important! Look out for an email in your inbox. Make sure you click the ‘Click here to join’ button in your email. This validates your email address, and is the final step in joining.
5. That’s it, you’re in! Welcome to Blaze Trails! Happy hiking!
This is what the sign-up process looks like on your mobile:
How to find and join your local walking group
1. Log in to the Blaze Trails Mighty Network.
2. From the Home screen, click the ‘Groups’ button in the lefthand menu.
3. Find your local group by scrolling through the groups, or if your location is turned on, you should see ‘groups near you’.
4. Click the group and request to join it. The local Organiser will approve you ASAP.
Once you’re in your local group, you’ll see all the upcoming events, be able to sign-up to them, chat with local parents about great walking spots, and share tips and photos. Have fun!
How to use the Mighty Networks app
1. Sign-up as a member to our Blaze Trails Mighty Network (instructions above).
2. Search for ‘Mighty Networks’ in your App store.
3. Or enter your phone number on our Mighty Networks homepage and Mighty Networks will text you a link to the App!
4. Download the Mighty Networks app.
5. Go to your web browser and go to our community home page: community.blazetrails.org.uk
6. As you Sign In to your Blaze Trails Mighty Network account, it should open automatically in the App.
Why we're testing out a new online community platform for Blaze Trails
Our incredible Blaze Trails network is growing so quickly! We have parents across the country wanting to sign up as Organisers and gather people in their community for lovely rambles together.
Until now, we’ve organised our all our meet-ups via Facebook, and more recently a wonderful events platform call More Human.
But we’ve realised that hosting our groups on Facebook isn’t sustainable in the long-term because:
Increasing numbers of people don’t have a Facebook account, which means they currently can’t join our groups and come on walks.
The way the Facebook algorithm works means that event invites and notifications don’t always show up consistently, so our members sometimes don’t know there’s a walk coming up.
Since late 2021 we’ve been doing lots of research into alternative options for hosting our community online - we’ve done some serious geeking out!
When looking at new options, our members and Organisers have told us that these things are important and useful to them:
signing up with their email addresses to free private spaces where local groups can gather and share information freely and safely
finding their local group (info, next events) easily and not have to trawl through what could soon be hundreds of groups across the country to get to theirs
quickly seeing when the next walks are and signing up
sharing photos of the walks they've been on (for example, with babies' faces visible - something people feel more comfortable about if they know the audience are just other parents in their local area, not a massive national group or the public).
asking for and sharing local walking ideas/tips.
as Organisers being able to post walks and manage attendees as easily as possible.
doing all of this on an intuitive mobile-optimised website or app - easy to access with one hand when doing the 3am feed!
After a LOT of careful consideration, we have chosen to pilot Mighty Networks as our new platform because it is very customisable, allows us to do these things all in one place, and allows us to create an online community that looks and feels very ‘Blaze Trails’!
Before we put all our eggs in one basket though, a small group of Organisers are trialling moving their members over and organising walks on Mighty Networks. We want to be sure it works for the specific needs of our Blaze Trails groups before we think about moving everyone over.
Our pioneering pilot Organisers have promised to be very honest about their experiences of using our new platform, so we’ll keep you posted with any feedback.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Thanks so much,
Katy
Founder, Blaze Trails CIC
Why getting outside is the ultimate baby sensory experience
By Jenny, Blaze Trails Director
Baby sensory: A phrase that gets chucked around a lot as soon as baby arrives.
When I had my first child, every new parent I met was signing up to baby sensory classes, myself included. For those who don't know about baby sensory, it's a class designed for babies to engage their senses. It involves bright flashing lights, loud music, fancy dress and a lot of dribble!
I get it. Being a new parent can be intense, and baby sensory classes are a great way to meet people, plus the kids do enjoy it. However, as someone who loves being active and spending time outdoors, sitting on the floor of a village hall every week singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ just wasn't for me.
I spent a lot of time walking with my first born. I was on maternity leave, I had time on my hands and the weather was mainly dry. We'd walk half an hour to grab a coffee in the park and it was ticking all the boxes that baby sensory did. The dabbled light through the trees, the sounds of birds, we didn't have to sing 'Five Little Ducks' around a fake duck pond made of mesh; we had a real duck pond with real ducks to count.
We practiced our animal sounds and sang 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' surrounded by – you guessed it – real sheep. And with every season comes a plethora of new things to experience and play with – icy puddles to break, frosty grass to crunch – I can't be the only one whose daughter shouts "Elsa has been!" when they see frost?!
Then there's the multi-coloured sunset, autumn leaves to throw, bonfires to smell and blackberries to pick and taste – it doesn't get much more sensory than that.
The only thing missing was the opportunity to meet new local mums, but then I discovered Blaze Trails. Perfect!
Suddenly, walks, talks and the occasional al-fresco nappy change became the norm. An interchangeable group of bad-ass mums who didn't mind donning the waterproof gear and getting out for a coffee, natter and a stomp around the countryside. My kind of people.