Moray mum fronts Mother's Day campaign
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A MORAY mum and business owner is taking part in a campaign to encourage people to think about what mums really want on Mother's Day.
In addition, the More Than a Mum campaign is urging people to support local businesses at the same time.
Helen Smith, who is also president of the Moray Business Women’s Network, started offering Fun Farm classes to teach children about farming, rapidly expanding into Byres Farm near Fochabers.
She said: "I started off adult life as a rural chartered surveyor travelling all over Scotland but life changes dramatically when you have kids.
"My husband is a farmer working long hours, so being away with work wasn’t practical any more. We made the decision that I’d stay at home until the kids went to school.
“As I started attending groups, my friendship group expanded to include more urban mums. I realised that there was an opportunity to educate kids about farming. I started a little group called Fun Farm, thinking that if I got 10 children a week, I could put the money towards some outdoor play equipment for my children. But demand was massive. From the first week and one Facebook post, I had a waiting list of 100 children.
“Through tourism work, we relocated to Byres Farm, which was fantastic for our farming business and fantastic for my business, too. What initially started as a way to help me to stay at home grew into Byres Farm which offers activities for families year-round, from Easter egg hunts to Santa at Christmas. We also offer birthday parties, whisky tours and free circular walks with a self-service coffee shop seven days a week.
“For me, seeing the families having a fantastic time at Byres Farm is a wonderful feeling. And that’s why I’m happy to be a part of the Moray Gift Card, and part of the More Than a Mum campaign. Every time someone supports a local business, they’re supporting a family, employees and the local economy itself. If mums receive a Moray Gift Card this Mother’s Day, they can spend it with fantastic local businesses, without having to travel anywhere.”
Byres Farm is one of over 270 businesses who accept the Moray Gift Card, including shops, restaurants, attractions and more, backed by Moray Council and part of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card initiative from Scotland’s Towns Partnership and Miconex.
A Scotland Loves Local Gift Card survey with over 370 mums in the UK and Ireland has shown that 77 per cent of mums say they feel guilty spending money on themselves. Clothes, shoes and bags are the items that 76 per cent of mums feel guilty spending money on, followed by beauty treatments, nights out/days out and holidays, meals out and the gym/health/fitness activities.
A massive 92 per cent of mums have wished for more time for themselves and 78 per cent have wished for more time with their friends. Over two thirds – 69 per cent – of mums are working into the evenings and weekends. Almost a third of mums are spending more than 90 minutes each day on household tasks, with a quarter of mums saying they get just 15 minutes each day purely to themselves.
Some 95 per cent of mums said they worry more since having children, with children being what tends to worry mums most, followed by finances, partner/love life and work.
A huge 96 per cent of mums surveyed said they would like to receive a local gift card for Mother’s Day, with beauty treatments and a meal out being the top items mums would spend their gift card on.
