![]() Natalie Thomas: A poet and singer from Tunbridge Wells. Tickets cost £8 and can be bought via babyumbrella.as.me/poetryįor more information about Baby Umbrella, visit: ![]() This will be an unforgettable evening not to be missed!”īaby Umbrella’s Mums Poetry Night IN! is on tonight, Friday July 16, at 8pm on Zoom. Hosted via Zoom, our poets will be reading their work and we’ll be discussing the benefits of writing about motherhood, and how to get started as well as taking questions. “There will also be an open mic section when participants will be invited to read their own work. ![]() “We will be welcoming a wonderful group of inspiring poets from around the country who will be sharing their writings inspired by motherhood. So how will the event take shape on the night? “We will be welcoming a wonderful group of inspiring poets from around the country who will be sharing their writings inspired by motherhood” “We hope to raise several hundred pounds from this event, and every single penny raised will go towards our services supporting local families in West Kent with breastfeeding and early parenting,” they say. The Mums poetry night on Zoom will raise money for Baby Umbrella support services and provide parents with additional ways to come together. “The advantage of hosting on Zoom is that we can also welcome poets from around the country to join us,” say Nicola and Laura. Among them are Ana Sampson, who has edited eight different poetry anthologies, including She is Fierce and Night Feeds and Morning Songs Debra Alma of Keele University and Catherine Ball, who is a GP by day and poet by night. The event, which takes place today (Friday July 16 from 8pm), will showcase local wordsmith Natalie Thomas along with a number of other poets. Hence the idea for ‘Mums Poetry Night IN!’ was born. But obviously the coronavirus put paid to all that last year. Nicola and Laura add that one of Baby Umbrella’s objectives is to provide parents with opportunities to come together in groups and share their experiences together. “We have found this a huge source of support and comfort through what can be a roller-coaster journey, bringing a child into the world and figuring out how to be a parent.” “We love writing about our own experiences and reading about those of others,” they explain. Nicola Kirkwoodīoth Nicola, who is a Baby Umbrella Trustee, and Laura, its director and breastfeeding counsellor, are passionate about using creativity and writing to process their journey through motherhood. “It has been very difficult for parents to come out and meet other families during the pandemic, so a Zoom event enables everyone to attend, even with a tiny baby in arms,” say organisers Nicola Kirkwood and Laura Shtaingos. Over the numerous lockdowns the group, which runs both appointment and group sessions, has found that keeping in touch virtually has become quite a convenient way to still be part of something. Having previously operated under two separate services – Kent Baby Matters West Kent and Baby Cafe Tunbridge Wells – in 2021 the two groups came together to form one new and comprehensive service for Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks. One local organisation that has decided to Zoom a very special night is Baby Umbrella, a breastfeeding and early-parenting support for new mums and dads of newborns all the way up to pre-schoolers across West Kent. Being able to still participate in something without having to worry about babysitters or getting glammed up (although the latter is of course optional!) has seen a lot of people sticking to screen-based entertainment over the past few months. ![]() One such thing is virtually taking part in events. During the past year and a half of the Covid crisis we’ve been forced to swap seeing friends and family in the flesh, or going out to venues, with relying on all kinds of technology to keep in touch.Īnd despite slowly rebuilding our social lives thanks to the easing of restrictions, there are some takeaways from the three lockdowns that a number of us are willing to keep going.
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