Anne Marie Newman
I met my partner on a dating website 6 years ago – he is from Milton Keynes, I was from Oxford. And after a few months of dating, I fell in love with both him and MK so I decided to move in with him!
At the time I was commuting back to Oxford every day for work… that’s until I fell pregnant with my little boy Joshi 3 years ago. All of a sudden I was on maternity leave, on my own in Milton Keynes, with all my family and friends down in Oxford.
Anne Marie and her son Joshi
I knew I had to make Milton Keynes friends if I didn’t want to stay lonely. So I started a Facebook group called Mummies Meetings MK, to see if there were any other mums out there in the same position as me – with a small child and no one to see. At first it was just me on my own in this Facebook group, with the hope that someone would want to be friends with me… and there was!
“I’ve set out what I wanted to achieve – to find friends, and help other mums in Milton Keynes find friends. It’s incredible.”
In that first night my phone kept beeping, to alert me to the new joiners. I got to 100 in the first evening. And every day since I’ve had at least one mum join the group – we’re at nearly 900 now! For that first meeting we met at a local garden centre for a coffee. I thought there’d be 5 or 6 mums come… but 36 turned up! And it’s grown from there. We now meet regularly, at coffee shops or at my favourite lake – Willen. But a lot of the events are held at my house. I host the parties here, put on some food and decorate the house saying 20 mums can come. Then 30 or more will turn up! But it’s so much fun, and I’ve set out what I wanted to achieve – to find friends, and help other mums in Milton Keynes find friends. It’s incredible.”