Mamas & Papas - At The Heart Of The Word 'Family'

As most of you know, I was lucky enough to be invited by MumPanel to the head office of Mamas & Papas in Huddersfield last Tuesday to preview their new range. Living in the North West/North Wales area means that most of the events I get invited to are a bit of a trek as they are usually 'darn sarf' so I jumped at the chance to attend this. Not only is it just over an hours drive for me but it's for a brand I absolutely love!

As soon as I found out I was expecting Mini Cheddar back in 2008, I spent countless amounts of time at my nearest Mamas & Papas store. I think everyone knows and loves that brand so much as it oozes quality and style.

What I didn't realise though, was just how much the word 'family' is at the very heart of the company. The company was founded by the lovely David and Luisa Scacchetti in 1981. Luisa was an expectant mother who was frustrated by the lack of choice when it came to prams and baby products so she found what she was looking for in Italy. From then, Mamas & Papas was born and celebrated it's 30th birthday this year.

We were lucky enough to spend time in the company of Amanda and Olivia - David and Luisa's two daughters who now work within the business. Amanda is the very reason the company was born and her passion for the company, along with Olivia's, is in abundance which is so heart-warming for a large company. David and Luisa are permanent features at the company and Luisa still personally approves every single product that they sell which I think is just amazing and shows her 30 years of commitment to quality. This is something that has made me extremely passionate about the brand myself.

Mamas & Papas are also very focussed on keeping costs down for customers. They are constantly looking at their price points to offer a wide range of options to suit all budgets - something much needed in the current economic climate.

The brand new Sync - available Feb '12

We were treated to sneak previews of the forthcoming Spring and Summer range which were excitedly shown to us by the team. They showed us the new features and the new colour ways. Every one of the staff their had such a passion for their products and were very knowledgable. They are so welcoming of comments from parents and are constantly improving their products on the feedback they receive.

We were shown everything from the latest buggies to the top-of-the-range pushchairs and also baby carriers (I loved the Comfort and even got to try it on for size!). We were shown the range from the re-designed Trip which is the lightest weight holiday buggy and will be priced at a mere £39 up to the Voyage at £179.  We were also shown the Sync which is a brand new hybrid (cross between a buggy and a pushchair) available February 2012. It's suitable from birth, has a multi-position recline toggle system which means no jolting your sleeping baby - hurrah! What I also loved about this model was that it had an intelligent folding system which means that none of the fabric touches the floor when it's collapsed.

The Urbo now with bigger basket

The pushchairs were where I really fell in love. The Sola, Urbo and Luna all with modifications and new colour ways. When I was pregnant with MC, I did my research on pushchairs if only the Mylo from Mamas & Papas had been available - I think it launched 6 months too late for me sadly.

I can honestly say that I could have cried when we were shown it. I hear about women who have 'pram envy' and go through countless prams during their time as parents and I have never understood it - until now. I had serious pram envy when I saw the Mylo - it's amazing - I love it and I am now secretly scheming to have a pushchair related 'accident' with my old pushchair so I can convince my husband to buy a Mylo!

The Mylo - "I love you dream pushchair"

There are certain parts of the Mylo that are handmade and you can tell - it's the epitome of design and innovation. I can't believe I am talking like that about a pushchair but, hand on heart I just love it. The unique selling point of the Mylo is the single-handed fold. Just what I need next year when I'm struggling with a new baby and a 3 year old! I had a go at collapsing it and it really is so easy to do. You can also get adaptors for car seats which is perfect. It's not exactly cheap at £545 but, having seen it in action I would gladly pay it...it's definitely worth it.

There is also the option to purchase a carrycot which, and I think this is fabulous, is suitable for overnight sleeping! For us it would mean no more hiking a travel cot on frequent nights away. The carrycot can also rock, be put on a stand and the infant can be propped up which is perfect for those babies that suffer with reflux.

The Mylo - one-handed folding system

I could talk about the Mylo for hours, I love it that much.

Now, having spent time with Mamas & Papas and their products I am even more in love with them too.

The new Spring/Summer range will be coming to a store near you next year.

Go check them out!

This is not a sponsored post.  

I did receive travel expenses, a gift voucher, a Christmas goody bag 

and some yummy lunch (thank you again Mamas & Papas!) but all words,

views, opinions and photographs are entirely my own.

I Laughed, I Cried, I Ate, I Drank...I Went To CyberMummy

Well, there will be a million and one posts like this appearing over the next week or so I'm sure but anyone who attended the fabulous CyberMummy this weekend is bound to want to share their experience.

I'm exhausted but I'm happy. Here is my tale.

At the beginning of this year I was wobbling. After a nasty experience with someone I met online at the end of last year I didn't know if blogging would be my thing. However, thanks to the marvellous support of everyone I've met in the last 6 months I found my blogging feet.

Back in April, when there were only 12 tickets left and in a panic that I was going to miss out, I nervously decided to bag a ticket for CyberMummy.

It was one of the best decisions I have made.

The Brewery in London is a truly amazing venue and I was completely overwhelmed by the organisation and attention to detail that had gone into the day.

I attended a couple of the talks/panels that were laid on throughout the day and they were great - I am so glad I attended the session that was led by Liz Scarff from Save The Children. It was a given considering my choice to become a volunteer for them back in February. Liz gave a truly inspirational talk on how bloggers can work with charities and use blogs to make a huge difference. Rosie, Sian and Josie talked about their work with Save The Children - thankfully Michelle was sat next to me and passed me a tissue! A firm reminder that blogging isn't all about freebies.

Now I don't really want to rave on and on about how fantastic the day was (it was) as I know there were so many of my blogging friends who couldn't attend for various reasons and that made me so sad - you know who you are. I do have to say this though - everyone I met throughout the day was amazing, lovely, gorgeous, funny, talented and downright bloody marvellous. I wish I could name you all but this post would be a mile long!  There were quite a few people I didn't get to speak to enough and quite a few I missed totally but it was a whirlwind day.

Everyone lived up to their blogging personalities and told me the same (although they may have been drunk?).  I did fox a few people with my new dark hair despite my CyberMummy Meet & Greet post.  Just for the record, I was the one with an inflatable panda who is hereby known as 'Percy the luckiest panda in the world'.

CyberMummy is, quite simply, made by the amazing bloggers that are a part of it.

This was cemented even further by the truly amazing Crowdsourced Keynote Speakers (Nickie made me cry for the second time!) who were the climax of the event...well, the climax not counting the big party afterwards.

My journey home the next day was the only downside to my weekend - Virgin and Arriva Trains you truly are rubbish - but when I was greeted on the platform by my husband and my daughter (who screamed "Mummy! Mummy!" all the way) the stresses of it all just melted away.

For anyone hesitating about attending next year...don't. Yes there are freebies (an obscene amount) but don't let that be the reason to book a ticket - you need to go to experience the awesomeness of it all and feel the sheer power of 450 talented women (and a handful of men) under one roof.

Go, have fun, learn, eat, drink and make new friends.  You won't regret it for a second - even if it is more exhausting than child birth.