Spelthorne mum of four Rachel Gully has started Overwhelmed Mums Club, with meet ups and an online group, and plans to make it a Community Interest Company.

A Spelthorne mum of four has started a club for mums who are tired of saying “I’m fine” when they are not.

Rachel Gully, 42, founded Overwhelmed Mums Club, which she calls OMC. It runs informal meet ups and an online community in Spelthorne. She is now working to turn it into a Community Interest Company, and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for that.

She wrote to Staines Online about it this week. In her words, the club is “about creating the space between ‘I’m fine’ and crisis”.

Why she started it

Rachel Gully, founder of Overwhelmed Mums Club
Rachel Gully, founder of Overwhelmed Mums Club. Photo: supplied by Overwhelmed Mums Club

Rachel says the idea came from her own life, not a business plan. Her experiences of motherhood, overwhelm and isolation showed her how much mums need somewhere they can simply be honest.

In the club’s press release, she said:

Overwhelmed Mums Club came from thinking about what I had needed at different points in my own life.

I didn’t need somebody telling me to be more organised or to practise more self care. Sometimes I just needed another person who understood what it was like when everything felt too much.

She is clear that professional services matter when someone needs specialist help. What she felt was missing was something smaller and more everyday:

There’s this massive space between being completely fine and being in crisis.

You can be lonely. You can be exhausted. You can be struggling with your mental health, finances, your relationship, your children, work, hormones or just the ridiculous mental load that comes with being a mum.

None of those things necessarily mean you need a service. Sometimes you need people. You need connection. You need somewhere you’re allowed to say, ‘This week has been absolutely rubbish,’ without anyone judging you.

What the club does

OMC brings mums together in two ways:

  • informal local meet ups in Spelthorne
  • online spaces where mums can talk, ask questions, have a rant, celebrate a win or just know somebody else is there

The club’s line is “Real Mums. Real Talk. Real Support.” The press release lists the subjects that have a place in its conversations:

  • mental health and neurodivergence
  • perimenopause
  • parenting struggles and relationships
  • money worries
  • loneliness, burnout and the mental load

Rachel’s one fixed rule is that it stays judgement free:

Motherhood has enough judgement already.

We’re not interested in whether your house is immaculate, whether you’ve got the perfect routine or whether you’ve got everything figured out.

You can turn up to us exactly as you are. Have a coffee. Have a laugh. Have a rant. Sit quietly if that’s what you need. There isn’t a test you have to pass to belong here.

Not only for mums who are struggling

She does not want the name to put anyone off. The club is also about friendship and finding your people, she says:

I don’t want mums to think they need to be having a terrible time before they’re allowed to come.

You might just want to get out of the house and meet somebody new. You might be new to the area. Your friendships might have changed since having children. Your children might be older and you’ve realised you’ve somehow lost a bit of yourself along the way.

Or you might just really fancy a coffee with people who understand why you’ve already had enough by 9am.

What comes next

Rachel wants OMC to become a Community Interest Company, which she describes as a sustainable organisation that can support more mums across Spelthorne. Her plans include:

  • more meet ups
  • practical resources
  • events and activities
  • links with local organisations and services
  • in time, exploring how the model could reach other areas

She also wants local organisations to be able to point mums towards the club with confidence. The crowdfunding campaign she launched recently is meant to help build it on a sustainable footing.

She is careful about what the club can and cannot do:

I can’t fix everything another mum might be going through, and OMC isn’t here to replace professional support.

What we can do is make sure she doesn’t always have to go through it on her own.

I want a mum to walk into one of our meet ups nervous because she doesn’t know anybody, and leave thinking, ‘I’m really glad I came.’

If we can keep doing that, then we’re building something worth growing.

What it means for you

If you are a mum in Spelthorne and want to join a meet up or the online group, the club’s contact details are:

Meet ups have been held at Elle & Fee in Ashford. Rachel’s emails did not give dates, so ask the club when and where the next one is. Local organisations that work with mums can use the same contacts.

The club is a peer support group, not a crisis service. If you or someone you know needs urgent help, contact your GP, call NHS 111 or, in an emergency, 999.