Rachel Will

Being a stay-at-home mum could well be one of the most stressful jobs there is, but despite that Rachel Will still manages to find time to volunteer with the National Childbirth Trust. She is the Perth branch coordinator and manages to split her time between her two daughters and her role helping new mothers in their day to day lives.

Rachel loves her work and her family and on the rare occasions that she gets some free time, you'll probably find her enjoying a relaxing spa day at Crieff Hydro or Moness, or enjoying a lovely meal and a few drinks with the girls at the Post Box in Perth. We caught up with her to find out more about her role with the NCT and how she balances her time between work, family and friends!

What does a typical day at work look like for you?

I'm a stay-at-home mum of two girls who are two and three, so my typical day revolves around toddler groups, the nursery run and naptime! I fit my volunteering around them as thankfully a lot of what I do can be done on the laptop or phone.  Any face to face meetings we have are all child friendly as all of our volunteers have young children.

Wednesday's are my busiest day as I help to run our weekly ‘Bumps and Babies Group’ which is for mums with babies under 12 months, and pregnant mums are welcome too. I leave my girls at home with their granny and I get to go and have adult conversation while coo-ing over babies - it really is a highlight of my week! I love seeing new mums coming in when their babies are a few weeks old. I love seeing new mums coming in when their babies are a few weeks old, a mix of new mum radiance, tiredness and proud of being able to get out of the house in one piece - often it's the first time they've left the house on their own with their baby. It's a great place to make new mum friends and to get support and advice from each other.

Once a month on a Wednesday evening I also help to run Bumps @ the Pub where pregnant mums can come to meet other pregnant mums. We sit people together based on their due date and everyone leaves with each other's contact details. It's a brilliant night and I love feeling the buzz of excitement you get from over 20 pregnant mums being together!

What signals the start of your weekend / days off?

When my husband is home! I'm very protective of our time together as a family and like to make sure that what time we have together is special so I try to plan at least one day out at the weekend. As volunteering is done in your 'own' time I have to make sure it doesn't creep into our family time. Having said that, I can often be caught sending emails and updating the NCT Perth Facebook page on the journey while my husband drives to make the best use of the time!

What might people be surprised to know about you?

I went to school with Robbie Williams. I was 4 and he was 8 but it counts right?!

Top of your bucket list?

I'd love to do a driving tour around America. We thought about doing it for our honeymoon but decided on a relaxing holiday at Lake Como instead as planning a wedding is exhausting and we didn't trust ourselves not to fall asleep behind the wheel!

Worst job you’ve ever had?

Delivering free newspapers when I was 13 years old. Getting 1p a paper wasn't exactly motivational - delivering 350 newspapers gave me the grand total of £3.50. It was worse for my 12 year old sister though as I gave her 50p to help and she did half the work!

Who or what inspires you?

Before I had my children, I worked for our local adoption team (in England). In the time I was there I worked with over 100 children from babies up to 10 year olds. My job was to find families for them and to support them throughout that time. Every day I saw these children and families going through the hardest of losses and yet they would manage to adapt and grow. The ability of children to survive the most difficult of situations and yet invest in something new and learn to thrive never ceases to amaze and inspire me.

Tell us about the weekend you’d love to live again?

The weekend my husband proposed in Paris. We'd bought the ring together a few weeks earlier so I was hoping he would choose there to propose. I was so nervous wondering when or if it was going to happen and we went to all of the lovely tourist spots, including the bottom of the Eiffel Tower three times but no proposal. Finally, on the last night we decided to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and he got down on one knee there. Finally, on the last night we decided to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and he got down on one knee there. I was so relieved I nearly knocked him over! It would be lovely to do it again but without the nerves this time so I could relax and enjoy Paris!

What’s the best part about your job?

I love seeing friendships blossom between the mums who come along to our groups - it's better than running a dating website!

What’s in the perfect day off breakfast?

Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup. They're even better if they're made by someone else!

Complete this sentence; the best things in life are…. Rewarding! While I'm taking time out from my career, I wanted to give something back and do something to help support other mums, particularly in the early days of parenthood.