When we set up the award with Netmums, our objective was to raise awareness of how brilliant everyday mums are, especially in the face of the celeb mum of the year award which takes place each year and always include some dubious nominations.

Aimee, from Chester, is a really inspiring mum to talk to. She had twins at 17 and a third child two years later and is determined to use her experiences to help other youngsters understand about the responsibilities of parenthood. She goes into local schools and colleges and works with health professionals to spread her message.

You can read more about Aimee in a couple of local press interviews, in the Northwich Guardian and the Chester Standard. When I spoke to Aimee, I was struck by two things she feels very strongly about:
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Improving sex education in schools – for many children sex education is given in schools by teachers who they can’t relate to; it’s an embarrassing experience that doesn’t encourage discussion and debate. Aimee is able to relate her own experiences, which are more relevant to the children she meets
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Fighting for the rights of young dads – Aimee has met many groups of young dads and has been shocked by their experiences. Many feel pushed out and unable to be involved with the raising of their children, which often leads to them becoming angry about their circumstances. She is determined to be a voice for them.

Aimee, as the UK’s Mum of the Year is the winner of a two-week siblu holiday to France.

The mums are featured on the website of Netmums, with details of the outstanding work they do in their local community.

We started the search with Netmums as a way of celebrating mums, who we think don’t get their fair share of praise. After all, actors, sports stars, even politicians get their own awards, so why not something that celebrates the achievement of mums?

The stories we’ve received have been truly heart-warming, why not take a look through and tell us which one inspires you most.

Since launching this campaign with Netmums we have had more than 1,000 entries. Throughout the campaign we have been asking mums about the amount of voluntary work they do to help families and friends.

The results are fascintating. On average, mums give up more than 4 hours every week to help others with activities like babysitting, helping in local schools and running toddler groups. They are like a hidden workforce, underpinning their local community.

We’ll have lots more information from the survey soon and our judges will be sifting through the entries to find the Mum of the Year for 12 regions in the UK. We’ll be revealing our winners in January. 

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