Gathered
Conversation, Connection & Community for South East London Mums
What is Gathered?
Overwhelmed by motherhood, or maybe underwhelmed by it? Fascinated by it, or furious about it? Whatever your experience, come and share your thoughts and feelings about motherhood, mothering, and the huge identity shift that comes with becoming a mum, with us at Gathered.
Gathered is a weekly conversation circle, and wider membership community, for mums who want to talk honestly and authentically about the realities of modern motherhood. From the mental load to matrescence, we discuss the cultural, political, societal, emotional, downright ‘brutiful’ (brutal and beautiful) experience of becoming a mother.
You’ll find support on the tough days, share the wins on the good ones, and find a space where both the odd tear and a good laugh are both always welcome. And, as you’d expect from any mum group, a place you can offload about eye-burning sleep deprivation, annoying unsolicited parenting advice, and share low-brow Netflix recommendations too.
Our weekly conversation circles (primarily designed for mums of under 1s), and welcoming wider community to belong to, can be found in West Norwood, Peckham & East Dulwich.
To come along, book a one off taster session, or for the best experience of the community, choose the block of 4 to try your first month half price (£24). Either way, we’d love to meet you!
Who is Gathered for?
There’s no single one type of Gathered mum, and we certainly don’t all share the same parenting style, bedtime routines, feeding choices or family setups. Instead, we’re united by our desire to discuss our experiences of motherhood (and everything else life has to throw at us in this phase) more authentically, without judgement, competition or comparison, whatever those experiences might be.
If you’re a South East London mum of a baby under 1 (if they’re older, or you’re a Dad, check our FAQs for our follow-on groups), then we would love to meet you at Gathered.
If you’re wondering whether Gathered is for you, here are just some of the many experiences our members, and facilitators, have talked about at Gathered over the years. If one, or many, of these sentiments resonate with you, then you might well find your people at Gathered.
Gathered might be for you if…
You’re realising that all the glossy images of pristine, serene mums, and talk about the fulfillment of motherhood that you remember from beforehand, don’t quite match the sweaty, chaotic reality of your experience.
Motherhood has just been more... everything than you expected. Louder, messier, more exhausting, more beautiful, more complex. Just more.
You are finding motherhood fascinating, complex and important, with moments of pure joy and love... But also, somehow, at the same time, really quite unfathomably boring.
All your emotions feel bigger since becoming a mum. There’s a rage you didn’t expect, at the loss of control, the noise, the gender imbalance of it all. And a grief for the ordered, more autonomous life you left behind.
Or, perhaps you're struggling to find your rhythm, or work out how you want to approach parenting. You can't seem to get on the same page as your partner, or friends about sleep, weaning, boundaries or discipline. And you're wondering who exactly is 'enjoying every minute' of this.
Perhaps getting this far has taken everything you had. Fertility struggles, a difficult pregnancy, a traumatic birth that didn’t look anything like the hypnobirthing script said it would. And now you’re wondering why it still feels so hard. Or just need a space to reflect on what you've been through.
You might want to parent differently to how you were raised. You’re thinking about breaking cycles, doing things more intentionally, and you’d love space to explore that.
You might feel full of joy and want to share your highs without having to downplay them. Perhaps craving space to feel proud of yourself, or your baby, without shrinking or apologising for it.
Maybe you miss work. The structure. The conversation. The part of you that felt seen, accomplished, competent. You want to talk about that, without guilt that it makes you ungrateful, or a terrible mother.
Maybe you don’t miss work at all, and the idea of going back feels completely wrong. You’re reassessing everything: your career, your earning power, your relationship, your identity.
Or, maybe you're realising that your entire view of feminism and gender equality has shifted. You’re seeing the emotional labour, the lack of societal support, the financial pressure on families and you want to figure out how to think and feel about this.
It could be that your antenatal group just didn’t click. Or you didn’t have one. You’ve tried connecting with other mums, but somehow you keep leaving feeling a little bit lonelier and disconnected than before.
It might seem like everyone else’s baby is happy and sleeping through, while yours is crying more often than not, and so connecting with others (or just stringing a thought or sentence together) feels nearly impossible.
Perhaps even leaving the house with a baby feels almost impossible. You need a bigger window to aim for than a brief 45 minute class, and some solidarity when you make it. Even when you're late, and your top's on back to front. And has a bit of sick on the shoulder.
If any (or many) of these land with you, you’re not alone. And even if none of them do, but you feel a little lost, underwhelmed or disconnected, or just want to be in a space with other mums who will hear you, and get it, you’re welcome too.
However you’re finding this phase of motherhood, we would love to meet you. Come just as you are and tell us how YOU are.
A few practicalities…
Your £48pm (or £38pm if you use our no questions-asked subsidised rate) membership includes:
🗓 A weekly local Gathering in West Norwood, Peckham or East Dulwich: 90 minutes each week that’s just for you (and your baby).
🎧 A weekly podcast from our facilitators and members, introducing the topic we’ll be exploring together.
💛 Access to our private community app, packed with resources and recommendations.
📚 An invitation to join our Book Club and social events.
📱 An optional, but often very helpful, community WhatsApp group.
🔁 Plenty of flexibility: cancel any time with one week’s notice, or switch to online-only if you want to stay connected without Gathering.
👶 As your baby grows, move on to our mum & toddler sessions or monthly evening membership.
👨 Invite your partner, or a local dad in your life, to our monthly evening Dads’ group.
And finally, a welcome from our current members…
This gorgeous video was made by one of our Dad members, featuring some of our founder (and some still current) mums, and in their own words, and ours, really captures what Gathered is all about.
Our venues look a little different now, and these babies have grown (a lot...)
but the topics we discuss, and the feeling of connection, validation and belonging are still the same.
As very wise Kendal, one of our founder members put it:
“I come to Gathered to remember that I exist”
or as Megan says:
‘Gathered is the only time someone would ask, ‘how are you? And I’d think…. how AM I?’
If you might like to hang out with these mums, to share your experiences with them and hear about theirs, there’s a spot for you at Gathered.
Come find your people
Join us to try a one-off taster, or for the best experience, your first month for just £24, which includes 4 Gatherings, plus full access to our community. Either way, we would love to meet you!