The Story Of South Cumbria Breastfeeding Support

In 2009, Kendal Breastfeeding Support Group was run by Hayley Savage, a Mother Supporter with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM).
Ann Bruce set up the Windermere Group in 2011, and she subsequently trained as a Breastfeeding Counsellor with the ABM, qualifying in 2013.
When Hayley moved on to further study later in 2013, Ann took over the running of the Kendal group, as a ‘sister group’ to the Windermere group.
In 2016 Ann qualified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
We took over the running of Ulverston Breastfeeding Group in 2017.

All of this was done on a voluntary basis, with Ann and Hayley donating their time and knowledge. As the groups developed, the work of running the groups and the behind-the-scenes admin became more than could be done on a voluntary basis. Like everyone else, Ann has to pay her bills, so we started to look for funds to pay her for some of her time, so that the groups could continue to run.

In June 2015 we won some funding from the One Family Foundation. This was decided by national, public vote, and we were delighted and proud that our support groups had so much community support to win a vote like this.
In September 2015 a Board of Trustees was established and South Cumbria Breastfeeding Support became a registered Charity in April 2016.

In July 2023 the remaining original Trustees stepped down and a new Board Of Trustees were appointed for the role of supporting the charity, you can find out more about our trustees on the Meet The Team page.
All of the past and present Trustees have been or are local parents, who all have a strong commitment to the value of breastfeeding, and a first-hand understanding of the importance of supporting mums to breastfeed.