You may think all Raring2go! editors have young children themselves, and yes, many do. But as is often the case, I fall outside the norm. My youngest son was just turning 21 when I published my first ever Raring2go! magazine in 2019, and the cover image of that first edition was a photo of my grandson when he was around 7 months old.

So, what led me to becoming a Raring2go! editor? I can sum it up in 2 words: Parenting and barriers. Between myself and my hubby we’ve raised 5 children and now have 5 beautiful grandchildren. Over the years when our own children were young it proved difficult to find things to do to keep everyone entertained. With one child in a wheelchair, that ‘difficult’ often proved impossible. Days out usually led to frustration, disappointment, and tears. Parents of children with additional needs will no doubt relate! That was just how our lives were, for many years, while our children grew up.

Back in 2017 I was searching for things to do with all the family – our now adult sons, daughters and grandchildren included. We were happy to travel, plan a holiday, but I wanted to find the best place to target. I had very low expectations of being able to find the information we actually needed without hours of internet searches and phone calls to double check how accessible ‘wheelchair friendly’ places ACTUALLY were. Amazingly, a Raring2go! editor covering an area we were considering visiting had included wheelchair access information about all her local attractions! I found loads of events and places we could go to through her Raring2go! webpages for that area, and just as importantly, I could identify which places wouldn’t be suitable. That’s fine, some places simply can’t be fully wheelchair accessible, easily finding that information in one place saved hours. I showed my husband the Raring2go! webpages I had discovered. At the bottom of the webpage was a link: ‘Become a Franchisee’.

At that point I hadn’t realised Raring2go! editors created magazines – I had never seen one. How would I have? There was no editor in my area, so no Raring2go! magazine had ever come home in my children’s bookbags. Imagine how different our lives could have been if I had accessed Raring2go! while my children were growing up. But there was no editor in my area…. Being nosy, I clicked that ‘Become a Franchisee’ link.

So here I am, it’s 2023, I’ve been editor for Hereford and Worcester for almost 4 years, and I absolutely LOVE it. I’m running my own business! I never imagined I would be saying that. I feared it may be lonely and scary, but in reality, I’m surrounded by other editors who are doing the same, some for over 14 years, and who support each other every step of the way. Head Office staff are always there to help and support us editors too – it’s the best team anyone could wish for. It’s the working equivalent of having your cake AND eating it without taking in a single calorie!