Dubai: Are you a mum juggling one ball too many? Does multi-tasking leave you exhausted? Do you wish you had things more organised with more freedom?
‘Mumcierge', a novel concierge service being launched on March 23, aims at serving as a virtual personal assistant for mothers in the UAE, taking up tasks that will make their lives much easier.
"No matter how big, complicated or unusual the request, we will never say no as we will try and find a solution," said Elaine Stannard, a former thoroughbred jockey, who is launching the service along with Bubs Felix, a sports lawyer.
"By next week, we should have around 100 mums on board," said Stannard, adding that the group is targeting 500 members in 18 months.
Stannard said she and Felix, both working mothers from the UK who had babies within six weeks of each other, decided to set up the concierge service when they found that existing platforms did not serve their purposes.
She said online forums, for example, suffered from a degree of anonymity, while the coffee mornings they attended with others mums lacked structure.
"We realised we needed to do something more stimulating than just talk about nannies and traffic," she said.
So, in addition to sipping coffee at the Lime Tree Café in Al Quoz every Wednesday morning, mums from this group will engage themselves constructively in a wide range of activities. Partners in health care and other areas will address various issues concerning them, just as the concierge PA will help them plan out holidays.
For example, members on an annual membership can avail plans that include an overseas holiday for two adults and two kids, an annual GCC weekend getaway, two restaurant bookings every month and key reminders about insurance policies.
In addition, special activities for children like soccer, rugby, horse riding, drama, etc, will be organised every Tuesday evening. "The idea is to make the events family-centric and get families from different communities together," said Felix.
The mum-to-mum exchange is also expected to help out members with babysitting, shopping and other tasks.
Betsey Samuel, a mother from the US with two children, said, "It helps to have resources when you are multi-tasking. It's like getting another lifeline."
Susan Downey from Canada, who has a five-month-old son, said, "It is a fantastic venture as I will meet more mums and my son Nicholas will get more friends. We can't wait to be part of the activities that are being planned."
