Behind the ‘gram with @NorthEastFamilyFun

1. What inspired you to create 'North East Family Fun'? And when did it all begin?

I started blogging (with a slightly different website) over 10 years ago, I always enjoyed writing and sharing ideas and it was a nice little hobby for me when my children were small.

North East Family Fun was born in 2012 – my friends and family often mentioned that I was their go-to person for places to visit in the North East and that I should set up a website. So, one day, I Googled ‘How to set up a free website’ and North East Family Fun was born. Back then, I had no idea about blogging or what it could grow to become – it was simply a website that I could share with family and friends and something for me to do when the kids were in bed and Steve was at work (he worked shifts at the time).

I have always believed that we learn best through experience and am a strong advocate for learning through travel and day trips. I love that my website and social media provides the chance to share this passion and connect with like-minded people.

3. One of the most refreshing things about your page is your honesty - whether it's for places you have visited or your general opinion, but with such a huge following, how do you find the balance to be honest without having a detrimental effect on a local business?

Some people assume that because you are working with an attraction or business, you will always give them a glowing review but in my experience, this just isn’t the case. If you want to be a trusted source of information in the long-term, you must be honest and point out the positives and the negatives with any experience.

Readers do not expect every day out or attraction to be perfect and really appreciate honesty. Honesty does not put them off booking places on the back of my post – it just gives them better expectations.

Brands are usually very open to honest reviews and much prefer a balanced approach too (well the good ones do). When they share my posts with their readers, they know it is an authentic review.

That being said, I am a huge supporter of North East businesses and if an experience was not up to their usual standard, rather than writing a scathing review based on my one-off experience, I would give the place I was writing about another chance and re-visit on another date (and still include an overview of my bad experience in my post). Everyone has bad days.

Family-friendly walk?

Druridge Bay Country Park is our favourite. We have been taking the kids since they were babies. It is just over 1 mile circular (pushchair friendly) walk around the lake and there is lots of wildlife to spot, steppy stones, a play park, a cafe and visitor centre plus of course the gorgeous beach too.

Food delivery?

It has to be Grainger Delivery – they bring the Grainger Market to your door and were our saviours during lockdown. I love the variety from Redheads Mac ‘n’ Cheese for your freezer to fruit boxes and meat from local butchers. Their Christmas hampers launch this month and I will be first in the queue.

Rainy day?

We are big fans of The Gate for older kids and teens. The Wonderbar is brilliant for a game of virtual darts (which can get very competitive) and YuMe World has a large Virtual Gaming area with all the latest tech / games. It was a big hit when we visited in the summer.

6. Do you have any tips for those who are wanting to set up a blog?

Yeah, definitely. Here are my top five:

1. Just do it – I didn’t have any training and have never taken a blog course. The best way you learn is by just jumping in & learning as you go.
2. Do not start a blog for ‘freebies’ – you need to be passionate about the subject you are writing about.
3. Get involved with the community – We are very lucky in the North East to have a brilliant blogging community. I have made some of my best friends through blogging and it all started through commenting on each other’s posts.
4. Don’t underestimate the effort that goes into running a blog – Blogging has been my full-time job for 5 years now. If you plan to monetise, do not under-estimate the time and dedication needed. I used to work 40 hours+ on my blog as well as work part time and parent three children under the age of 5 in the earlier days.
5. Do not join engagement threads – In the blogging / Instagram community there are groups and threads you can join where everyone comments on everyone else’s posts. This is such a waste of time and I promise you, in the long term, it will do more damage than good. Focus your energy on finding like-minded accounts and blogs and genuinely engage with their content. Be authentic.

northeastfamilyfun.co.uk