Over 100 Mums Just Threw the Best Picnic Sydney Has Seen This Year
There is a stat that does not get talked about enough. Up to 80 to 90% of new mothers report feeling lonely. Not occasionally, not in passing. Genuinely, structurally lonely. The kind that builds quietly after the visitors stop coming and the world expects you to have figured it all out by now.
Sky News Interview: Co-founder of the ‘Villagehood’ app Brittany Bloomer shares her journey in creating ‘Villagehood,’ a platform designed to connect new mothers and combat loneliness during motherhood.
Brittany Bloomer knows this because she lived it. As a first time mum overseas in Estonia, far from her Australian network, she started a coffee meetup with seven women. It became hundreds. Back home she did it again. Then she decided to build the thing so other women would not have to rebuild the wheel from scratch every time they moved suburb or had a baby or simply could not figure out how to make adult friends without it being deeply awkward. That is Villagehood. A geo-based app that connects mothers locally, surfaces other mums nearby, and makes it genuinely easy to go from app to real life without it feeling like a personality test.
The Nourishment Table, the kids on picnic blankets, the yoga session under the trees.Â
The official launch happened on 4 May at Paperbark Grove in Centennial Park, and more than 100 mothers showed up. Woollahra Mayor Sarah Swan opened the morning, which tells you something about how seriously the problem is being taken. The space was broken into zones that worked perfectly together.
The Vibe: Blankets on the grass, babies in carriers, strangers becoming friends. Proof of concept.
The Nourishment Table had Nourishing Bubs serving organic toddler meals, with seating from Tot Haus. The Styling Space gave mothers a moment to feel like themselves again, via Lenelly The Label and personal styling built around postpartum bodies. Nuna Baby and BMW Sydney gifted flower bouquets on arrival, with complimentary car seat checks from Baby and Car and Mini Cooper Sydney. Blossoms Play ran a sensory kids space. Bess delivered sound healing. Janine from Blossoms Doula Care offered on-site doula support. The difference between this and a standard brand activation is that every element had a reason to be there.
From left: the Nourishing Bubs table, the Nuna x BMW Sydney flower activation, and Bess on sound healing.Â
The app itself was built by Baron Bloomer, Brittany's brother and co-founder, a former tech lead at Shopify and Soho House London. His brief was deliberately simple: reduce friction. No performative profiles. No endless feeds. No swiping on appearances. Just location-based tools that make it easier to say yes to a pram walk, a coffee or a Saturday picnic with people who are in the same stage of life.
Brittany and Baron Bloomer, the sibling duo behind Villagehood. She built the community. He built the platform. Between them, they built the thing the village was missing.
The beta ran with over 1,000 Australian mothers whose feedback shaped the product before launch. "Instead of endless feeds or swiping based on appearances, we focused on simple tools that help mums say yes to a walk, a coffee or a local meetup based on their location," Baron says. That brief produced something that functions less like an app and more like infrastructure.
How to Use the App: see who is in your area, find something worth doing, say yes. Sunset pram walks, matcha dates, mums and bubs yoga. The hard part of making friends as an adult, handled.
The friendship recession is real. The data on maternal loneliness is not new, just chronically underacted on. What Villagehood is doing is treating it like a design problem rather than a feelings problem, which turns out to be exactly the right instinct. The turnout at Centennial Park was not a fluke. It was 100 women confirming they have been waiting for something like this. The village is forming. It is free to download.
Download The App:
Apple Store: villagehood.app
Google Play: villagehood.app
Instagram: @villagehood.app
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is Villagehood?
Villagehood is a free community app that connects mothers with other mums nearby. Using your location, it surfaces local activities, meetups and other mothers in your area so you can go from app to real life without it being complicated. Pram walks, coffee catch-ups, picnics, slow-play sessions. You join what suits you or host your own.
Is it free?
Yes. The app is free to download and free to use. It is available on both the App Store and Google Play.
Who is it for?
Mothers. New mums, mums who have moved to a new area, mums who have lost their social circle to nap schedules and school pick-ups, mums who just want to find people who are in the same stage of life without having to explain why they are tired. If any of that sounds familiar, it is for you.
How does it work?
Open the app, see what is happening near you, and join or host an activity. The platform is geo-based, so it shows you other mothers and meetups in your actual neighbourhood rather than a general feed of strangers. You can browse activities, RSVP, chat with other attendees and show up. That is it.
What kind of activities are on the app?
Whatever mothers in your area are organising. Pram walks, matcha dates, mums and bubs yoga, park picnics, coffee catch-ups and slow-play sessions are the most common. You can also host your own activity if there is nothing happening nearby that suits you.
Where is Villagehood available?
Villagehood launched in Australia and is currently growing suburb by suburb. It is available nationwide on the App Store and Google Play. The platform is also expanding internationally.
Who built it?
Brittany Bloomer founded Villagehood after experiencing maternal isolation as a first-time mum living overseas in Estonia. Her brother Baron Bloomer, a former tech lead at Shopify and Soho House London, built the platform in-house with one brief: make it as easy as possible to say yes to a walk.
Can I host my own activities?
Yes. Any mother can create and host an activity through the app. If you want to take it further, Villagehood also has a formal host program for mothers who want to help grow local communities and lead regular meetups in their area.
Why does maternal loneliness matter?
Studies show up to 80 to 90% of new mothers experience loneliness. It is not a personal failing or a phase. It is a structural gap that has developed as the informal village around motherhood has disappeared. Villagehood was built specifically to address that gap with something practical rather than another awareness campaign.
Do I need to be a new mum to use Villagehood?
No. The app is for any mother at any stage. Whether you have a newborn, a toddler or a school age kid and have simply never found your people, Villagehood works the same way. Motherhood does not have an expiry date on needing community.
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