The Community Contribution is an optional monthly donation that members can make to support the running of the Blaze Trails community. 

Member contributions will make a profound difference to Blaze Trails - they’ll cover the rising costs of running our growing organisation, enable us to provide much more support to volunteers and members, provide practical resources for parents, and raise our capacity so we can improve access for parents who would otherwise struggle to get out walking. 

Walks themselves will remain free - the heart of our community is rooted in reducing barriers and supporting all parents to get outdoors. 

Lots of community members have told us they’d like to support Blaze Trails but we know everyone’s situation is different. Parents can choose if and how much they want to contribute. The recommended contribution we hope most people choose to make is £4 per month - around the price of a post-walk coffee. 

To be inclusive of everyone in our community, everyone can take part in a way that feels right for them, including through a free option for those who are unable to contribute.

Our walks and groups are thriving thanks to the dedication of our team and organisers, and the demand continues to grow - this baby-walking-thing is really resonating for parents across the country!

We now have a staggering 27,000+ members in our Mighty Networks community and hundreds of organisers - incredible given it all started with one small walking group back in 2020.

It takes an immense amount of time, care and resource to manage and support our rapidly blossoming community. Our core team is so passionate, but really, really stretched. 

Right now, everyone in the core team of 12 is a volunteer, giving anything from 7 to 30 hours a week of their time in addition to their day jobs and caring for their own babies and young children.

Emails, phone calls, Whatsapp messages, careful administration to keep track of everything - the flurry of volunteer and member management is nonstop, almost 24/7. This includes our amazing Regional Managers who give many hours of in-depth, personalised support to organisers and members every week.

The only partially paid member of staff is our Founding Director, who gave up her paid job three years ago to focus on Blaze Trails — but we can only afford to pay her for about 2.5 days a month and the remaining time she volunteers.

Blaze Trails has evolved into a fully-fledged national organisation making a huge, unique impact, but being reliant on almost purely volunteers isn’t sustainable. 

We’ve tried lots of things to bring in more money but our annual income remains very limited - it’s a constant juggle trying to raise enough to cover even the basic running costs of Blaze Trails, while also trying to support everyone and do the everyday running of the organisation.

Similar organisations to Blaze Trails are also struggling in the current funding climate, with some being forced to close.

We’re worried about how we’ll manage into the future, so we need to call on our beloved community to help. 

Blaze Trails is a labour of love for all involved. But to keep our community safe, inclusive, and well-supported, we need to evolve our approach so that we can keep up with its growth, and better support our organisers and wider team. 

Most of all, it would mean being able to be here for good - helping so many more parents experience the benefit of getting outdoors with their baby.

The real magic. 

We’re introducing a scale of contribution options, so everyone can take part in the way that’s comfortable for them. The contribution options are:

£4/month – Sustainable Support

This is the recommended contribution we’re hoping most members will make. This will help keep Blaze Trails going and growing to support parents across the UK to get outdoors.

£2/month – Core Support

A lower-cost option for those who want to give, but need to keep things lighter.

£8/month – Pay It Forward

For those who can afford to give more and want to contribute on behalf of families who can’t currently.

£0 - Access for All

For those who can’t contribute right now. We never want cost to be a barrier. Everyone is welcome.

Steady, sustainable income each month will be transformational for Blaze Trails. 

We will be able to:

• pay for our essential overheads and be able to put more robust systems in place so we can keep up with our growing community

• pay some part-time core team roles, ensuring even higher quality, consistent and timely support for organisers and members

• strengthen our approach to perinatal mental health and safeguarding

• work with local partners like midwives, health visitors and charities to help more isolated or under-represented parents

• focus on enriching the whole parent journey through Blaze Trails - from member, to organiser, to core team member, and beyond. 

Contributions will pay for essential costs, including: 

• public liability insurance, DBS checks, accounting & legal services 

• tech fees - community platform, website & email hosting, mailing list, video conferencing

• training, creating resources and posting organiser kits for volunteer organisers

• admin time for organisational, organiser and member support

Will the community benefit?

Blaze Trails has and will always be parent-led. As a Community Interest Company (CIC) any funds raised for Blaze Trails are legally protected and must be reinvested into, and for the benefit, of the community. We publish our annual accounts & will be sharing more of a breakdown of our income, costs & labour involved in the coming weeks.

We don’t yet know how much the community contributions will raise for Blaze Trails, but we have an experienced and skilled team, and expert advisors, who will ensure that any spending will be carefully prioritised to benefit the whole community.

Our primary goal is to support parents - and we’re excited to soon have more capacity to do so.

Community Contributions will be made via direct debit every month through ‘plans’ on Mighty Networks. 

New members signing up to our Mighty Networks community for the first time will see a list of contribution plan options on the main landing page, which they can choose, before answering our usual approval questions. New members will be offered a trial month with no contribution, whichever plan they choose, to have the opportunity to see if the Blaze Trails community is for them. 

Current members will be prompted through public posts and private messages to choose a new plan (including the free one) by a certain date, after which their access to our Mighty Networks community will be paused.

All members can cancel or change their contribution plan at any time. 

Organisers will not be asked to contribute as they are already giving so much to the running of the community. We will move Organisers to a specific free plan for Organisers. 

How much people choose to contribute or not is confidential. No other members of the community or organisers will know if or how much another member has donated. Everyone will have equal access to the community, platform, walks and resources.

Members will be able to make Community Contributions from Monday 1st December 2025.

Thank you so much for your support.