YORK mum of two Emily Pickard jokes that she has a third child called Mumbler.

That's the name of the online social network with almost 15,000 members that connects parents across the city.

Whether you want to know about the best place to take your child swimming or what to pack when you go into hospital to give birth, the Mumbler community is on hand to give advice. Sometimes posts are very personal: there have been discussions about many sensitive subjects such as abortion, domestic abuse, post-natal depression and breast feeding. It's not uncommon for mums to post in the middle of the night, perhaps when they are up with a baby or poorly child and can feel lonely, isolated and uncertain. For some members, says 34-year-old Emily, Mumbler has been "a lifeline".

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York Mumbler was first established as a Facebook group in 2012. Now there is a website too, and last year Emily gave up her job in marketing to focus on developing Mumbler further. Revenues are raised by selling online advertising.

You could say she is keeping it in the family because in 2011 her big sister Sally Haslewood set up the original Mumbler in Harrogate, where they both grew up.

Like Sally, Emily set up York Mumbler when she started her family – she has two daughters, Edith, aged four, and Megan, two. Husband Nick is a photographer.

Originally, Mumbler was conceived as a way to meet other parents and share tips on childrearing as well as family-friendly places to go.

Now, says Emily, it has grown into a "one-stop shop for everything parents want to know – and a trusted resource".

The website has information on everything from what's on for families to how to find an ante-natal class. Emily has also begun organising monthly Mumbler meet ups at Creepy Crawlies from 10am to noon on the last Thursday of the month. And every two months there is a Mumbler Nearly New Sale at Clements Hall – the next one will take place on Saturday June 3 from 10.30am to noon, entry costs £1.

During half term on Wednesday, May 31, from 10.30am to 3.30pm, Emily will be organising a Children's Activity Day at the Monk Bar hotel, where there will be lots of free taster sessions for youngsters to try, including drama and crafts as well as face painting and glitter tattoos.

Such has been the success of the Mumbler model that it now has 18 franchises across the country, including four for the Leeds area and one which will launch in Ryedale next month and cover Malton and Pickering.

Each franchise is run by a local parent who knows the area inside out. It is this closeness to the community being served that is Mumbler's USP, believes Emily, and sets them apart from other successful parenting sites such as Mumsnet.

"We are hyper-local. It's not just about the coffee morning being run in the village hall, it is really important to us that Mumbler is run by somebody who lives in the area and who can get to the nitty gritty of what's going on."

Emily continues: "For me, the community always has to be number one. Mumbler is about community, support and advice."

Being kind is the underlying ethos of the site. Emily has no truck with trolls and while welcoming debate and comment will not allow cruel and malicious comments on Mumbler.

"The number one rule on Mumbler is to be kind. I want anyone to be able to talk about anything and don't want to have to take people off the site or take comments down, but there is one proviso: people have to be respectful and kind.

"We will have different views on bringing up our children, but there are plenty of other places where people can air their dirty laundry. The Mumbler brand is not about negativity."

Emily and a team of six friends act as administrators on the site, taking down unsuitable posts and comments if necessary.

Membership is open to people in the York area who have children. It is a closed group, meaning Emily has to "approve" all applicants. This is normally straight forward, says Emily, who conducts a quick online search on newcomers.

Emily says many members have made friendships through the site, while others have told her it has been their "lifeline".

"When you are up in the middle of the night you sometimes see posts from people at 2am, and some people replying to them at that time. So people know they are not alone."

Some of the most commented on posts are those about difficult subjects such as whether to have a termination, or to leave an abusive partner or to switch to bottles because of difficulty breastfeeding. Many of these posts appear as "anonymous" – a service Emily offers when issues are particularly sensitive.

"We ask that people aren't judgemental. There is enough pressure on parents and we don't really want to add to that. In fact, I would like to take some of that away if I can."

Mumbler has proven itself to be an effective vehicle to tackle social issues. During Mental Health Awareness Week, it hosted blogs about mental health for parents. Emily would like to do more of this in the future.

At its best, she concedes, it connects parents together in a way not possible before. For example, when primary places were announced last month, Mumbler conducted a poll among members about where their children were going. It means should parents want to meet up in the summer ahead of their children starting school, they would be able to do so.

For Emily, Mumbler is not just her job, but her passion. "Mumbler is my third baby," she says. "If I won the lottery, I would carry on doing Mumbler."