As director of The Hiking Household, Laura Earl, 35, is responsible for documenting local, family friendly, walks on their website which attracts more than 33,000 users each year. As well as the website, The Hiking Household delivers resources across the county to help people enjoy the great outdoors and explore their local surroundings. She is based in Carlisle where she resides with her husband and their four small children.

 

Laura says: "I’m an active individual, I think you have to be when you have four children in five years! I thrive off a challenge and work best when kept busy, never one to shy away from a new idea, it was this drive that fuelled The Hiking Household. Developed in 2020, during the pandemic, my heart went out to those new mothers forced into a lockdown and navigating motherhood for the first time, alone. I myself had our fourth baby one week into the first lockdown, due to various restrictions I laboured alone and then returned to our home where my husband and our five-year-old, three-year-old and one-year-old were all waiting! Shortly after I arrived home my husband was called back to work offshore, and it was during those incredibly lonely weeks that my idea began.

The Hiking Household originally set out to be an Instagram page to help local families find doorstep walks during the lockdown – we were all in need of some inspiration. It soon gathered momentum and, fast forward three years, we are now a CIC working alongside some of the most pivotal organisations to help people in Cumbria get more active. We highlight local walks, produce family friendly maps and more recently we have worked with Active Cumbria, thanks to the Reconditioning Fund, to produce a series of resources to help older adults get moving more – a long way from the Instagram idea I first had.

I grew up in Carlisle, moving away to go to university to complete my undergraduate degree and then again to study for my master’s degree. I never anticipated moving back ‘home’ but when I fell pregnant with my first child, we felt it was sensible to move back to Carlisle. A safe, green, and friendly place to bring up a family. When I moved back to Carlisle in 2014, I was working as a paediatric intensive care nurse at the RVI in Newcastle, commuting and enjoying the adrenaline the job brought. Following the birth of our first child I soon realised I wasn’t able to do both jobs to my full potential, so I decided to take a career break and I became a full-time mum. This is the job I continued with until we completed our family in 2020 with our fourth baby and I began developing my new idea.

The Hiking Household allows me to work family friendly hours whilst still providing the buzz of helping others, something I greatly miss from nursing. I had a huge interest in public health throughout my career as a nurse and this passion drives many of The Hiking Household’s projects today. We are interested in minimising health complications in adults through early intervention in childhood; trying to change behaviours at a young age in the hope physical, and mental, health will be stronger as you reach adulthood.

I am incredibly proud of the way The Hiking Household has developed over the years, going from a small Instagram page to a reputable company with three directors and a wonderful volunteer, who I would be lost without! In 2023 we won Community Group of the Year at the Newsquest Pride of Cumbria Awards, and we are now fortunate enough to have strong connections with many local organisations. It has to be said the people of Cumbria have been key to our success, the way local families embraced our initial idea and continue to use our website each and everyday is inspiring. Local organisations were always keen to hear our ideas, help where they could and point us in the direction of that much needed funding.

Our biggest restriction moving forward is that of funding, we are fortunate to have strong partnerships with Active Cumbria, Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council and we hope this can continue throughout 2024 and beyond. Like most small businesses funding is key to help grow our ideas, particularly our website. As a CIC all our profits go back into the community and everything we offer to the public is completely free of charge, something we are adamant will remain.

I began the last quarter of 2023 incredibly optimistic for The Hiking Household; we had just won Community Group of the Year and I was working on an exciting project with Active Cumbria. Unfortunately, in September 2023 I was diagnosed with a brain tumour, not part of the plan. As a family we are navigating 2024 the best that we can, The Hiking Household is still very much one of my top priorities and, whilst I’m sure I will slow down post brain surgery, at the moment I am enjoying where this business is going.

Ironically, this business of mine promotes being active as a way to manage not only your physical health but also your mental health, and I am currently doing exactly that. Walking, being outside in the fresh air and exercising are currently keeping me alive. I remain forever optimistic and positive for both my future and the future of my fifth baby – The Hiking Household."