This is the story of the birth of a lifestyle brand, born from an ambition to make a difference in an increasingly inactive modern way of living.
As a married couple with a steady jobs in the epicentre of University Sport at Loughborough, and schools/health promotion/youth sport respectively, all was rosy. Enough money, decent careers. Happy days. The daily mission? To help young people be healthy, be active, have fun.
But somehow there was always the gnawing feeling that there must be a way to make this mission more personal, more hands-on, and find a way to ‘be the change’ as a wise man once said.
So the idea of Duck Duck Goose began.
Then slowly, it grew. And grew.
A Yorkshire lifestyle brand with a mission. Inspiration for an activity revolution. We’re all stressed out, our children’s generation are facing an obesity epidemic.1 in 3 of them aged 2 to 15 are overweight or obese! Physical activity levels are static at best. Digital addicts, wall to wall TV, YouTube, iPads, PS4’s and the rest. We want to help everyday people and their families wake up and smell the roses. Life can be better than this! We know that being more active helps you feel calmer, happier and healthier no matter how old you are!
So get outside and have some fun together. Play some garden games (like Duck Duck Goose…!), skate, bike and scoot to the park or school. Get a bit muddy and build a den out of an old sheet and some sticks. Whatever you do, we just want to help you to forget the daily grind, and breathe hard in the open air again, all with a smile on your lovely faces.
How? Well we hope our shiny new website will inspire you with some fun ideas, activities, days out, suggestions or reviews, we will share all our experiences there for your benefit, plus invite you to share your best places and ideas too. A community. A swapshop of family merriment if you will, perhaps with some guest blogs from people who share our mission in one way or another.
In September 2016 we will be launching our cycle coaching services. Cycle Tots is aimed at getting younger kids moving on grin-inducing balance bikes (plus learning to cycle without the dreaded stabilisers) as well as taster sessions, balance bike parties and also Bikeability sessions for older children or even adults who need a bit of a confidence boost.
And finally we are also launching our own range of organic cotton clothing for kids and adults. Because everyone needs to look good when they’re out having fun right?! We wanted our clothing to represent our brand through ethically sourced, super nice, designed in Yorkshire, uber cool organic clothing, and we thought why not go and do it ourselves?
Basically if it’s about families having fun, getting outdoors and being active, we’re all over it!
So that’s our very potted history. We feel great about launching Duck Duck Goose, and who knows where it might take us.
It’s been super hard work to get to where we are, juggling work, life, children and getting a new business started. A steep learning curve. And really, we’re just about to step over the start line.
So if you can relate to anything about what you’re reading, or you’re just a teensie bit curious, jump onboard and follow the #DDG journey. It’s only just begun.
Hannah, Rich and family.
