BBC News
Published
image copyrightKate Dyson
Kate Dyson set up a Facebook group for mums when she was suffering from post-natal depression. It helped her recover, and running The Motherload - which now has 107,000 members - has been a rewarding experience. But as the pandemic wore on, abusive messages started flooding in, and Kate came close to shutting the whole thing down.
"There was a real Blitz-style sense of camaraderie during the first lockdown," Kate Dyson says.
"I had a nine-year-old and seven-year-old who needed homeschooling, and nowhere to take my two-year-old. It's been a real rollercoaster."
Back then, everyone seemed to be respecting The Motherload's motto - "sharing the load of motherhood, without judgement" - save for the odd comment from overly competitive homeschoolers.