246+ prams and one great cause: Queanbeyan Pramathon takes on Australian record

Posted on 22 April, 2025

The Queanbeyan Pramathon is set to make history on Saturday 10 May, aiming to break the Australian record for most prams walking together while supporting pregnant and newly parenting mums in need.

Raising money to support pregnant and newly parenting mums in need, the Queanbeyan Pramathon is a community event born (pun-intended) from the passionate team of First Steps Pregnancy Support – a charity that opened in 2024 to provide comprehensive care for pregnant women in crisis.

Serving women in ACT and the surrounding region and providing their services free of charge to priority women (including young mums, First Nations mums, recently migrated mums with no Medicare, mums with a mental health diagnosis, single mums, and mums experiencing homelessness or unemployment), the event aims to raise awareness and funding for the work that they do.

According to Medical Director of First Steps Pregnancy Support/GP Obstetrician, Dr Sarah Jensen, and First Steps Pregnancy Support Centre Manager and Social Worker Laura Lamerton, they hope that by bringing over 246 prams together they can continue to create initiatives for pregnant and newly parenting mums in need of a place to call home.

“The idea for a festival in Queanbeyan that celebrates mums has been something we have thought about for a while. But it was actually Nick Fry from Community Bank Bungendore/Braidwood/Crookwell – a big supporter of ours – who came up with the idea of the Pramathon,” says Laura.

“While we hope the Pramathon might raise some funds, our bigger hope is that we bring the community together, celebrate our local mums and confirm the well-known fact that Queanbeyan is one of the best places to have a baby and raise a family, no matter what your circumstances!”

First Steps Pregnancy Support.

Originally hoping to break the Guinness World Record of 746 prams pushed simultaneously, the team decided to focus on beating the Australian record after learning they’d need to close roads and pay $15,000 to attempt the international record.

Asking participants to pay a $30 registration fee for their pram (pets in prams are also welcome), Sarah and Laura explain that they thought the Mother’s Day weekend would be the perfect opportunity to bring mums, families and community together for an uplifting event in Queanbeyan Park.

“Really it’s just a fun component of the day that gives us a goal and motivates locals to band together to beat this record.  We also love the idea of Queanbeyan being known for something really positive, and there is not much that is better than a community of many mums (and others) getting out in the fresh air to walk with their children!” they say.

“The founders of the Australian Book of Records are coming to be the judges of the event and hopefully will present us with the framed record certificate if we are successful.”

Along with the walk, the day will also include a best dressed-up pram competition, the Cutest Baby of the Region Awards, along with a raffle, food, games and more.

“We’d love Mums to sign up for the Pramathon, get sponsors from their networks, then dress up their pram on the day and join us for the walk!”  says Sarah.

“It’s not a race, just a fun walk around the beautiful Queanbeyan Park!”

With the funds raised from the day going towards services that range from medical care and social work support to frozen home-cooked meals and a baby boutique of pre-loved clothes, Sarah and Laura say that they also hope the event showcases the village of support that we have in the region.

“In our short time of being operational, we have quickly recognised that the biggest need for the women we care for is safe and stable accommodation,” they explain.

“If you don’t know where you are going to sleep that night and are constantly thinking about how to keep your child safe and in your care, then it is hard to focus on anything else.”

“First Steps Pregnancy Support has some exciting potential opportunities to begin to expand our services to include accommodation…The Queanbeyan Pramathon is the launch for this arm of our work, and we hope it will become an annual event to raise awareness and funding for increasing creative initiatives for pregnant and newly parenting mums in need of a place to call home.”