Here's what I did when I helped run a playgroup.

Set up toys. Some mums would arrive up to 15 minutes early and say my toy selection was not full enough (usually "too boyish" - well hello, I have a boy and want to keep him busy while I find the doll's house!).

Drinks and biscuits, provided and bought by volunteers, at 10am with story and songs.

Craft activity set up in another room for older children (which was usually the mums doing it anyway, which I object to - I don't want a MUM to stick on stars or whatever, I want the CHILD to do it even if it's "wrong".

Everyone notice when I start packing toys away 15 minutes AFTER it's home time and people are told this but few people help.

Some are still here while I'm trying to vacuum the playgroup room ready for the baby group in the afternoon. Not feeding mums, which is fine, just chatting mums while 3-year-olds run around and are bored and, tbh, a nuisence because they've just scared DS who now wants me to comfort him and not clean.

This is why playgroups aren't organised more! You get people not wanting to help due to the work involved. And this was a group with up to 30 mums/carers and 40-odd kids. A lot of mums just sat and talked and ignored their children and new people - that's why the people who helped out would make a point of introducing new people at story time and chatting to the new mums, just so they'd have one friend at least.

Then you get complaints the group doesn't run in school holidays, can we all meet up at the park? Which again is just an excuse to chat and ignore the children and even "are we not doing stories? I didn't bring a drink because you provide them."

Just my experience! People expect a LOT from playgroups but not everyone wants to muck in and help.

We got a lot of people in who lived miles and miles away, not to mention those who had no intention of ever going to the church that provided the facilities. So that wasn't a problem for us.