Wellbeing of Women to run workshops for SMEs in Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire, combining virtual reality with expert information and advice.
Wellbeing of Women will be running a series of workshops in October to help small and medium-sized organisations understand the menopause and how symptoms can affect people at work.
The Menopause Xplored initiative, funded through a partnership between the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency, will guide employers towards providing the right support.
Janet Lindsay, CEO of Wellbeing of Women, said: “So many women are struggling with menopause symptoms at work. We know they’re cutting their hours, passing up promotions or leaving their jobs altogether. This makes no sense, either for women or for their employers.
“Menopause Xplored will ensure organisations can take steps to retain staff, improve workplace culture for all, and help women flourish.”
The one-hour workshops will involve:
- An immersive film, viewed through a virtual reality headset
- Information and guidance from leading expert Diane Danzebrink
- Group discussion and questions
- Resource packs and downloadable toolkits.
Menopause expert, Diane Danzebrink, said: “I strongly encourage men and women in all roles and from all types of organisations to come along to our training. It’s not just for bigger, office-based businesses. Women experiencing menopause are to be found in warehouses, hospitality, health and beauty, the care sector, retailers, all sorts. And there are always improvements that can be made.”
This rollout of workshops follows a successful pilot phase of Menopause Xplored launched earlier this year.
Leigh-Anne Cruickshank, Senior Operations Manager, Total Wellbeing Luton said, “The workshop was eye-opening. I hadn’t really considered the impact menopause could have on my colleagues and how I could support them. We now have much more open discussions and are talking about ways we can support our colleagues going through menopause.”
Charlotte Richmond, Head of Employee Engagement & Wellbeing at Aimii said, “One of the highlights was the VR, which gave me a good feel for what women might experience and the challenges they face. It prompted me to make some changes to our policies and practices and I’m working on updating our people development and management programmes to include menopause training as standard.”
More information on the training can be found here
