In our continuing commitment to recognising and supporting women’s health and wellbeing in the workplace, VONNE has signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge from Wellbeing of Women, supported by Bupa.
Wellbeing of Women are a women’s health charity. Led by women’s voices, they improve health and wellbeing through research, education and advocacy. They run a series of education and advocacy campaigns to raise awareness, tackle stigma, influence policy and improve outcomes across women’s health. One campaign is the Menopause Workplace Pledge which VONNE has signed, to show our commitment and support to women going through menopause in the workplace.
Three in four women experience menopause symptoms and one in four of those women has severe symptoms. Within the North East VCSE sector, 61% of Chief Officers and 46% of Chairs are women, and all of those women will go through the menopause in later life, with some experiencing symptoms much earlier than they might realise.
Earlier this year, our team took part in a fantastic menopause awareness session with Sharon MacArthur, which you can read about in our blog here. During the session we heard stories about women who felt stigma and shame attached to menopause, some lost their confidence and felt they couldn’t do their job, some even left lifelong careers because they felt they weren’t supported by their organisation or able to talk about what they were going through.
At VONNE we have a predominantly female workforce and we want everyone in our organisation to feel supported with their health and wellbeing to allow them to thrive in the workplace.
We have signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge with Wellbeing of Women to show our commitment to:
- recognising that the menopause can be an issue in the workplace and women need support
- talking openly, positively and respectfully about the menopause
- actively supporting and informing employees affected by the menopause
Employers and employees can sign the Menopause Workplace Pledge to help make a change in the workplace and show their support for staff experiencing the menopause.
If you’d like to know more about Wellbeing of Women and the Menopause Workplace Pledge, you can visit their website here.