Schools encouraged to sign the menopause pledge.

Suffolk Libraries has officially launched its new Menopause & Me programme and is encouraging employers across Suffolk – including schools – to sign its menopause pledge.

Menopause & Me programme is being run by Suffolk Libraries with funding from the Department of Health and Social Care.

It aims to help people who are experiencing the menopause and perimenopause, with a focus on empowering local employers to provide as much support as possible for their staff. Suffolk Libraries will be working with Suffolk Mind and other partners on the project.

One in ten women who have been employed during the menopause have left work due to menopause symptoms, and eight out of ten women say their employer hasn’t shared information, trained staff, or put in place a menopause absence policy.

Menopause & Me is being funded by £170k of funding from the Department of Health and Social Care’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Health and Wellbeing Fund. The fund aims to help people to remain in or return to the workplace through and following pregnancy, pregnancy loss or menopause which was one of the aims set out in the first ever Women’s Health Strategy for England.

The Suffolk Libraries website has a range of dedicated resources all designed to support employers and people with lived experience of the menopause through courses and support groups.

For more information about Menopause & Me and the pledge you can visit suffolklibraries.co.uk/menopause

When organisations sign the pledge, they commit to:

• Sending a member of staff on free to access fully funded online menopause training with Suffolk Mind
• Implementing a workplace menopause policy (a free to access template for businesses to create their own policy is available on the website)
• Creating a menopause-friendly workplace and supporting open and honest conversations on the subject.

You can also email [email protected] for more information.