April 13, 2022

Up to three-quarters of women will experience menopausal symptoms that can impact on their quality of life, and almost one in four will have severe symptoms.

Symptoms don’t just stop when they enter work, will impact on all areas of their life, and can involve a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms. Psychological issues include mood swings, anxiety, depression, memory loss, panic attacks, loss of confidence (weight gain) and reduced concentration.  However, there are also invisible psychological symptoms such as mental health issues.

These have been linked to women having a higher intention to leave the workforce or not feeling confident to volunteer, with a reported quarter of women leaving work as they are not coping or feel unsupported.

The onset of menopause can happen around 45-55 years of age, but can also occur at any time as a result of medical or surgical treatment. It can coincide with a time when women are in positions of power and influence in an organisation, or are looking for new challenges through volunteering, bringing with them essential skills and experience that are invaluable to any organisation, fellow volunteers or colleagues.

The third sector has a higher percentage of women who volunteer and work within it than other sectors, and we feel that it is important to raise awareness in making our organisations ‘Menopause Aware’. Our sector has led the way in many initiatives and there is already good work happening through local support groups and organisations that can offer a space to explore these issues with peers, or look at specific support:

Thursday Perimenopause and Menopause peer support drop in at WECAN

1:1 organizational support from Menopause Body and Mind

Information on the NHS website on how they encourage their managers and staff to create more understanding and aware work environments

There’s also training available which is worth accessing such as this free CLIC training – Glow in the workplace – peri-menopause and menopause awareness for team leaders, on 5 May 2022 via Microsoft Teams. This workshop will help you to know what the menopause is, when it happens and how it can affect your employees and colleagues.

There will be other training or local support groups across Cumbria and its well worth linking in.

This is not just a gender or age issue as it can impact on colleagues and fellow volunteers, perhaps directly or indirectly. We feel that it is important our organisations offer awareness and support in order to reduce the potential loss of essential skills, experience and peers from volunteers, or colleagues who are important to us.