Our achievements in women’s health across 2022
Here are our highlights of the past year, none of which would be possible without your support
As we get ready for Christmas, here at Wellbeing of Women we are reflecting on how we have helped to make a difference to women, girls and babies this year – which would not have been possible without our fantastic community of supporters.
How we helped change lives in 2022
Our major highlights include:
> Wellbeing of Women Chair appointed Women’s Health Ambassador for England
We were delighted when our Chair, Professor Dame Lesley Regan, was appointed the first ever Women’s Health Ambassador for England. The announcement was made at the same time the government published its long-awaited Women’s Health Strategy – a much-needed positive step towards better healthcare for women in the country.
Read more about Professor Regan’s appointment as England's Women's Health Ambassador.
> Investing nearly £1.5 million into women’s health research
During 2022, we invested nearly £1.5 million into new research across women’s health, enabling 30 active projects. This brings the total number of research projects we funded to 576, which have led to breakthroughs for women, girls and babies.
This year, our research has been looking into the impact of homelessness in pregnancy, ovarian cancer treatment resistance and the impact of severe COVID-19 infection on mothers and babies.
We also announced a funding partnership with the Scottish Government for endometriosis research.
> Normalising conversations and tackling stigma through Our Let’s #ChatMenopause campaign
Our Let’s #ChatMenopause campaign was launched during Menopause Awareness Month in October with the support of high-profile celebrities, such as Penny Lancaster, Carolyn Harris MP, Lisa Snowdon, Kate Thornton, Zoe Hardman, Dr Nighat Arif, and women from the Armed Forces.
“For most women, the menopause is a natural stage in our lives, but many don’t feel able to talk about what they’re going through. This campaign by Wellbeing of Women to get people talking is crucial if we’re going to break down barriers so that women get the help they deserve.” – Carolyn Harris MP
Since launching the campaign, we have had more than 900,000 impressions of our social media content and over 250,000 views of our campaign videos. Over a thousand women have been sharing their personal stories across social media in response to the campaign. We’re so pleased to be playing an important part in helping to open up these conversations.
> Thousands of employers signing our Menopause Workplace Pledge
More than 2,000 employers have signed our Menopause Workplace Pledge, which is leading the way with transforming menopause support in the workplace. These include major organisations, such as NHS England, BBC, the Civil Service, House of Commons and Royal Mail, as well as Tesco, Santander, AstraZeneca and smaller businesses and organisations.
Our campaign was featured as an example of best practice in the Government’s Menopause report and the Women’s Health Strategy. As part of signing the pledge, NHS England published new menopause policy for its 1.2million staff – of which women make up 75%.
This growing commitment to support women experiencing the menopause at work is a hugely positive step forward and will benefit millions of workers across the UK.
Our campaign was a finalist in the ‘Big Impact’ category of the Third Sector Awards 2022.
> Our very first Women’s Health Summit
We held our inaugural Wellbeing of Women Summit and brought together doctors, campaigners, patients, business leaders and others to discuss the future of women’s health and the power of women’s voices to drive change. We heard from some very inspiring speakers, including our Ambassadors Davina McCall and Dr Nighat Arif.
> Reaching thousands of women through our informative webinars and Instagram Lives
We held seven health and wellbeing webinars on topics such as endometriosis, miscarriage and fibroids and adenomyosis. We also organised an Instagram Live about polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) with Gynae Geek and Alice Liveing, and on lesser known symptoms of the menopause with Lisa Snowdon and Dr Zoe Schaedel.
> Welcoming new charity ambassadors to help us raise awareness
We were so excited to announce five new Ambassadors: Penny Lancaster, Davina McCall, Cherry Healey, Dr Nighat Arif and Rosie Nixon! We are thrilled by the prospect of working with them even more closely to help raise awareness and improve women’s lives next year.
So what’s next?
Just because it’s nearly Christmas, doesn’t mean we are slowing down. In fact, as the new year approaches, our plans are stepping up a gear.
We have lots of plans for 2023, including:
- Another £1.5 million to invest in ground-breaking research
- A campaign to raise awareness of period problems
- More educational webinars and Instagram Lives
- A new website to make sure we are advancing our mission of improving health and wellbeing of women, girls and babies
- Exciting fundraising events and opportunities to help make all our research, information and advocacy work possible!
Thank you for your continued support and helping us make all this happen!