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Wellbeing of Women and Holland & Barrett have announced new funding to support women's health in under-served communities

The ‘Women’s Health Community Fund’ will provide £50,000 to projects working with under-served communities in partnership with retailer Holland & Barrett. The fund has already helped over 3,000 women nationwide with advice, education and support around menopause

Located across the country, the new group of successful applicants include BID Services, a project focused on women’s health education for D/deaf/hard of hearing women living in Leeds and IKWRO Women’s Rights, a London based organisation that provides training to raise awareness on women’s health issues to victims of domestic violence, forced marriage and other harmful practices.

Originally launched in October last year, the fund has already supported 13 projects in delivering menopause awareness sessions to underrepresented groups. More than 650 people took part in 35 in-person or online events or workshops, which also resulted in an indirect reach of over 3,000 individuals looking to break the barriers of the menopause conversation.

The fund, which has committed a total of £75,000 since September 2023, forms part of Holland & Barrett’s ‘Women’s Wellness Commitment’ – a long-term commitment (backed by a £4m investment) to address four key areas: democratising access to support, closing the research gap, enabling health equity and leading in product innovation with women’s needs in mind. The UK’s leading health and wellness retailer set up the Commitment following research which revealed that over a third of women (35 per cent) say there is a lack of education or readily available, trusted support and guidance on women’s health issues.

Wellbeing of Women are committed to closing the glaring gap in health outcomes for women from marginalised communities. In 2023, the charity launched the Health Collective, which consists of grassroots organisations, working with women from marginalised communities to raise the voices of women that they work with and call for urgent change from policymakers and healthcare professionals.

Janet Lindsay, Chief Executive of Wellbeing of Women, comments: “I am thrilled to continue our partnership with Holland & Barrett and the important work that we are doing to improve women’s health education across the life-course from within local communities working with marginalised women. This aligns closely with the work that our Health Collective is doing to give a voice to women from marginalised communities, enable them to influence policy and provide a space for them to share experiences and solutions to common problems.

“This new funding initiative will enable grassroots organisations to reach more women from marginalised communities. From periods to menopause, the workshops being funded by the Women’s Health Community Fund will provide critical resources, education, and support, fostering an environment where every woman can thrive and be heard.”

Clare Stafford, Director of Communications at Holland & Barrett said: “We’ve already seen great success from our partnership with Wellbeing of Women and the fund, so we’re pleased to be able to offer much needed support to a new wave of incredibly worthwhile community-based projects. At Holland & Barrett, we are on a mission to increase education and access around menstrual health, break down stigmas and taboos, whilst offering women a safe space to go for support at all life-stages from menstruation to menopause and beyond.”

Jenni Steele, Founder and CEO of the YANA Project, said: “Through this funding we will be able to provide a menstrual health tour to a college and an independent neurodiverse school across South London. It will enhance the work we already do and allow us to create a wider programme to support at-risk girls and women with their menstrual health.