Wellbeing of Women – the UK charity that saves and changes the lives of women, girls and babies through research, education and advocacy – has launched free menopause in the workplace workshops for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Hosted in Milton Keynes, a city well known for its small business community, Menopause Xplored will harness virtual reality and expert advice to teach participants about how menopause can impact women in the workplace, and how they can retain staff, avoid skills shortages and help women flourish at work.

Milton Keynes is one of the UK's top five cities for business start-ups per 10,000 population. There are 12,675 businesses in Milton Keynes; 8.6% are small businesses and 1.9% are medium businesses.

Women over 50 are the fastest growing demographic in the workplace and, at this stage of their careers, are often at their most successful, productive and experienced.

Perimenopause and menopause symptoms like brain fog, lack of sleep, anxiety and hot flashes, combined with a lack of support and knowledge from employers, can lead to 1 in 10 women leaving their careers at this time.

Workshops will be delivered by leading menopause expert Diane Danzebrink from Menopause Support.

Diane Danzebrink, author of Making Menopause Matter and Menopause Xplored expert, said: “Menopause is not a new concept, yet as a society, we have not been talking openly about it for long. It's not always easy to find the right information and support, which leads to many women struggling in silence – including at work.

“By harnessing the power of virtual reality and facilitating open discussion, we hope that managers and staff can better understand how perimenopause and menopause can affect women and teach them how best to support their colleagues.”

Wellbeing of Women CEO Janet Lindsay said: “Menopause Xplored is an immersive film and workshop that builds on the success of our Menopause Workplace Pledge. By training staff and managers alike on menopause, its range of symptoms and how it might affect staff, we hope that we can make SMEs a more diverse and inclusive place for women.

“Supporting women in the workplace is the right thing to do, employers can help to attract and improve retention of staff, ensure a diverse and inclusive workforce, increase productivity, maximise employee wellbeing and address the gender pay gap. When we get it right for women, everyone benefits.”

Charlotte Richmond, Head of Employee Engagement and Wellbeing at Aimmi, who attended the workshop last year, said: “The workshop was very informative and created a comfortable environment where people felt free to share their personal experiences. It prompted me to update our menstrual and menopause policy to reflect the new knowledge and insights I gained from the workshop.

The practical tools, provided by the menopause experts, were invaluable and the virtual reality especially helped to increase empathy and understanding among the participants.”

To book a space onto the workshops, please register on Wellbeing of Women’s Menopause Xplored page. Every organisation can book two free slots each.

This project was funded through the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund, part of a partnership programme between Department of Health & Social Care, NHS England and UK Health Security Agency.

We are working with Menopause Reality, a multi-film immersive project from Forward Slash Films, sharing individual stories of women's experiences of the menopause in the workplace, viewed in VR headsets.

The Milton Keynes workshops will be hosted on:

5 September, Stadium Way West, Bletchley, MK1 1ST

• 10:00 – 11:00
• 11:30 – 12:30
• 13:30 – 14:30
• 15:00 – 16:00

7 November, Delta Hotels Milton Keynes, Timbold Drive, Kents Hill, MK7 6HL

• 10:00 – 11:00
• 13:30 – 14:30
• 15:00 – 16:00