Jigsaw’s Neighbourhoods team partnered up with mental health organisation Winning Hearts and Minds to launch informative menopause sessions for residents in North Manchester.
Neighbourhood Engagement Officer Julie Fraser launched the first session in October with Leonie Painter from Winning Hearts and Minds due to the lack of support available for women in North Manchester experiencing the menopause.
The sessions, which took place in Moston and Harpurhey, aimed to create a safe space for women to share their worries, concerns and symptoms with each other while also learning about various coping mechanisms and different areas of support available to them.
Several guest speakers were also invited to discuss useful ways residents could aid symptoms of the menopause. Speakers included:
- Jenny Haskey, CEO of The Menopause Charity, who discussed mindfulness techniques.
- Ruth Rosselson, Resilience Coordination at Manchester Mind who highlighted the many different menopause symptoms.
- Michelle Mckenna, Founder of Clippy’s, shared nutrition and lifestyle tips.
- Heidi Lally, Mental Health Professional and HRT specialist.
Resident Paula said “Through the menopause group, not only have I been able to find out valuable information which arms me with answers for my GP when they are struggling to prescribe for my symptoms, but a great group of women, who albeit have different lifestyles to me, but we are all in the same boat.
“We have different symptoms from time to time, but through sharing, the struggle is slowly not as bad as it was when I thought I was alone in all of this. It’s been a breath of fresh air.”
