The new Menopause Charity’s crowdfunding campaign will get a celebrity-charged boost on World Menopause Day, Sunday October 18th, as Davina McCall, Lorraine Kelly and Liz Earle join the charity’s founder, nationally renowned menopause specialist Dr Louise Newson for an online wellness festival open to all on Facebook.
Television presenters Davina and Lorraine, along with wellness expert Liz, and menopause author Meg Mathews, have agreed to become ambassadors for The Menopause Charity, which is Crowdfunding this month to change millions of lives for the better by smashing the stigma around menopause.
The charity will provide holistic support and fact-checked medical information for women, with a “gold standard” website, as well as offering education modules for NHS doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals on the menopause, as many women are presently turned away empty-handed by their GPs or given anti-depressants instead of hormone replacement therapy.
Davina McCall said: “People are embarrassed to talk about the menopause. It gets swept under the carpet. So I’m supporting the new Menopause Charity. It’s not sponsored by any pharmaceutical companies and it’s going to give honest and helpful advice to all women who are going through this difficult time of their lives.”
On World Menopause Day, Sunday 18th October, the charity will be hosting a taboo-breaking webinar with menopause experts led by Dr Louise Newson which will be available to download from 6pm for those who have made a donation of £20 or more to The Menopause Charity Crowdfunder.
The charity webinar is just one of many events on World Menopause Day aimed at raising awareness. In addition to the charity’s own webinar, Davina McCall will also be hosting the Own Your Goals Menopause Day festival on Facebook with a roundtable with Dr Louise Newson (@menopause_doctor), Lorraine Kelly and Liz Earle at 3.45pm on Sunday 18th October.
Dr Newson said: “The menopause affects all women regardless of their ethnic background, race or socio-economic group. All women deserve access to good quality menopause care and treatment. The Menopause Charity is going to help address this so in the future women globally will not have to suffer as they do now.”
Dr Newson added: “Every day, I hear from women who are struggling with their menopause yet they are unable to receive help and treatment. All women will experience the menopause, which is a long-term hormone deficiency with real health risks such as increased risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. For the majority of women, taking HRT provides more benefits than risks and not only in improving symptoms but also to improve future health. Many women want to take HRT but are being refused it for the wrong reasons, often as their healthcare professional has received inadequate or no menopause training.”
Health care inequalities are brought into stark relief during the menopause, and outreach to different communities is key. The charity’s advisors include menopause specialist and NHS GP Radhika Vohra, who translates advice for women into Punjabi, Dr Nighat Arif, a regular medical contributor to BBC Breakfast, and Dr Nneka Nwokolo, an expert on HIV and the menopause.
The Menopause Charity’s trustees also include Professor Matthew Cripps, Director of Covid-19 Behaviour Change Unit and Director of Sustainable Healthcare, who joins in a personal capacity, and Vanessa Barnes, a solicitor with a Masters in medical law and ethics
The charity launched its Crowdfunder on September 23rd in order to raise funds to build a website on all matters menopause, with evidence-based, unbiased medical advice from the UK’s leading specialists. The Crowdfunder will continue until the end of October and hopes to raise £25,000 to further the campaign. Join the ordinary women and medical professionals who have donated to end ignorance of the menopause here.
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