Southampton’s Vail Williams launches menopause awareness campaign

Property consultancy Vail Williams has launched a campaign to raise menopause awareness.

The campaign, named Menopause Matters, started with a specialist lead management course which was attended by LLP members from the firm.

The firm, which has offices in Southampton and Portsmouth, will continue the campaign throughout 2023 providing practical support and a menopause first aid kit for each office. All staff will also have access to the ‘wider awareness programme’.

Learning and Development manager at Vail Williams Tanya Horscroft said: “As an Investor in People Gold accredited company it was important for us to embrace the topic of menopause.

“Without knowledge, understanding is almost impossible. The awareness course was deployed to help build stronger relationships via compassionate understanding and expanded comprehension of the issue.”

Symptoms of menopause affect 75% of women. A survey revealed by the British Menopause Society revealed that 45% of respondents felt that menopause symptoms negatively impacted their work.

People Management conducted a survey that found that 18% of respondents wanted to leave their work as a result of menopausal symptoms.

Tanya Horscroft added: “Knowing menopause will affect people within our business, we are committed to developing awareness around this issue and supporting our women throughout this often-tumultuous stage of their lives.”

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The first awareness course was carried out by Nicola Green, a specialist in menopause awareness for the workplace. Nicola said: “Vail Williams created the perfect introduction to this topic by asking me to provide a manager awareness session.

“In order to retain and support employees, whose lives maybe, directly or indirectly, impacted by the varying stages of menopause; it is of paramount importance that managers have some knowledge and understanding of this topic.

“Whilst no one is expecting managers to become menopause experts; the simple fact that they have attended an awareness session immediately provides greater knowledge and confidence in their role of supporting others. Employees will also feel reassured when approaching their manager for support.”

Vail Williams Partner Russel Williams said: The provision of property consultancy services is a people-business, and it is essential that we embrace diversity and have empathy with people at different stages of their lives and careers.

“In this respect, we are particularly conscious of the effects that the menopause can have on some people, and we have been keen to raise awareness and understanding of what can be a sensitive issue for employers and employees alike.

“As managers, we need to keep challenging ourselves and our responses to situations.’’

Following on from the success of the pilot, Vail Williams is working on the delivery of a range of wider menopause initiatives as part of its Positive Health & Wellbeing strategy.

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