Liverpool social enterprise The Women’s Organisation secures share of £593,000 Government fund to improve the health of women in the workplace. Tony McDonough reports

Almost £593,000 of Government funding has been awarded to organisations in Merseyside and the North West to help improve the health of women in the workplace.

Liverpool social enterprise The Women’s Organisation has secured £187,138 from the pot. It is rolling out a health support package targeting small and medium enterprise employers in England.

Launched in April 2018, the Health and Wellbeing Fund is a joint initiative run by the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Theme of the fund for 2022 to 2025 is women’s reproductive wellbeing in the workplace. Linking in with the development of the new Women’s Health Strategy, this fund aims to support organisations that can provide a holistic support offer to assist women experiencing reproductive health issues to remain in and return to the workplace.

Examples include menopause, fertility problems, miscarriage and pregnancy loss, menstrual health and gynaecological conditions.

To mark World Menopause Day in October, the The Women’s Organisation urged employers to put in place effective policies to support women going through the menopause.

It cited data showing the huge cost to the economy of experienced women having to quit their jobs prematurely. Too many feel they simply have no choice because there is no help available.

Other organisations who have received funding this round include: 

• £154,095 to Mind in Greater Manchester – who are improving health outcomes for women and people experiencing reproductive health issues through delivering workplace training.
• £145,913 to Tommy’s – who are helping workplaces understand and meet employees’ needs through pregnancy journeys, including miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and other complications.
• £105,607 to Maternity Action – who are supporting better health and employment outcomes for working women who are pregnant.

The Women’s Organisation is a developer and deliverer of training and support aimed at women in the UK.

Its proposed scheme, Workplace Wellness of Women (WWOW), aims to utilise the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy, academic research on women’s health, and small and medium business employment evidence.

This includes business productivity, health and wellbeing, and staff development, to devise and rollout a social model of health support package targeting small and medium business employers in England.

Chief executive Maggie O’Carroll said: “The Women’s Organisation will be finding ways to support and improve women’s health in the workplace.

“Through working with women and employers this will offer an opportunity to positively transform women’s working lives.  It will help employers to put in place the right type of support at the right time.

“This will help attract and retain more women in the workplace and measurably improve their wellbeing.”