UK Parliaments Join Forces to Support Menopause Awareness
Staff from three UK parliaments – Holyrood, Westminster, and the Senedd – are coming together during World Menopause Month in a united commitment to supporting colleagues through every stage of life.
The three UK parliaments are hosting Menopause Cafés, supported by the Perth-based charity of the same name, and are backing its Menopause Awareness Ribbon campaign to spark open conversations about menopause and break down the stigma surrounding it.
Since forming in 2017, Menopause Café has sparked a global movement of informal ‘cafés’ worldwide, where people of all ages and genders get together either at work or in the community to discuss menopause. Since the first ever café in Perth that same year, the charity has supported over 1,800 Menopause Cafés worldwide, from the UK and the USA to Chile, Zambia, Bahrain and Portugal, empowering more than 18,000 participants to get talking.
The event at Holyrood yesterday (Thursday 9 October 2025) was for all parliamentarians and parliamentary staff and hosted by MSPs Carol Mochan (South Scotland) and Monica Lennon (Central Scotland), representatives of the Cross-Party Women’s Health Group.
Carol Mochan MSP said, “The Menopause Café was a genuinely heartening event that gave lots of people the platform to put across their views on this vital issue. To be doing so in conjunction with colleagues in Cardiff and London offers hope that we can make significant progress on this issue in terms of substantial policy.”
Meanwhile, a bilingual Menopause Café for both English and Welsh speakers was held at the Senedd event on Friday 3 October and the Westminster event, hosted by the Scotland Office at Whitehall, will be held later this month on Tuesday 28 October.
Anna Daniel, Head of Strategic Transformation at the Senedd Commission, is one of the Welsh Parliament’s workplace Menopause Champions. She said,“On World Menopause Day, 18 October 2023, the Senedd Commission proudly launched its ‘Peri/Menopause: Wellbeing in the Workplace Toolkit’, becoming the first organisation in Wales to adopt the British Standard – Menstruation, Menstrual Health, and Menopause in the Workplace: Guide. This October, in celebration of Menopause Awareness Month, we hosted two Menopause Cafés – an open, welcoming space to talk, listen, and learn. It’s part of our ongoing commitment to building a workplace culture that emphasises comfort, wellbeing and inclusivity. By raising awareness and creating space for honest, supportive conversations, we aim to make the Senedd a place where everyone is empowered to thrive.”
Rachel Weiss, Founder of Menopause Café, added, “We are thrilled that these Parliaments are holding Menopause Cafes and embracing the Menopause Awareness Ribbon campaign this month. Their eagerness to support both their parliamentarians and their staff sends a signal far beyond the walls of government, both symbolically and practically.
“By openly acknowledging and supporting menopause awareness, our Parliaments can help drive conversation across every workplace, inspiring a UK-wide commitment to improving workplace culture. This united front also sets the tone for future legislation and higher standards as, by embracing menopause awareness internally, they’re better placed to shape inclusive policies externally.”
Order a box of Menopause Awareness ribbons or single ribbons from www.menopausecafe.net
ENDS