I work in the Employee Support Team for Lancashire County Council, promoting the importance of holistic workplace wellbeing and supporting managers, their staff and teams to recognise the importance of self-care to improve wellbeing and encourage a culture where staff can flourish at work. I have always been interested in health and wellbeing, and after achieving a foundation qualification in counselling, was lucky enough to move into this role where I could use my listening, coaching and empathy skills to help people overcome challenges in both their work and personal lives. I started with hot flushes on the first morning of starting a new job at the council. I now realise that the disturbed night's sleep and the nerves about starting in a new post had exacerbated the previously mild symptoms of perimenopause. I asked HR for the policy on menopause and was told this was something they were looking into. This was in 2019 and finally, just last week HR released a menopause statement! I am passionate about equality and empowering people struggling with symptoms of the menopause by making it a non-taboo subject and making sure practical and compassionate support is widely available via managers and peers.