A Belfast nurse with more than four decades of experience in women’s health is preparing for a packed Menopause Awareness Month, as momentum builds around new legislation designed to protect women at work.
About Anne McGale
For 42 years, Anne McGale has been a registered nurse with the Royal College of Nursing. She has spent the last decade running educational training and awareness sessions for some of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers, from Allstate, Translink and Northern Ireland Electricity to Queen’s University Belfast and Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel, as well as community groups such as boxing clubs, local development networks and community health forums. The learning sessions, designed and delivered by Anne, range from one-hour menopause awareness sessions, delivered in person and online, to comprehensive six-week programmes teaching cognitive behavioural therapy to support women struggling with symptoms.
About Menopause Wellbeing NI
Her business, ‘Menopause Wellbeing NI’, was founded after her own difficult experience of menopause, when she struggled to find trusted information. “I couldn’t find the right information when I needed it most,” she said. “It was frustrating and isolating. I felt a duty to ensure that others did not have to go through the same experience without informed support.”
World Menopause Awareness Day, on 18 October, comes at a pivotal moment for employers. Westminster is currently advancing its Employment Rights Bill, which includes proposals that will require large employers, with over 250 staff, to develop and publish equality action plans that explicitly cover how they support employees during the menopause. These ‘Menopause Action Plans’ are expected to be voluntary from April 2026, becoming mandatory for such employers from 2027.
Although some companies have introduced menopause specific policies in recent years, experts say the issue remains taboo across many industries. In 2024 alone, 204 UK tribunal cases cited menopause, up from just 64 in 2022, with claims brought under disability, sex discrimination and age legislation. McGale warns that these cases are only the tip of the iceberg and can be avoided if businesses act proactively. “Employers must normalise menopause in the workplace,” she said. “We need to move away from whispered conversations and make this part of the everyday culture.”
Her appeal comes against a labour market already struggling with recruitment and retention. With one in ten women reportedly leaving work altogether because of the menopause, the cost to productivity and business continuity is mounting. The ‘edupreneur’ – educational entrepreneur, insists that awareness is the first step, both for women and for their male colleagues. Training delivered over the last decade, she argues, has already started to shift perceptions across sectors as diverse as transport, education, technology and community health.
For business leaders, the message is stark: the menopause is no longer a private matter. It is a workplace issue, and one that is rapidly climbing the political agenda.
For more information visit menopausewellbeingni.com. To book a menopause awareness training session or the more advanced CBT programme with Anne McGale for your organisation, find the contacts here.
Menopause Awareness Trainer, Anne McGale, a women’s health nurse with 42 years’ experience and founder of Menopause Wellbeing NI, is pictured in Belfast preparing for a busy Menopause Awareness Month as new workplace protections come under the spotlight.
Notes to editors
Anne McGale is available to be interviewed for a feature piece or live on air. She has spoken extensively about menopause on TV and radio over the past decade. Find all the contacts here.
Anne McGale
