Draft:Menopause Café

Menopause Café Created by Rachel Weiss Perth from the ethos of Death Cafe.

A Menopause Café started in Perth is a scheduled non-profit get-together (called "social franchises" by the Death Cafe organisers) for the purpose of talking about menopause over food and drink, usually tea and cake. They have since been held in many countries.

The idea originates with the Swiss sociologist and anthropologist Bernard Crettaz, who organised the first café mortel in 2004. Jon Underwood, a UK web developer, was inspired by Crettaz's work, introduced the Death Cafe to London in 2011, and launched the Death Cafe website. They have since been held in many countries.

As the Menopause Cafes were inspired by Death Cafés, Weiss is grateful to Jon Underwood for allow the format to be copied,.

Rachel Weiss Perth was then inspired to utilise ethos of Death Cafe to create a Menopause Café for a similar confidential talking space for the menopause and webpage has since similarly spread around the world. There is now also an annual festival #FlushFest.

Format and purpose

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The Menopause Café is not a physical location but an event, usually lasting two hours. Usually there are a dozen participants, who are free to discuss their understanding, thoughts, dreams, fears and any other aspects of menopause and living with menopause. Tea and cake assist with creating a supportive environment. Some Menopause Cafes have specifically created an opportunity for health-care professionals to talk about the menopause. Venues are usually held in cafes.

Kirsty Wark, Patron said "We just want to create a space for both male and female participants of all ages, ... to come together to simply open up and share their experience."

History

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Crettaz organized the first "café mortel" in 2004 in Neuchâtel and in 2010 brought the idea to Paris. He published a book titled Cafés Mortels: Sortir la Mort du Silence (Death Cafes: Bringing Death out of Silence).

In 2011, inspired by Crettaz and with his guidance, Underwood held the first London Death Café at his home. He subsequently developed the Death Café website, generating guidelines with his mother, psychotherapist Susan Barsky Reid, and the concept took off globally.

At the age of 50 Rachel Weiss saw a BBC programme "The Menopause and Me" (BBC 20th April 2017, no longer available on iPlayer) about menopause presented by Kirsty Wark.

She was inspired to create the world's first Menopause Café in 2017, using the format of the Death Café which she had previously hosted in Perth, along with Gail Jack and Lorna Fotheringham. They didn't know whether it would just be the three of them talking to each other, or if other people would join them. About 30 people turned up and talked, and asked for more Menopause Cafes.

Word spread thanks to some excellent PR from Grainger Public Relations, a Facebook group and the creation of a website by Andy Sanwell. There was lots of interest and coverage from the media both local and national, newspapers, television and radio. Heather Borderie and Helen Kemp joined the steering group before the second cafe event.

Expanding the vision thanks to funding from the Guildry Incorporation of Perth and the Perth Creative Common Fund. The website was redone, a Facebook page created, a Twitter account set up and the concept of a Menopause Festival took shape and turned into reality.

June 2017 – the first Menopause Café in Perth, Scotland.

January 2018 – Menopause Cafes took place in Petersfield, Hampshire and Sheffield, the first outside Scotland.

March 2018 – Menopause Café Toronto, Ontario, the first outside the UK.

March 2018 – the first Menopause Festival takes place in Perth

June 2018 – the Menopause Café becomes a charity registered in Scotland, with Kirsty Wark as Patron.

August 2018 – Weiss receives the Prime Minister's Point of Light award for her voluntary work with Menopause Café.

September 2018 – Menopause Café wins the Association of Scottish Businesswomen (ASB's) Community Commitment Award.

November 2018 – first online Menopause Café.

Aug 2022 - Inaugural Highland Menopause Café set to take place on Thursday, 4 August 2022 | The Highland Council

June 2022 – The fourth Menopause Festival takes place online

Sept 2023 – The fifth Menopause Festival takes place as a hybrid event at P's and G's Edinburgh in person and online across the world.

March 2024 – For her work with The Menopause Café, Rachel Weiss becomes one of the WISE100 Women in Social Enterprise, being a finalist in WISE100 Equality & Empowerment Champion category, which is organised by NatWest and Pioneers Post. The Equality & Empowerment Champion is a new award (2024) for a woman who is leading the way in issues of equality and diversity, particularly (but not exclusively) in gender equality, equal participation and leadership.

The Menopause Café takes place across the world Scotland, Wales, Ireland, England, Canada, Netherlands, Dubia, Bharahin, Austria, Mexico, Barbados, Australia, Berlin, all over the USA, Zambia

There is a pink and purple ribbon associated with the The Menopause Café Charity.

Organisers want employers, workmates and the general public to wear one of the pink and purple symbols to show they're open to conversations about the menopause.

Perth and Kinross Council is one of the first employers to sign up to the Menopause Café campaign.

Patron

Kirsty Wark is the patron whose programme "The menopause and me" was the inspiration for Weiss to look into creating the Menopause Café

Quotes

These are comments from some of the 2000+ participants in the 250+ Menopause Café which have taken place in the UK and Canada, and the world, since the first one was held in Perth, Scotland in June 2017.

'The menopause is such an isolating experience which saps your confidence and which left me feeling quite useless and helpless.

Attending Menopause Cafes has enabled me to share my experiences with both laughter and tears, and be visible in our workplaces and communities. I now know that it's 'not just me' and I'm part of a network who really understand.'

"I headed homewards feeling more positive and buoyed by the entire experience. What an amazing group of people. The sheer energy in the room showed that we are all far from a spent force, and in fact, quite the contrary".

Almost uniformly, women experiencing menopausal symptoms at work struggle to talk openly about it. Quite simply, it's embarrassing. "There's a stigma around it," says Rachel Weiss, founder of The Menopause Café, a safe space where men and women can gather to talk about the menopause. "Being an older woman is not viewed as a positive thing in our society."

'I hope menopause will become an acceptable topic of conversation"

"They've invited me to go to Berlin and do one in English, German and Turkish"

References

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• Perth, Scotland
• Social enterprises
• Social phenomena
• Menopause
• Charity