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16:00 24/08/2022
Caption: Chief Constable John Campbell QPM and Detective Inspector Natalie Beresford receiving TVP’ Menopause Employer Friendly accreditation certificate.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) is delighted to be UK’s first Menopause Friendly Police Force, independently accredited by Menopause Friendly.
Evelyn Dickey, Menopause Friendly Accreditation Independent Panel member said: “Congratulations to the team at Thames Valley Police who demonstrated brilliant work across a wide-range of areas and have achieved a lot in a relatively short time. Really innovative work and also clearly working beyond their workplace to encourage other parts of the community to better understand the menopause. Well done to the team.”
TVP has a workforce currently made up of 47.9% women (including staff and police officers), and with policing as a career becoming more attractive for women, in the past twelve months alone women have accounted for almost 50% of our new officer recruits. Within a growing female workforce and a heightened national conversation around Menopause, we recognised a need to improve our support where this important issue was concerned and that we needed to do so dynamically.
As a result, TVP’s internal Menopause Action Group (MAG) was launched on World Menopause Day in 2021, with the aim of:
Since the launch of the group, led by Menopause Project Lead, Detective Inspector Natalie Beresford, and Detective Superintendent Kelly Gardner, Strategic Lead, our force has driven changes in areas such as:
Caption: Sparking conversations - DI Natalie Beresford attending an Open Day at West Berkshire Local Policing Area, where first visitors to the stand were men.
Currently, TVP has 18 MAG members actively driving forward policies, with Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) and South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) being highly involved and supporting these improvements since the launch of the group.
Chief Constable John Campbell QPM said: "In Thames Valley Police, as an organisation striving to be a workplace where everyone can flourish, we are committed to raising awareness, increasing support and investing in training for the workforce about the impact of the menopause. We are extremely proud of becoming the first UK police force to be granted this accreditation. It is testament to the hard work and focus that has gone into enhancing our practices and procedures.”
In addition to the accreditation, Thames Valley Police has also been named as a finalist in two categories of the industry-recognised Menopause Friendly Employer Awards - powered by HSBC UK, first direct and M&S Bank.
Organised by Menopause Friendly and supported by the CIPD, the inaugural Menopause Friendly Employer Awards attracted over 85 entries across 10 categories.
Thames Valley Police has been shortlisted in the following two categories:
“The standard of work and level of activity demonstrated by entrants to the first-ever Menopause Friendly Employer Awards has been really high. I’m delighted to see recognition for the hard work being done at Thames Valley Police to open conversations and raise awareness of menopause in the workplace,” said Deborah Garlick, CEO of Henpicked: Menopause in The Workplace.
When speaking about this achievement, DI Natalie Beresford, Menopause Action Group lead, said: “I am so proud of what we have achieved for our force. We couldn’t have done this without the support of our organisation, our Chief Constable, our Chief Constable’s Management Team, and our MAG members, who have done this in addition to their daily jobs.
“The accreditation is recognition of the hard work we’ve put into it in such a short period of time, all of us coming together to push this important project forward.
“The aim of MAG isn’t just to reach out only to the women in our organisation, we’re focused on everyone, educating men, partners, supervisors, managers about the menopause and raising awareness about it.
“We want to make sure that the menopause is no longer a taboo, but something that is talked about openly, and we will continue to do so to best of our abilities.
“We couldn’t imagine not having the maternity and paternity policies we have today. Now it is time for menopause policies to catch up.”
CB
Note to editors:
Detective Inspector Natalie Beresford is available for interviews. If you would be interested in this, please contact our Media Office at [email protected] to register your interest.