Advocacy

On International Women’s Day, 8 March 2024, I wasn’t available to attend the Wellington Chamber of Commerce’s event. But I could send them a postcard, or 90, instead! Thanks to sponsorship from Ricoh, everyone who attended the IWD event went home with one of my awareness-raising postcards in their goodie bag. Something to post or stick up on a wall.

I created a series of six outdoor ads with Wellington brand strategist/designer Helen Milner. The digital ads featured on 40 screens in 26 shopping malls and Locky Docks in 11 towns and cities around New Zealand.

Pub quizzes: another way for people of all ages and genders to learn about menopause. For World Menopause Day 2023, New Zealand's fastest-growing trivia company Gee Quiz did their bit to raise awareness of menopause by including some my quiz questions in their pub quizzes nationwide - starting in Wellington.

For World Menopause Day 2023, I organised a community event with Frock On Bikes for 46 women of all ages to get together, swap notes and share their experiences of menopause. We biked from Queen’s Wharf to Newtown with some cyclists wishing passersby a Happy World Menopause Day along the way. A colourful, enlightening and celebratory event for all.

No posters about menopause/ruahinetanga are proactively distributed to GP practices across NZ. When I was asked to share my experience and knowledge at the Practice Managers and Administrators Association of NZ Conference 2023, I found a sponsor, Ricoh, to print enough copies of the Australasian Menopause Society posters (in English and te reo Māori) for every PMAANZ delegate to pin up in their practice when they got back to work.

On 20 July 2023, I was one of several advocates who supported the presentation of the petition #makemenopausematternz started by Bronda Smith. The petition signed by 5,583 people was accepted by MP Sarah Pallett on the steps of parliament. We were joined by MPs Jan Logie, Angie Warren-Clark, Deborah Russell, Anna Lorck and Angela Roberts.

Every day thousands of Kiwis test their knowledge via Stuff’s trivia challenges online. From July 2023, Stuff’s quiz has featured some of my questions and answers. Another way to raise awareness of this powerful stage of life. Do you know the answer to my question above?

For World Menopause Day 2022, I created two outdoor ads based on the design of the awareness-raising tea towels designed by Helen Milner. The digital ads featured on Locky Docks in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

To help fund my advocacy mahi and for people of all ages and genders to see the word menopause while doing the dishes at home and work, Helen Milner and I created two tea towels for kitchens all over the country.

In 2021, Menopause Over Martinis* made its debut as a community event in my neighbourhood: Hataitai, Wellington. In collaboration with a team of local volunteers, the dinner was a huge success with 60 women from all over Wellington attending as guests.

On World Menopause Day 2020, I launched a grassroots project for people to talk about menopause over dinner, with or without a martini or mocktail. This project has grown into a movement to make menopause less taboo in homes, workplaces and communities all over New Zealand.