See Natalie Anderson talk about her myth-busting perimenopause style and wellbeing event at Leeds Marriott Hotel

The event, which takes place on the evening of April 13, will feature Q&A sessions with an expert panel including Russell Eaton’s British Hairdresser of the Year Robert Eaton, fashion stylist Anna Mewes, Make Menopause Matter campaign founder Diane Danzebrink, menopause specialist Dr Lindsey Thomas, Rebekah Brown of plant-based perimenopause and menopause supplements MPowder, fitness coach Kate Rowe-Ham and menopause in the workplace consultant Pamela Windle. There will also be styling demonstrations and shopping at a pop-up “menopause marketplace”.

Former Emmerdale actor Natalie, who also featured in the final series of Happy Valley, has her own wellbeing podcast called The Capsule In Conversation, which was last year nominated for an International Women’s Podcast award. Natalie also stars in Martin Cambell’s Memory, alongside Guy Pearce and Liam Neeson, and in the West End’s Wicked. She is currently filming the BBC’s Boiling Point, a TV series adaptation of the BAFTA-winning film of the same name with Stephen Graham, and Harlan Coben’s latest drama for Netflix Fool Me Once, alongside Michelle Keegan and Joanna Lumley.

The Peri-Meno Meet Up evening expert team will be joined on the night by Yorkshire wellness businesses including Time To Bloom skin and aesthetics clinic, women’s health studio Fixology and Devaiya Oils. The event aims to provide a safe space for women to come together and have fun while breaking the stigma around this transitional phase of women’s health. Natalie and The Capsule point out that:

- Perimenopause symptoms can start as early as age 35, when women are often entering the peak of stressful times, parenting young children, climbing the career ladder, and investing in property, yet many women don’t even know what perimenopause is.

- That 45 per cent of women feel their menopause symptoms have a negative impact on them in the workplace, with two-thirds of women receiving no support from their employers.

- In 2019 a study conducted by the CIPD found that almost 900,000 women in the UK left their jobs because of menopausal symptoms.

- Menopause training for GPs is not a mandatory part of the GP curriculum despite almost 13 million women in the UK currently being either perimenopausal or menopausal.

“We have been working for some time now on our podcast to raise awareness of the impacts of perimenopause and menopause on women and their mental health as many of the messages we’ve received from our listeners pinpoint this transitional phase as a turning point in their confidence and outlook on life,” says Natalie.

“I wanted to do something special to bring women together so that they could share experiences and stories while receiving vital information about how to manage what can be an incredibly difficult and isolating time for many women and so the Peri Meno Meet Up was born. I’m also incredibly keen to try and get younger women to be part of the conversation as I think that post pregnancy there’s a huge gap in the education of women’s health. I didn’t even know what perimenopause was until I started the podcast, despite being 38 at the time. It’s vital younger women know what might in store for them so that they can make the best life choices for themselves and so I’m hoping we’ll get mothers and daughters and friendship groups coming to our event.

“This is something we should be embracing together and as a proud Yorkshire woman, I’m delighted to be launching this event in Leeds.”

• Tickets for the Peri Meno Meet Up (which takes place from 7pm on April 13 at at the Marriott in Leeds) available at The Capsule website at £35, with welcome drink and VIP gift bag, see www.thecapsule.co.uk/events
• The Capsule #inconversation podcast will return for Series 8 in April. Previous podcast guests include: Jo Elvin, Liz Earle, Denise Van Outen, Lisa Snowden, Jade Ewan, Andrea Mclean, Gaynor Faye, Arlene Phillips, Jenni Falconer, Shirley Ballas, Suzanne Shaw, Mika Simmons, Scarlett Douglas, Dr Zoe Williams, Denise Welch, Denise Lewis, Sophia Myles, Una, Healey, Dr Ateh Jewel, Millie Gooch, Claire Sanderson, Michelle Griffith Robinson and many more.
• Twitter and Instagram: @officialcapsule