Heeley Community Trust is celebrating the culmination of its two-year Women’s Wellbeing and Reproductive Health project in partnership with Sheffield Occupational Health with its reproductive health stories display and reflection evening.

On 25 March at Heeley Green Community Centre, the event, a national partnership programme funded by the Department of Health and the final funded session of the project, will see women celebrate the voices and hardship of female reproductive experiences like endometriosis and menopause alongside healthcare system struggles.

Project leader Jenny Johnson said: ‘’It is important to share these stories and educate ourselves as women’’.

One of 16 funded projects nationwide, Heeley Trust has provided invaluable support to women through creative sessions, weight training, and specialist Q&A support, including pelvic physiotherapists and GPs.

Sheffield Occupational Health Advisory Service has also been offering advice on workplace support for women struggling with reproductive health issues. 

A writing pack was put together by Ms Jenny Johnson, 46, and Katie Brear, 44, leaders of the project, to guide women wanting to share their stories that can be freely accessed through the Heeley trust.

One of the aims of the project is to “help women share their story without being shamed”, Ms Johnson told BBC Radio Sheffield’s Paulette Edwards during a recent appearance. 

The project further facilitated peer support through monthly drop-ins and to celebrate the end of this two-year project, these lived experience stories will become available to the public following the reflection evening in the hope women will ‘open up new conversations both within the health system and further afield’, said Ms Johnson. 

The initial grant came from a £1.97 million funding award granted to 16 organisations across England that aimed to address reproductive health challenges in the workplace, helping women remain or return to work following pregnancy or health issues. 

Both Katie and Jenny are social prescribing link workers at the Heeley Trust and are central to the project. Through GP referrals, they support people with non-medical needs such as housing, benefits, and mental health support whilst connecting them to relevant community resources.

The personal accounts, anonymous or not, will aim to highlight and empower others to speak out about their health struggles and are part of a large movement to continue opening up conversations about reproductive health as Ms Brear said they aim to ‘write women and their healthcare into history’. 

There are already plans in place to extend the project’s reach ensuring the stories shared will inform future health practices and policy as these stories will become a shared resource with the NHS. 

”Women are keen for things to change in society where they don’t feel dismissed or unimportant, so I hope this is something they feel helps give them a voice.”