NEWS
Service & Strength
The Service & Strength project is a vital initiative designed to confront the profound and unique health challenges that servicewomen face, particularly during peri- and post-menopause.
The project is critically needed because these women, unlike their civilian counterparts, often manage severe symptoms in arduous environments and face significant barriers to accessing adequate healthcare and support, such as Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). A pervasive culture of silence exists, where many servicewomen feel they cannot discuss their symptoms without it being perceived as a weakness or an inability to perform. This lack of support contributes to women leaving the armed forces at the peak of their careers.
This funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust will make a significant difference by empowering servicewomen with tailored education, practical tools, and a vital supportive community, ensuring they are genuinely "Seen & Heard". The grant will enable us to deliver comprehensive training, create a library of resources, and establish a secure, peer-led support network. The financial support will help CRCC and our partners provide long-term solutions, promote healthier careers, and reduce premature exits from service due to unmanaged symptoms, thereby retaining the armed forces' significant investment in these women's training and experience.
Helen Tite, Managing Director of key partner organisation iCareiMove, said, "it is key that our serving women are supported to navigate this stage of their life. Women in this life stage are leaving the armed forces in number as they feel they are not seen and heard when it comes to adequate support and understanding of the impact of peri/post menopause. This is a huge loss to our armed forces as they stand lose women who are reaching the peak of their careers with all the experience and knowledge that implies. And it stands as a loss of the huge investment in their training that has been made."
Research, such as a 2023 UK study by Bell and Willman, highlights the experiences of servicewomen, identifying key themes like the difficulty of accessing healthcare and deep-seated fears about the impact of menopause on their careers. These studies and our own consultations with servicewomen confirm that the lack of targeted support is a critical gap. For example, many women have expressed the immense challenge of wearing full uniform during hot flashes or experiencing disrupted sleep due to shift work, all while needing to maintain exceptional physical performance. These are the specific, lived experiences our project will address through tailored education and community building, so no one feels they have to struggle in silence.