Council to support workers with endometriosis

Ceri Cawley hopes to start a support group for women with endometriosis in the North East

A council has unanimously voted to become the first endometriosis friendly local authority in the north of England.

Deputy mayor of Redcar Ceri Cawley was diagnosed with the condition in her early 20s and has struggled with "agonising pain" for years.

As well as Redcar and Cleveland Council, Southwark and Stoke-on-Trent City councils, have joined the national scheme, run by charity Endometriosis UK, to help staff better manage the condition alongside work.

The 43-year-old said it would be "immense" to get more businesses to join the programme and make sure "nobody is struggling alone".

The deputy mayor said: "As a woman who has been living with this condition for a long time I know too well the struggles that many other women are faced with.

"There are one in 10 women who are suffering and struggling to be listened too or be heard and it is taking eight to 10 years for a diagnosis."

'Just a heavy period'

Cawley described how one day she was lying in her bath in "absolute agony" and decided to look for support groups in the area and found Endometriosis UK.

She said before she was diagnosed she was always going to the doctors in pain and not understanding what was wrong.

"I was told it was IBS or just a heavy period, I was told all sorts of reasons why I was in this pain," she said.

"It is far more than that, it is being talked about more and it needs more awareness."

Endometriosis, occurs when cells, similar to the lining of a woman's womb, grow elsewhere in the body and can lead to severe pain and fertility problems.

Faye Farthing, head of campaigning at Endometriosis UK, said she looked forward to working with Redcar and Cleveland Council helping to tackle the "stigma" of the condition.

"We are very pleased to know that the council intends to educate other employers locally about the endometriosis friendly employer scheme, and to work more broadly to improve support for those impacted by endometriosis."