Reading detective awarded for police menopause action group

Det Insp Natalie Beresford said male colleagues on the force were being supportive

A police officer has won an award after setting up a menopause action group to help colleagues get support at work.

Det Insp Natalie Beresford was awarded the Thames Valley Police Federation's 2023 Women in Policing award.

She set up the group after suffering debilitating symptoms herself, including insomnia and anxiety.

As a result, officers going through the menopause can now receive adjusted uniforms and have official channels to support and protect them.

Menopausal women on the force are now allowed changes to their uniform, such as trousers designed specifically for women, cooling stab vests and cotton shirts. Being signed off sick for menopause is also now recorded, which gives women protection from disciplinary procedures in relation to attendance and performance.

'Huge honour'

Det Insp Beresford was a response inspector in Reading when she began experiencing symptoms, but was misdiagnosed and signed off with depression.

She returned to work early to support her team during the Covid pandemic but was suffering from insomnia. She explained: "Some nights I'd be running three local policing areas on no sleep. That became really difficult to sustain.

"I started using all my rest days and my leave to take off shifts, thinking I could catch up on sleep and manage my symptoms. But of course that didn't work." Describing suddenly having no energy, she added: "Then you get the confusion. I genuinely believed I was getting dementia - I wouldn't recognise people I worked with every day and I'd lose words." The action group has also created a network of 50 officers and staff across the force who have been trained to offer peer support. They hold webinars with specialist GPs and provide training for managers.

It also led to Thames Valley Police being accredited "menopause friendly" in August 2022, the first UK police force to achieve this. Det Insp Beresford said: "It's a huge honour to receive this award. I'm coming up to retirement now and there are many more women in Thames Valley Police than there used to be, so it feels like this is an award for all of us.

"When I first joined the police, it felt like we joined a men's police force, that we were guests, and I feel now that we're not - this is our force too. And our male colleagues are supporting us, they're standing beside us."

Thames Valley Police Federation Chair Craig O'Leary said: "Considering that 48% of our workforce is female, this is so important and it has raised awareness of the menopause across the force."

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