Our story

A warm welcome.

There are two questions which sit centrally in my life. Firstly, what does it mean to me, to live a ‘good’ life? Secondly, how can I counter the some of the difficult parts of our modern society through the way I live. I see this second question through the lens of the menstrual cycle (and personally, it certainly informs that first question too). This is quite a radical view given the stigma surrounding menstruation.

Raise The Cycle is a direct result of this exploration and focuses on the urgent need for an earlier and broader menstrual cycle education for our young people. Who better to provide this education than the adults in their lives.

If you are reading this it is likely that you are interested in finding ways to support either a particular young person, or group, as they approach the start of their menstrual journey. Menarche is an undervalued and underexplored milestone, one that shapes our understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. A positive experience can help to develop self-esteem and improve body literacy, which directly impacts long-term health outcomes. A negative experience can introduce us to shame, self objectification and disembodiment. These themes have the potential to show up again and again across a lifetime.

In many ways Raise The Cycle began when I was 12 and deeply unhappy about having my first period. Despite being well supported, there was something about the whole experience that felt wrong. I recall feeling that the moment should have been beautiful but instead I felt encumbered, uncomfortable and miserable. It took several decades for that to shift.

Fast forward those few decades and I have been working in the field of menstruation in various forms since 2018. Most notably, I have been studying at Masters level with the renowned Dr Lara Owen, a leading academic and pioneer in the field, on her Contemporary Menstrual Studies course (Year One in 2022 and Year Two in 2025). As part of the course, in Year One my research focused on menarche experienced in British institutions (e.g. in care settings, young offenders and schools etc). Most recently I have co-presented (to my course peers) on the difficulties of communicating menstrual pain (dysmenorrhea). All elements of my research interest have led me back to the significant importance of menstrual education being available pre-menarche and delivered from a whole cycle perspective.

In 2021 I hosted the ‘Reclaiming Menarche’ podcast, a nine part series of conversations and stories around the importance of menarche and the benefits of reflecting on our early experience. Storytelling forms an important element of Raise the Cycle and is a core principle of our programme.

Reframe, Re-educate, Research and Community.

Raise the Cycle has been created to meet a need for parental menstrual support. Research indicates that engaged parenting at menarche can reduce the negative impact of menstrual stigma and shame. Whilst there are multiple (brilliant) programmes and resources directed at young people, there remains little in the way of re-educating parents to provide necessary support and understanding.

My hope is that through joining the Raise the Cycle community, parents, carers and organizations can begin to value their own lived experiences and experience a new way of looking at your own journey as a way to support young people. Instead of wondering what school, friends, and the on-line world is teaching about the menstrual cycle, refresh your knowledge, hear new research and create a way to support your daughter so that you can reduce shame and stigma and build self esteem, throughout one of her most important changes.

To read more about our Raise the Cycle programme please click here.