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Welcome to Devenish Health
My name is Melanie and I am the founder of Devenish health. I am both an accredited menopause champion and menopause wellness practitioner working throughout Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Originally from Northern Ireland, I started my career as an RAF Officer before retraining as a Community Educator. After spending over 25 years working within the charity sector, both in regional and national roles, I founded a social enterprise in 2014. Initially set up as a community cookery school providing pre-employability courses for unemployed young people within Birmingham, this soon transitioned to focus on primarily supporting the mental health and wellbeing of women. The social enterprise continued to successfully deliver a wide range of community based provision, winning numerous awards along the way.
However, during Covid the business was severely impacted - and this also coincided with my own health issues relating to menopause. Lacking knowledge, any support from my GP, and ongoing health struggles, I made the decision to undertake training and became an accredited menopause wellness practitioner.
I used this knowledge, along with my own experience, to create a range of menopause workshops which I piloted in 2023/24. Based on feedback from these, along with my ongoing market research and learning, I am now pivoting the social enterprise to focus on educating, equipping and empowering other women to take control of their menopause on their own individual terms. I am also now a certified menopause champion and work in proud partnership with the Menopause expert group.
My work is driven by my own experience of the menopause, the lack of knowledge I had on it and the learning I have undertaken to not only equip, educate and empower myself, but also those I work with. I am passionate about ensuring no woman faces their menopause journey alone, but has access to all the information and support they need to navigate their own individual journey.
100% of the profits we make from our work with corporates will be reinvested into our community work. As well as enabling us to provide free community based menopause cafes, the profits will also contribute to the cost of other community provision including workshops and courses.
Wondering where the name Devenish health comes from? I am from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland,which sits on the banks of Lough Erne. Dotted with hundreds of islands, my favourite island to visit via boat has always been Devenish Island. And so the name connects the business both to my heritage and one of my favourite places to return to when I go home.
Our awards include:
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Mental health support social enterprise of the year 2021 - Corporate livewire innovation and excellence awards 2021
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Best mental health support social enterprise 2020 - SME Midlands awards 2020
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Wellbeing for women excellence award - SME Midlands awards 2020
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Social enterprise of the year 2018 - Birmingham awards 2018
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WISE 100 top 100 women in social enterprise 2018
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Melanie is also a fellow of the school of social entrepreneurs
Welcome to Devenish Health
My name is Melanie and I am the founder of Devenish health. I am both an accredited menopause champion and menopause wellness practitioner working throughout Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Originally from Northern Ireland, I started my career as an RAF Officer before retraining as a Community Educator. After spending over 25 years working within the charity sector, both in regional and national roles, I founded a social enterprise in 2014. Initially set up as a community cookery school providing pre-employability courses for unemployed young people within Birmingham, this soon transitioned to focus on primarily supporting the mental health and wellbeing of women. The social enterprise continued to successfully deliver a wide range of community based provision, winning numerous awards along the way.
However, during Covid the business was severely impacted - and this also coincided with my own health issues relating to menopause. Lacking knowledge, any support from my GP, and ongoing health struggles, I made the decision to undertake training and became an accredited menopause wellness practitioner.
I used this knowledge, along with my own experience, to create a range of menopause workshops which I piloted in 2023/24. Based on feedback from these, along with my ongoing market research and learning, I am now pivoting the social enterprise to focus on educating, equipping and empowering other women to take control of their menopause on their own individual terms. I am also now a certified menopause champion and work in proud partnership with the Menopause expert group.