Recent News

We are endorsing a new message from a sister campaign to encourage Asian women to go against the grain, and for once put their own health first. 

Figures show that women from BAME communities are not attending the breast cancer and ovarian scans they're entitled to - tests that could save their lives.

And Pink Chai rate stigma and a desire to ALWAYS put family first as reasons why females risk their health by not attending.

You can read their breast cancer campaign message on our BLOGS page. 

Our charity actively campaigns to reduce health inequalities - including discrepancies between men's and women's welfare. As we've seen with endometriosis, misogynist attitudes can cause real pain for women, everywhere.

Pictured is our founder Dr Anita Sharma, launching the Pink Chai campaign.

Guests at our recent Rochdale fundraiser were the first to hear that the good cause they were backing were on the way to Parliament.

And the news came straight from an MP at the podium.

Heywood and Middleton North member Elsie Blundell praised our charity in front of a packed room at a Rochdale Golf Club quiz night.

She then announced that we would be accompanying her to Westminster, to give MPs some much needed answers on why women wait a decade for proper treatment for a hellish blight harming one-in-ten of them.

Endometriosis occurs when cells usually found in the womb adhere to other organs causing agonising pain. The situation is made even worse by medical ignorance, which often means a decade-long wait for a diagnosis.

This lack of care and wearing pain means half of sufferers have dark thoughts, while many lose their career and aren't able to have a family.

"As if all of these problems were not difficult enough, women in the North face a far longer wait to find out if they have endo, than women in the South" said Dr Anita Sharma, founder of Endometriosis Awareness North. "That is down to a dearth of expertise, a lack of resources, and even stigma in some of our BAME communities. These issues can only be solved by decision-makers."

Our team will join politicians of all persuasions at a specially convened All Party Parliamentary Group in Westminster in October. Much of the groundwork for this has been done by Elsie Blundell, who has been amongst the first politicians EVER to ask questions in The House about endo.

Also featuring a game of Play Your Cards Right and a session of stand-up Bingo, the full house fundraiser heard from Rochdale Mayor Councillor Faisal Rana plus local schoolteacher Laura Culshaw, whose education and career have been so affected by her endometriosis. It was attended by sponsoring businesses and organisations including the British International Doctors Association (BIDA) and the Pink Chai breast cancer campaign.

"Laura was one of several women with endo who attended our event and sadly their pain was obvious as these young women had walking sticks or were clutching at their stomachs" continued Dr Sharma, "yet all were there to give their testimonies and show why they are called Endo Warriors.

Yes, it is my belief that they deserve better, but at least in Rochdale we are creating a groundswell of support for them and becoming the community who cares most about endometriosis."

Our recent news items on endo, cigarettes, and the Stoptober campaign, sparked quite a reaction.

So much so, that our founder Dr Sharma has now written a blog on the subject.

There is such confusion around whether cigs accelerate endometriosis - a conundrum caused once again by a dearth of research.

But the good doctor is certain about one thing.

Giving up is NEVER a bad idea.

Read her new blog at BLOGS

Listen into our founder Dr Anita Sharma plus ambassador and endo warrior Lucy Bowker, in the very first Endo Unfiltered podcast.

The show gives a really great grounding into the crucial question of what endometriosis actually is, and why it is a condition that “wrestles with your own body”. Our founder Dr Sharma also outlines the reasons it takes so long to diagnose, the lack of knowledge even amongst medical professionals about the condition, and what dire consequences physically and mentally endo warriors encounter. 

Plus, staff nurse Lucy outlines her story – and how her endo spread from her pelvic area to other parts of the body Go to   

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AGqWnDy1oHvW4RbBmLG0l?si=suwKZNrGT7KeOfMBfAvQQQ&utm_source=copy-link&nd=1&dlsi=80820410de0240f8 

Endometriosis, and indeed many other life-altering illnesses, can result in depression, anxiety and other wellbeing problems. 

We have just produced a new Mental Health Matters page on our website, which includes details of a Talking Therapies programme in Bury. Go to MENTALHEALTHMATTERS

This was presented to us – and in fantastic style we may add – by Pauline Maliti from the NHS Pennine Care Foundation Trust. 

Read all about it and download the PDF.

Most of all sisters, don’t suffer in silence!

  Here is some real breaking news – we’re about to compile some broadcasts for you to download.

Our charity has entered the podcast age thanks to a wonderful contact we made in local radio, recently. 

More details will be emerging soon.

A new page listing some of our old stories is being developed for our website, too. Such is the pace of endo change these days that our Home page is updated almost daily – meaning some of you haven’t had the chance to read our latest news! 

Finally an appeal to any would-be blog-writers out there. The analytics show us that personal tales of battling endometriosis are extremely popular – and no doubt inspire others facing the blight.

If you’d like to contribute, please get in touch!

A few short days after its premiere in Yorkshire, you can now see the full version of the film “No Longer #Unheard.”

Featuring heart-rendering interviews with those battling endometriosis, it also includes a one-to-one with our founder Dr Anita Sharma – watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kP8fjHSBWM&t=12s 

We have already put it on record several times, but we’ll say it again, the work of the creative media students from Shipley College is superb.

Please share the movie with everyone you can. 

It is a powerful polemic on the importance of endometriosis awareness.

Shuffle yourself along to a game of Play Your Cards Right, a bout of Bingo, a raffle, and a quiz night, as we answer the call to help women in chronic pain.

Affecting one in ten females, endometriosis leads to severe bleeding, pelvic agony and a monthly woe of weariness so severe it leads sufferers to self-harm and dark thoughts.

All of which persuaded GP with a Special Interest in Gynaecology Dr Anita Sharma to form our charity Endometriosis Awareness North – whose main fundraiser will be held at the Rochdale Golf Club on September 18 (see close of release for details).

Monies raised will be used to support so-called “endo warriors” and their families, plus fund research into quicker diagnosis and even a cure.

“Despite being one of the most common health conditions in Britain, few people are aware of endo – and that includes doctors and nurses” said Dr Sharma. “The lack of funding means women have to wait up to ten years just to get a proper diagnosis, meaning a decade of missing out on an education and work, not being able to socialise with others, and crippling agony that nobody seems to understand.”

Dr Sharma got so exasperated at seeing patients who had their symptoms dismissed, ignored and sent home with a dose of pain killers, she formed our charity and began spreading the message to junior doctors and now Prime Minister Andy Burnham – who promised action on the issue when attending a session. 

We have also just run a social media campaign called #Unheard and produced a documentary featuring warriors. These include local nurse Lucy Bowker, who said: “Endometriosis meant that I couldn’t look after my newborn baby. I was solely reliant on pain relief and staying in bed with my hot water bottle. It wasn’t a life.” (See more by going to https://endo-unheard-voices.lovable.app/#stories ).

Caused when cells that usually grow in the womb adhere to other organs in the body, endometriosis can lead to umpteen surgeries and costs the UK £8.2 billion per year in treatment and sick pay.

The fundraising event takes place at:

7pm – midnight

Friday 18 September 2026

Rochdale Golf Club

Edenfield Road

Bagslate

Rochdale

OL11 5YR

Tickets are priced at £20 and can be obtained by emailingendometriosisawarenessnorth@gmail.com 

An Oldham charity who has felt like the lone voice on endometriosis, could now have their message broadcast to millions.

And it’s all thanks to a film and campaign they have produced with the world’s first endo-friendly college.

Endometriosis Awareness North has teamed up with Creative Media students at Shipley College across the Pennine border near Bradford. Together, they have made a documentary called “Unheard No More”, which aims to spur decision-makers into investing in decent diagnostic tools to detect the blight which wrecks the lives of one-in-ten women.

Health Minister James Murray is one of the primary targets in a social media drive called #UNHEARD, which organisers hope has the same dramatic impact as another world-changing hashtag campaign - #MeToo.

“Since we began this campaign in a small surgery in Chadderton we have relied upon the kindness of others to reach people such as potential Prime Minister Andy Burnham” said Dr Anita Sharma, the founder of Endometriosis Awareness North. “We have made amazing progress in getting recognition of the condition and supporting those living with endo. But this film and campaign puts awareness on an entirely different level and the potential is global. The students have done a remarkable job in designing and producing it, and I am sure it will counter misogyny in healthcare and reduce the suffering of millions of women.”

Featuring interviews with Dr Sharma, plus Oldham endo warriors Lucy Bowker and Courtney Ormrod, the 10-minute short accompanies a campaign calling for:         

• The creation of one-stop endometriosis clinics with specialist expertise

• Faster diagnosis and treatment pathways

• Improved NHS women’s health services generally and,

• Greater public awareness of endometriosis, which was at pitiful levels amongst the public and the medical profession when Dr Sharma began her charity.

Members of the public are encouraged to:

• Sign the campaign petition calling for improvements to women’s healthcare services

• Contact their MP using a downloadable campaign letter

• Record and share a 30-second video describing their own experiences of endometriosis and the challenges they have faced.

A spokesperson for Shipley College said: “Producing this documentary has been a powerful experience. Listening to the women involved made us realise just how many people are affected by endometriosis and how important it is that their experiences are heard. We hope the campaign encourages greater understanding of the condition and helps bring about positive change for those living with it.”

Concluded Dr Sharma: “One of the key components for us with this campaign was to convince young people that they can use their considerable talents to change the world. Endometriosis affects the physical and mental health of their classmates, their friends, their families perhaps even themselves. #MeToo began with a hashtag on a social media post and altered the course of history. If we buy into this fabulous campaign, that could happen again with millions of lives altered for the better.”

Our founder has taken to the pages of the MIMS Learning portal to salute two new breakthroughs which could cut the waiting time for an endometriosis diagnosis. 

The use of Endotest and Endosure by two NHS trusts has had headline writers humming - and proclaiming a major breakthrough in the battle to cut the delay, which currently stands at just under a decade.

Dr Anita Sharma is particularly pleased that the tests, which could also reduce the need for surgery, have been endorsed by NICE – the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

You can read her full blog by visiting https://www.mimslearning.co.uk/pages/mims-learning-blog 

Endometriosis Awareness North has a special page dedicated to health professionals who previously had gaps in their knowledge about endo – FORMEDICS

Our charity is also supported by the British International Doctors Association (BIDA). Learn about their work at https://bida-online.com/

Look what we discovered in the archives - our founder Dr Anita Sharma in the company of a soon-to-be Prime Minister!

Premier Andy Burnham visited many health events in his role as elected Greater Manchester Mayor - including a showcase event for our charity in Oldham.

While the fight for health equality and a better recognition of endometriosis is deeply political, we work with politicians of all persuasions to push the issue forwards.

We will shortly have some major news on the Westminster front, which we will share with you.

Meanwhile, if you are a mover or shaker in the world of politics, why not email us at endometriosisawarenessnorth@gmail.com    

We need diagnosis times to go down and society to take endometriosis more seriously - and YOU can help us.