Stand-up physio targets stigma of female incontinence with new social enterprise

Ms Miller founded Sweet F Aye with fellow comedians, Susan Morrison and Jojo Sutherland, and the trio recently received £5,000 from the Scottish Government’s Social Entrepreneurs Fund, to help kick-start the venture.

Sweet F Aye aims to provide targeted assistance to women who are dealing with incontinence, by producing comedy shows and workshops that address the issue.

The team also hope to generate profits from corporate work, including menopause workshops for managers and staff, which will allow them to provide low-cost/free interventions and physiotherapy sessions to affected women, and train volunteers to become local health ambassadors.

Using humor to promote health

‘Few women seek help about their leaking, as most don’t realise that #physioworks,’ said Ms Miller.

‘The majority of women who do come forward are white and middle class, and they are, of course, deserving of help, but we also want to reach the women in geographically remote, economically deprived and culturally diverse communities.

‘Anecdotally comedy seems to work, so we’re hoping to establish whether humour is an effective health promotion tool.

‘We’re going to reach out to the women who don’t come to clinic, and have a chuckle along the way. And the funding and mentoring are huge, so I’m quite excited.’

The initiative received funding in the latest round of the Start It award, a scheme run by Firstport, a development agency for social enterprise start-ups.