Tackling period poverty with environmentally-friendly menstrual products

South Cambridgeshire District Council is joining the fight to end period poverty by providing free menstrual products for up to 700 residents.

Councillors have agreed to champion the cause, to ensure dignity for all, by offering free sanitary products which are also kind to the environment.

A funding pot of £12,000 has been agreed for the year-long innovative project, which will offer residents a choice of one of three period product packs - either washable pads, period pants or reusable period cups.

• Hey Girls, a UK-wide social enterprise, will be distributing the packs. Residents can apply using this link. The scheme will run on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

The idea was unanimously agreed following a motion by Cllr Heather Williams to expand the District Council’s Cost-of-Living Support scheme to provide free sanitary products to those who may not be able to afford them, to address the unspoken daily challenges for ordinary people.

Cllr Heather Williams, Leader of the Opposition at the District Council, said: “Often it is the small changes that can have the biggest impact in an individual’s life. Helping to address period poverty has the potential to support some of the most vulnerable in our society – and show them they have not been forgotten, they are cared for, and we will help them. My experience of local government is often that there is a lot of will to create positive change, just not necessarily the awareness of issues like period poverty. The fact that this received unanimous support shows how much this issue goes beyond party politics.”

Cllr Bridget Smith, Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “Women and girls deserve access to essential period health products without the worry of cost. By offering sustainable alternatives, we’re also helping to reduce the waste associated with single-use period products. This is a great initiative which represents a step towards greater health equity and also environmental responsibility."

The local authority joins more than 80 other councils across the UK who have signed up with award-winning social enterprise Hey Girls to help eradicate period poverty, improve access to quality products and increase education around period health.

Celia Hodson, Founder and Chief Executive of Hey Girls, said: “Hey Girls is excited to partner with South Cambridgeshire District Council, joining our mission to eradicate period poverty in the UK.

“Period products are a necessity, but they are expensive. Tight budgets can leave people forced to prioritise other purchases, leaving them without the right period products, without enough period products, or without any period products at all. 
 
“Increasing access to period products is really important. Free products can keep people in school and work, improve concentration, encourage participation in sport, and support good health. They prevent people having to make difficult choices – to wear the wrong product, or a worse quality product, or to wear a product for longer than is medically advised or safe.  

“At Hey Girls we believe that access to quality period products is a right, not a privilege. No one should have to choose between bleeding on their trousers and eating lunch. Free products not only help end period poverty, but they also promote period equality.” 

• Hey Girls is a multi-award-winning period product social enterprise. For every product it sells it donates the equivalent product to someone in need. Since the community interest company was established in 2018, Hey Girls has donated over 38 million period products..
• An estimated 26,903 tonnes of waste, from disposable period products, is generated a year. This ends up in landfill or in our sewage system and sadly very often in our rivers and seas.