Yes, you heard us, free period products! If you are a state-maintained school or Department for Education funded college in England, then the free period products scheme is available for pupils to access free period products during the school day.
Period poverty can be broken into three contributing factors: the cost of sanitary products, a lack of period education and the reinforcement of stigma and taboos.
So, lets break that down. Firstly, girls in the UK are struggling to cover the costs of period products and because of this, many are going without. Next, education around periods is severely lacking and many young people don’t fully understand how their bodies work or the options available to manage their periods properly. Finally, treating periods as taboo has created an air of hush hush around the topic, allowing myths to spread and stigma to continue. These three factors contribute to period poverty and can be extremely harmful to a young girl’s development.
Period poverty exists across the UK and according to the charity plan international UK, unable to afford period products*. This is also impacting those at school age, with one third of teenage girls admitting they, or someone they know, have been impacted by period poverty**.
In not having the correct access to period products and education around periods, their development is suffering. 1 in 14 said they missed school as they could not afford or access period products* and over 52% of teenage girls have missed school or college because of their period**.
Period equality is a widely discussed and refers to women having access to sanitary products regardless of their circumstances. We believe all people should have access to products, especially as periods are not a choice. phs Group are the leading hygiene services provider in the UK and they have championed period equality for many years, supporting charitable causes, engaging with the government, local authorities, schools and businesses.
phs have taken a further step and are now working with the Department for Education to implement a period product provision scheme which will ensure free products are made available to schools and colleges throughout England. The scheme is a fantastic way of giving pupils easy access to period products, breaking down the barriers & stigmas and ensuring young people’s education is not impacted by their period.
Lil-Lets is extremely proud to have worked with PHS for several years but this scheme is something we’re particularly thrilled to be a part of. Lil-Lets products make up a wide selection of the product offering, including our non-applicator tampons, organic pads and organic tampons.
If you work in a school and you’d like to ensure period equality, making sure your students have the support they need, register your school for free products today by calling 01827 255500 (option 3) or dropping an email to periodproducts@phs.co.uk
*Plan International UK Report 2017
**phs Group White Paper
