Our Action:
As we hope is clear, our mission is to normalise period talk in order to encourage everyone to confidently discuss the issues and crises of this topic. There are hundreds of organisations working hard to relieve millions of women from period poverty every day. However, this issue is still not recognised by everyone. Our aim is to encourage people to talk more, share views and ideas, and be inspired, like us, to take action.
We both have undertaken simple yet effective tasks that, in their own ways, will help the fight against period poverty. In sharing our actions (past, present, and future), we hope to encourage you to join us.
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Through this blog, our social media, and word of mouth, we plan to promote different means of normalising the conversation. As well as this, we aim to lead challenges and activities designed to raise funds and awareness for a variety of charities, all of whom hope to assist in the eradication of period poverty.
Links to charities and movements:
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Here is a list of charities and movements helping in the fight to end period poverty. We encourage you to understand more about them by visiting their websites, donating to their causes, and joining their movements to end period poverty.
The UK:
Always- https://www.always.co.uk/en-gb/about-us/endperiodpoverty
The Homeless Period- http://thehomelessperiod.com/
Bodyform- https://www.bodyform.co.uk/our-world/period-poverty/
Trussell Trust- https://www.trusselltrust.org
Red Box Project- http://redboxproject.org/
Hey Girls- https://www.heygirls.co.uk/
International:
Freedom4girls- https://www.freedom4girls.co.uk/
Action Aid- https://www.actionaid.org.uk/
Movements:
Project Period- https://thisisourperiod.org/
Free Periods- https://www.freeperiods.org/
The Pink Protests- https://www.pinkprotest.org/
Be Girl- https://www.begirl.org/
AFRIpads- https://www.afripads.com/
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What you can do to get involved
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Foodbank donations
Foodbanks are a solace for many who unfortunately struggle to financially fund a food shop for their household. When donating, however, people often forget about toiletries. Both of us have a history of collecting food and toiletries for Trussell Trust foodbanks and cannot recommend this simple form of activism enough. It is minimal effort, and yet your actions will help far more people than you know. During the COVID-19 lockdown, we both have dedicated time to collecting for food banks in our local areas – Sophie specifically asked for sanitary products and managed to gather £100's worth, which will help so many women in this difficult time.
Conversation
As mentioned, our goal is to normalise period talk. The more people talk, the more people hear. It really is simple. We ask that you help in this movement by joining in the conversation. It is the easiest way to spread awareness and encourage change. You could even start the conversation with your friends during a virtual cocktail night (check our ‘recipe of the month’ for how to make Bloody Marys).
Writing to local schools
Another effective and easy way to get involved is to send emails to local primary and secondary schools, encouraging them to opt-in to the government’s free sanitary products scheme, which is still occurring during lockdown. Particularly during the pandemic, we need to ensure that all state-maintained schools and colleges in England continue to place orders and take steps to distribute essential period supplies to students at home (in a safe and appropriate way).
An email template can be found here: http://redboxproject.org/ - just scroll down their website to find it.
We have emailed the secondary school that we attended, as well as four local primary schools! It took just 10 minutes and we would really encourage everyone to join in!
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There is so much out there that we can ALL do to help, so please get involved!
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