We reached out to Freedom4Girls, a UK-registered period poverty that's different to most; they offer re-usable menstrual products instead of just disposables. Here's what Megan Hutchinson, a member of the team, had to say:

 

Q: What is Freedom4Girls?

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A: Freedom4Girls is a UK-registered charity fighting period poverty. We actively support women and girls in both the UK and in developing countries, who struggle to access safe menstrual hygiene protection by offering not just disposables, but environmentally-friendly, washable re-usable's and menstrual cups. We don’t want any girls to have to miss out on their education due to poverty.

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Q: How did Freedom4Girls originally start?

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A: I was already aware of the period poverty in Africa, after volunteering for a year making reusable pads over there, but when I got back from my stay in Africa a teacher friend reached out asking if I could help. There were girls in her class, and school, that didn’t have sanitary products, so either couldn’t turn up to school, or they were using alternatives like socks and toilet paper. I was very shocked by this, especially about how widespread it was, so did media interviews to bring the issue to light. Since 2016, with help from some wonderful people, I’ve set up over 60 donation stations, and helped over 10,000 girls in Africa & delivered over 13,000 packs of pads in the UK.

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Q: Can you tell us about any of the achievements made by Freedom4Girls?

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A: Since 2016 we have achieved a lot. We have been able to help over 10,000 girls in Africa and have given over 13,000 packs of pads to girls in the UK. We have also been pushing for government changes and have been successful as now menstrual pads will be given to schools, council buildings, NHS buildings, for free.

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Q: Can you tell us where your main donation stations are set up?

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A: The majority of our donation stations are in Leeds where Freedom4Girls was founded, however we are setting them up all over the UK with help from volunteers.

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Q: Does Freedom4Girls work with any other period poverty charities?

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A: Freedom4Girls loves to work with other charities to help raise more awareness and work together to make change. A few charities we love are Bloody Good Period, Homeless Period Ireland & The Red Box Project. We also get support from some wonderful businesses like Hey Girls and Organi Cup.

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Q: How do the public react to your work?

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A: We get wonderful support from the public; they are extremely instrumental in our success as they donate their time and money in helping us. Over the years there has been growing support as the issue is shown more in the media and the education for period poverty has increased.

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Q: How can people help Freedom4Girls –  How do they donate? Can they set up a Freedom4Girls station themselves? If so, How?

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A: People can support Freedom4Girls in many ways, depending on their time and their money. Simple things like following us on social media and sharing our posts, can make a huge difference as more people get to see what we’re doing. There are bigger things, like donating sanitary products to one of our donation stations, attending one of our sewing workshops to make reusable pant liners & donating to our GoFundMe page, is also very helpful as they can then go straight to the girls in need.

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People could also set up a donation station in their local shop/community. All you have to do is put a box/crate in an open area with our poster above it. Then when the box gets full, you can either give this to a school/homeless centre in your area, or post it to us. Alternatively, you could put a donation station and collection point poster over the box, so you don't need to move the products and people are free to collect them whenever they're in need.

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Visit the Freedom4Girls website 

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Or donate to their GoFundMe