Author: periodpower

Apart from the hundreds of individual donations, which have been truly humbling, we have also been very fortunate to receive a number of very welcome donations from Unions and Councillors.

All of these donations have made it possible for us to provide support for women and girls even further afield than we initially anticipated and we have been able to support other groups with the same aims in other areas.

However, the bulk of our support is still based in North Staffordshire and our latest campaign #AllOurSchools is taking a big percentage of our funding and would not have been possible without the larger donations.

The following have made very generous donations and, along with our individual donors who are too numerous to mention, we thank you all.

Union support:

F.B.U. No.7 Region

Trades Council, Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke N.E.U (N.U.T Section)

Unite the Union, Stoke-on-Trent

Unite the Union, West Midlands

Unite Community, Stoke-on-Trent

Unison Four Seasons Huntercombe, West Midlands Branch

Unison, Stoke-on-Trent

Unite the Union, Staffordshire Area Health Branch

Unite Community Leicester

Unite Bradford 2 Branch

Unison, City of Stoke-on-Trent, Local Government Branch

Unison Staffordshire

GMB West Midlands

GMB Birmingham

GMB Wellington Branch

CWU Midlands No1 Branch

DWP staff Walsall

FBU Women’s Conference

NUM

NEU Sandwell

Unite Cannock

Unite Babcock DSG Donnington

Unite 5/175

Unite Community Shropshire

Unite Rolls-Royce Coventry

Unite West Midlands 5107

Ucatt UE329 Birmingham Central

Unite Worcestershire & Herefordshire

Unite Birmingham South

Unite Black Country URM branch

Unite WM/7015 Local Authority Branch

Unite WM/7683 Branch

Unite WM/7687 Jaguar Land Rover, Castle Bromwich Branch

Unite Retired Branch 5206

Unite Branch WM 6050 C&W Local Tom Mann Branch

Unite WM/URM Branch 5202

Staffordshire Community Health Branch – Unison

Unite WM 6803 Coventry and Warwickshire Health Branch

Unite Community Nottingham

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Uttoxeter and Burton

HaHo Hartshill and Harpfields Occasions

Unison Midlands Probation Service

CWU Midlands Region

Unite Nottinghamshire Health Branch

Businesses:

Steelite International

Others:

Cannock Council HR dress down day

Stoke-on-Trent City Councillors:

Candi Chetwynd

Shaun Bennett

Ally Simcock

Ruth Rosenau

Chris Robinson

Shaun Pender

Andy Platt

Sheila Pitt

Joy Garner

Jackie Barnes

Alan Dutton

Stafford Borough Council

Jeremy Pert

Since my last blog towards the end of last year so much has happened.

We have now had the results of the Tesco Bags of Help campaign and I’m delighted to announce that we came a very respectable third and will be receiving our cheque for £1000 from Tesco over the next couple of weeks. The fact that there are only ever three organisations in each campaign doesn’t make any difference to us.

We are still winners!!!!

We have also been successful in our application with the Tampon Tax funding and are delighted that we will be working with Borderlines New Vic in Stoke-on-Trent with projects throughout the coming year. We will be working with our local students involving them more closely with our work and empowering them to go back to their places of education and leisure and hopefully empowering other young girls.

As far as our schools programme is concerned we have been extremely busy in rolling out to Primary Schools. We have now supplied over 80 Primary Schools in the North Staffs and Walsall areas. We still have some way to go yet but we will get there.

However, in my humble opinion, the biggest coup and achievement for us to date is the work which our own Cllr Ruth Rosenau has been responsible in initiating. Ruth has been busy working with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and has managed to get them to agree to place sanitary products in all of their 180 women’s/disabled toilets throughout the City.

Period Power have supplied the products for initial placement and the Council will be responsible for replenishing them. As far as we are aware, Stoke-on-Trent City Council is the first Council in England to have done this, so a massive congratulations to them for addressing the needs of their community.

Told you we had been busy….. time to catch a breath…or not!!

I’m delighted, as one of Period Power’s trustees, to have been entrusted with special responsibility for environmental policy and projects.

I look forward to working with fellow trustees, partner agencies, suppliers and sponsors to ensure that environmental responsibility and sustainability are at the forefront of our ethos, and that we make buying choices, where practically and economically possible, that reflect this commitment.

Our primary objective is, as ever, to address the short term problems that disempower women suffering the indignity and negative consequences of period poverty. At the moment we do so by providing products which meet this need for all of those we supply.

At Period Power we’re constantly reviewing the way we work and the choices we make in order to promote sustainability and minimise our impact on the environment.

My role has been created specifically with this in mind. The trustees agree that by initiating a project which offers those women and girls who express an interest the opportunity to learn about and access ethically sourced, reusable products we will widen women’s choice whilst at the same time improving understanding of the benefits of sustainable products and providing economic independence from period poverty that access to these products can bring.

Verity

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/you-can-now-free-tampons-2435545

Here’s a bit of an update regarding the moon cup, I’ve used the replacement one, which proved to be fine, although still slightly leaking, so I did need a pad still, but it’s not like using a pad exclusively- nowhere near as much mess, last 2 days or so I don’t tend to leak anything as a rule….. BUT I don’t really mind needing to use a pad, as I say not half as messy…..so all in all good.

I’m convinced the main issues revolve around the tilted womb?? Can also still only get correct position when lying flat, still have a positive view on it. Thanks

Well it’s that time of year again when we let you know where your money has been spent. It’s been a ridiculously busy year and we have supported the following groups. It’s a long list so be patient.
Elizabeth Trust
Newcastle Foodbank Warehouse.. 6 in total
Stoke-on-Trent Foodbank Warehouse.. 15 in total
Staffs University Foodhub
Alice Charity, Newcastle
Harwich Foodbank
Burton Hope
ASHA Shelton
Julia House
Citizens Advice
Sanctus, Shelton
Cannock Foodbank
Cheadle Foodbank
Newcastle District Children’s Centre
Rising Brook Baptist church, Stafford
The Signpost Centre, Stafford
Crewe Foodbank
Staffordshire Women’s Aid, Stafford
Arch, North Staffs
The Homeless Project, Stafford
Biddulph Foodbank
Midland Heart, Stafford
St. Michael’s Church, Chell
Lyme Trust, Newcastle
No.11, Burslem
Affordable Foods, Blurton
House of Bread, Stafford
Zynthia Academy, Leicester
Citizens Advice
Silito Housing, Stoke
St. Mary’s Church, Stafford
Silkmore Children’s Centre, Stafford
Tamworth Children’s Centre
Cannock Children’s Centre
East Staffs Children’s Centre
Lichfield Children’s Centre
South Staff’s Children’s Centre
Staffordshire Moorlands Children’s Centre
Ruff and Ruby, Hanley
Helping Handbags, Haughton, Stafford
Fenton Health Centre
The Zone Community Centre, Biddulph.

We have also supplied 30 high schools and colleges and by the end of next week we will also have supplied over 50 primary schools.

This is down to the generosity of you guys and your continued support on social media. We have also been very fortunate in receiving some great donations from many Unions and individual Councillors. To check these out please go to our website www.periodpower.org and search ‘Donors’

This year we have had some great support from our volunteers Cheryl, Shahin and Birgit and many collections made by individuals throughout the area. Thank you all so much.

I have to mention our Trustees, Cllr Ruth Rosenau, Cllr Sue Moffat, Verity Venter and Rose Hunter. These guys have been a great support and have given hours of their time every week so that we can continue with our work. I’m proud to be associated with each and every one of them.

The biggest thanks though has to be to you guys for your continued support in helping us to ease the pain of #periodpoverty.

Much love to you all xx

In my last blog I told you all about us being chosen by Tesco Bags of Help to be one of three charities to have a place in three local stores, Trent Vale, Hartshill and Newcastle-under-Lyme. We are now in our third week of this particular Bags of Help and I have had to stop myself from going into all three shops almost every day. We still need you all to #PopYourTokeninourBox each and every time you go into any of the three shops mentioned as we need as much support as possible to continue with our work with all the local schools and charities. This continues until the end of December and fingers crossed we will do well. Good luck to the other charities involved in our stores…….
Did I really say that??

On another note completely. As you are aware, we have and are continuing to supply our local high schools with sanitary pads. We have now been asked if we can roll this out to our local primary schools. As you can imagine, there are many more primary schools than high schools so this is going to be a mammoth task for us to fulfil. However, in saying that, we will fulfil this commitment and are already beginning to call into our primary schools with stocks of pads. Our very own Cllr. Ruth Rosenau has been working very hard with her local Council and this has given us the information and support we need to get this to happen more quickly than would normally be the case. We have also been given the backing of Cllr. Jeremy Pert of Stafford Borough Council and Tracy Redpath, Corporate Business and Partnerships Manager of Stafford Borough Council who have arranged funding so that we can support our primary schools in the Stafford area. Without this kind of support from Councillors and Unions we would struggle to support the young girls in our area who have no access to sanitary protection.

In my next blog I will tell you all about the local groups who are supporting us with fundraising events and who have named us as their Christmas Charity. A massive thank you to all our donors, especially the individuals who give to us on a regular monthly basis. Without you guys I would be twiddling my thumbs wondering how to fill my days. Hey ho.

One final announcement, and what an announcement. We are delighted to inform you that we have a new Patron in Chris Williamson, MP for Derby North. Chris is an extremely hard-working MP and is committed to doing the very best for his constituents.
He is also very aware of the dreadful choices facing so many women each month…. buy food or sanitary products. We are so proud that he has agreed to support us in our fight to end #periodpoverty.

Take care everyone and keep following us and supporting us….. please. xx

Last month was a really heavy and unpleasant period ;(

The pain again was made slightly better during use of the moon cup….. just a couple of downsides, first one being I still need to use a sanitary towel as well as there always seems to be a small amount that doesn’t get caught in the cup….I am guessing because of my tilted womb? (Retroverted womb)?? I can live with that as using less pads but also the majority is being caught by the cup.
I CAN insert it now standing but it’s much easier lying flat…… I can still imagine it being a nightmare and a bit messy in a bathroom away from home or especially in a public toilet…..on the whole; still impressed.

Thanks
Surina x

What can I say??? Again, apologies for not keeping to my initial intention of updating you all on this blog every two weeks. No excuses, except that we are getting busier and busier each day. As more and more people hear about us we are having to travel further afield to give talks or deliver sanitary pads and tampons.

We have been talking to a number of Unions in the North Staffs and West Midlands Regions and we have had some really great support. Both financially and practically. Please check out our blog which lists the Unions who have contributed to our funds and also some of our local Councillors in Stoke-on-Trent who have also donated. Although these donations have been invaluable we are also so very grateful to the individual donations without which we would never have been able to achieve what we have done to date.

A quick update regarding #AllOurSchools campaign.

Every single school who responded to our offer of help has been supplied with pads and we will continue to supply them as long as we have the funds to do so. We are now supplying over 30 schools and colleges in the area and we have now been contacted by other charities in other parts of Staffordshire asking for help. More on that in my next blog. We are also going to speak to the M.P. For Crewe and Nantwich, Laura Smith, who has seen the need herself for help in schools in her constituency.

One last bit of information and this is so very exciting for us. We have been accepted to take part in Tesco #bagsofhelp and during the months of November and December shoppers will be able to vote for us by placing a token into our box at the front of the store. There will be three charities to choose from so please if you are in the following stores please choose very carefully and then #PopYourTokeninourBox.

The stores are:

Tesco Superstore, 291 Newcastle Road, Trent Vale,

Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6PL

Tesco Express, Keele Road, Newcastle, Staffs

ST5 2HN

Tesco Express, Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent

ST4 7NH

Post period little blog;
I have a tilted womb (retroverted uterus) so was /is a little more tricky I would imagine than those ladies who don’t……..instead of upwards and backwards mine just seems to go straight along……?!
I still stick by the positioning issue, squat or leg op doesn’t seem to work for me, so flat on the bed it is, that’s fine assuming I don’t need to empty it whilst out……..! I am sure it’s something that I can hopefully change in time but for now it works. For a couple of days there was very slight leakage so still at present need a pad to make sure but thinking of washable ones if I still need them long term…….still, it’ll save a lot of money in the long run and the vast bulk of it is in the cup.
One bonus was I took less paracetamol for the pain, so that’s a very good advantage- less pain is brill! So I’m so pleased! Also the moon cup is a hell of a lot cleaner…! Impressed on the whole so far. Will update next month xxxxx