The Team

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Rose Hunter

Trustee

21st Century – girls and women not being able to afford or have access to period products? That’s the choice facing some of our most vulnerable girls and women today.

Degrading, embarrassing, desperate,  loss of dignity, feeling ashamed, dirty – unclean.

Degrading and embarrassing – particularly for girls at school who can’t ask for help or talk about being on their periods.

Desperate – buying food versus buying period products. Loss of dignity – soiled clothes covered in blood and feeling dirty especially if you have no access to washing facilities.

These feelings are real especially for girls living on the streets, for women who have to choose between feeding their kids or buying period products and  for girls at school from low income families where there is just not enough spare cash .

Period protection is not a luxury it is a necessity.

Women have no choice around menstruating and that’s why I feel passionate that period poverty must end and we will do everything that we can as a group to help to alleviate the problem and raise awareness in order to eradicate it.

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Verity Venter

Trustee

Period poverty could be eradicated tomorrow – it only exists because of a lack of political will. Women and girls need sanitary products just as we all need loo roll.  Imagine a world with insecure access to loo roll.  One where you couldn’t be certain that you could leave your home and go to school or work or to a social event in case none was available and you might lose your dignity, be embarrassed and uncomfortable; or even be made fun of by those who could afford to carry their own supply.  Sorry to be graphic but it is graphic for schoolgirls who bleed onto their clothes in class because their parents had to pay the electricity bill or put food in the cupboard and couldn’t afford the extra expense.  We know that many girls miss school regularly for exactly this reason.

Period Power has been raising funds and putting free-access products into schools, food banks, community centres and workplaces for several years.  However, we shouldn’t need to exist.  Our biggest aspiration is to make ourselves redundant by helping to eradicate period poverty once and for all by demanding that women and girls receive free access to these products that are a biological necessity.  In the meantime we continue to work with schools, councils, employers, charities and workplace unions to raise awareness, remove stigma and increase availability.

I feel privileged to be a Trustee of Period Power, and I’m especially proud to be working with the team to improve access to and education about the many benefits of reusable products.  Products that are more affordable, long term, healthier to use, and far less environmentally damaging.  Making the shift from single use products can empower women by providing products that can be reused for years without additional costs.  Whether through reusables or free access to single use products, women and girls should be able to shift from dependence to independence and the dignity and control which comes with it.

Cllr Sue Moffat

Trustee

I joined Period Power to work with my sister trustees in raising awareness of and eradicating period poverty. Included in this ambition is to tackle the on-going bias against and discrimination towards those of us in the UK and beyond who experience menstruation and post menstruation health and dignity issues. Our ambition is to empower through solidarity. Through our social actions Period Power will raise girls and women up and through doing so raise up their families and communities. The ‘power’ in Period Power is in coming together and identifying common causes and ambitions. Our on-going commitment is to See Red at the inequalities and unfairness that keep some of us at a disadvantage. We will not stand by and watch this happen but we will be through our sisterhood be a force for positive change.

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Sharon Pender

Trustee

Why did I want to support this amazing charity?

This was a question that I was recently asked and didn’t hesitate to respond.
I  went to an event a few years ago and stood back to watch Linda and her team supporting a local community with their donated period products. I remember thinking why on earth is this happening today in our schools, workplaces, communities, etc. and how can it be possible that females cannot afford to buy these products? What’s going on?
There is such a high demand for period products and many women and girls are left having  to prioritise between food and paying the bills, hence going without these essential products, they have no choice and this should not be happening to anyone.
I wanted to offer my support in any way that I could to eradicate ‘period poverty’ and help those who needed it most. Period Power engages with and supports numerous groups so that  hopefully  we can move forward to no longer needing a charity to provide us with these necessities.
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Dr Alison Briggs

Trustee

Alison is a Research Associate in Human Geography at the University of Manchester. Her research examines food insecurity through a relational lens to understand how intimate and social relations are (re) configured in this context and draws together understandings of food insecurity and poverty at both a personal and organisational/community level.

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Linda Allbutt

Founder

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Gigi Ermoyenous

Ambassador

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Anvi Gupta

Youth Ambassador

Helping to eradicate period poverty. Registered Charity Number 1181769