Bodyform Pledges 200,000 Free Sanitary Products To Tackle Period Poverty

Period poverty may be taboo subject, but it has been slowly moving up the political agenda.

Last year, The Big Issue highlighted campaigners’ efforts to end the archaic VAT rules regarding tampons, and calls for them to be made free and easily available for homeless women at shelters and other charitable outlets.

Now Bodyform has stepped in to offer support. The company has launched a new three-year commitment to help provide free sanitary protection to women and girls unable to access or purchase products for themselves or their families.

Bodyform will donate 200,000 free packs of sanitary products to charities across the country over the next three years through the HRH Prince of Wales’s organisation, In Kind Direct.

In Kind Direct’s CEO Robin Boles said many women and girls are “affected by issues such as homelessness, poverty, disability, illness and domestic violence.”

“This very welcome, long term commitment from Bodyform means we will be able to provide more charities with a consistent supply of sanitary products and help many more women struggling to afford this most basic necessity.”

The Homeless Period campaign, set up by Londoners Sara Bakhaty, Josie Sheddon and Oliver Frost, joined forces with several homelessness charities last year to champion easier access to tampons after gaining traction on social media with #TheHomelessPeriod.