Salford Schools will now be able to access free period products for all students, following the launch of a new government scheme today which will see that all state-funded schools and colleges have access to free period products.
The Red Box Project in Salford has relied on fundraising events and donations from generous strangers to raise money for the past three years, to supply local schools with free period products.
The project a nationwide, community-powered initiative that provides red boxes of free menstrual products to local schools, colleges and other educational settings.
Co-founder Anna Miles said “our volunteers have worked incredibly hard, delivering free period products to over 5,000 educational settings across the UK.
This new initiative is vital as a survey by hey girls in 2019 unveiled the more alarming scale of period poverty.
“We have always believed, that access to these essential items should not rely on the kindness of strangers, and we are so glad that, from today, schools and colleges across England will be supported by the Government”.
To access free period products for their students’, schools must sign up and order products from the PHS Group who have been contracted by the Department for Education to provide the menstrual products.
Red Box Project has teamed up with the campaign group, Free Periods, founded by teenager Amika George to encourage schools to sign up to the scheme.
Clegg Bamber, co-founder of the project added, “Every school and college in England has been allocated funding for their students and we urge them to use it.
In some communities the projects work over the past three years has seen an increased attendance of nearly a third when students were given access to free period products.
Elaine Kenny of the Red Box Project in Salford said “We know from the work we have done up to this point, providing young people with access to period products is really important in enabling them to fulfill their education.
“It’s amazing to see the government are now ensuring that no young person misses out on their education because they have their period”.
“We are really encouraging all schools to log on to the portal and place their required orders right away.”
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