SISTER PACT
Family’s buy-one, give-one business asks customers to pay for an extra pack of sanitary towels and fight period poverty
ecological and sustainability spec. They then designed the packaging and built the website. Celia said: “We had lots of conversations with lots of girls. Could we find something that was already available we could use? We decided there wasn’t, so we had to have something manufactured that was sustainable, environmentally appropriate and came in biodegradable packaging. We searched the UK but we couldn’t get it made here.
“It was quite a task finding a manufacturer who understood what we were trying to do, who was an appropriate employer and had all the quality standards in place.”
Eventually Celia found a factory in China that fitted the bill.
Now the product has arrived, the website is live and the orders are flooding in. Celia assumed they would start slowly and build up the business. It has not happened like that.
She said: “We’ve had a massive spike in sales since we launched. I thought it would launch quite quietly and we’d sell a box a day but it’s grown very quickly.”
“Some customers buy a single box of pads. Others have signed up for regular deliveries. There have also been cash donations, including lots from men.”
In their first month, Celia and her daughters have sold more than 3000 packets of sanitary towels. That means they have 3000 more packs to give away.
“We want to make sure it gets out to where it’s most needed,” Celia explained. “We will be dropping towels off to the YWCA in Glasgow – they are helping women get their lives on track. That feels like a really good alignment.
“We will also be giving to foodbanks, they just need product all the time.”
Celia, who sunk all her own savings into Hey Girls, plans to sell bulk packs of pads, to cut down on packaging and allow organisations to give out as few or as many as required.
Customers are already asking about tampons. If demand continues, Celia will consider adding these.
Her dream scenario would be to find a supermarket willing to stock the product.
She said: “So many people facing period poverty think they are alone and are ashamed of it. Now they are hearing about Hey Girls and our positive message.
“Just by putting this product into your basket you have made an impact.” ● www.heygirls.co.uk