Support grows for campaign to end ‘period poverty’ in our schools
A scheme devoted to ensuring no young person has to miss school because of a menstrual period is taking off in our district.
The Red Box Project is a community-based, not-forprofit initiative, which aims to support young people throughout their periods by providing boxes of free period products to schools.
Set up in March 2017, the project now has over 3,000 Red Boxes across the country.
It was founded by three friends who wanted to give young people in their area access to sanitary products.
This was in reaction to news about ‘period poverty’, whereby young women miss out on their education because they cannot afford the products they need during their period.
They contacted secondary schools in Portsmouth to ask if a constantly stocked box of menstrual products would be welcome.
The feedback was the issue was real and the resource was needed.
The trio invited people to join the movement and the response was overwhelming.
From Scotland to Cornwall, as well as overseas, people began setting up boxes filled with tampons, pads, tights and underwear - and fundraised and collected to ensure they never became empty.
Lynsey Hutcheson, Red Box Project coordinator for Chichester & Midhurst, said: “We’d like to be in a situation where no young person has to miss school because they have their period. In this day and age, it shouldn’t happen and unfortunately it does. .”
There are 53 boxes in schools in and around Chichester and Midhurst.
Lynsey said: “Our aim is to cover all schools in the area. We cover all senior schools and only have a small number of primaries left to cover. We urge anyone who doesn’t have a Red Box to get in touch - we’d love to make sure everyone has access to one and it’s is completely free for the school.”
Pupils do not need to register to use the box and it is not means tested: “If they need it, they can have it, no questions asked.”
Boxes come fully stocked with a range of pads, new underwear, wipes and - for senior schools only - tampons.
Anyone using a box can take what they need for the day or for their whole period.
“The school simply contacts us when the boxes need restocking and we come along and do that, again completely free. We don’t tell schools how to use the boxes because what works for one may not work for another - each school knows their school a lot better than we do.”
Some young people are already using the boxes every month: “This alone proves there’s a place for the project.”