Call goes out for donations
Lynsey Hutcheson, coordinator for Chichester & Midhurst, said she was inspired to help the Red Box Project as she was shocked by news of UK period poverty.
In 2017, Plan International, a development and humanitarian organisation which advances children’s rights and equality for girls, reported one in 10 girls were unable to afford sanitary wear, one in seven struggled to afford it and more than one in 10 had to improvise sanitary wear because of affordability issues.
It also said almost three quarters of girls aged 14 to 21 admitted they felt embarrassed buying sanitary products, while 49 per cent missed an entire day of school because of their period, well over half making up a lie or an excuse.
Lynsey said: “I read articles about young girls stuffing underwear with socks or newspaper. I was getting upset about it, so I decided to do something about it. Nothing existed like it in our area, so I decided to give the Red Box Project a go.”
Today, her area’s Facebook page features Red Box locations and donation points supporting schools in the GU28 and GU29 and PO18 to PO22 postcodes.
She has also set up a Justgiving page and encourages people to contact her directly: “I’m more than happy to arrange something.”
The Chichester Observer, for example, is currently holding an office collection drive to support the initiative.
Lynsey said a lot of time and money goes on buying brand new underwear to put in the Red Boxes: “If young people have accidents, we don’t want them walking around in wet, dirty underwear.”
The pink-and-white-striped bags include everything someone needs to take care of themself.
“Even as grown ups, we get caught short. Children can have no idea about their cycle and how it’s working, especially at the beginning when it’s all over the place, and this means they are covered. It’s not just for people who can’t afford it - it’s for people who need it.”
The Red Box Project is community run and for the community: “Although we are a national initiative, each project is run independently by a local coordinator. Anything donated, whether period products or cash, stays within our project - it never goes elsewhere.”
It is also part of the Community Matters green token scheme at Waitrose, Chichester throughout April. To find out more, please see chichester.redboxprojectuk@gmail.com and redboxproject.org