TEENS CAN STILL GET FREE TAMPONS

Colleges and schools in the UK are giving out period products throughout lockdown

After years of campaigning, in January the Department for Education launched a scheme that meant all state schools could order free tampons and sanitary pads to give to children who needed them. Then when the first lockdown hit, it was reported that some people were forced to resort to using pillowcases and tea towels, while confusion led to shoppers in Welsh supermarkets being told they couldn’t buy anything from the female hygiene aisle.

With the mass closures of schools, many worry young people could miss out on sanitary products, but Phs Direct, the company the government uses to supply them, has said it will continue delivering to schools during the COVID-19 crisis.

That means that if your family needs period products, they can either send them out to you, or you may be able to collect them, so it’s important that you contact them to ask how you can get hold of what you need. Some schools handed out extra items before closing, while others are delivering them in food parcels to students eligible for free school meals.

Governments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now all run schemes to provide free period products for schools, while Scotland recently made them available for free to anybody who needs them – via designated public places such as community centres, youth clubs and pharmacies.

There are also lots of charities working hard to help people who are struggling to get the period products they need, including food banks (Trusselltrust.org), In Kind Direct (Inkinddirect.org), Beauty Banks (Beautybanks. org.uk) and Hey Girls (Heygirls.co.uk) where you can buy a product for yourself, and donate one for someone who can’t afford it.