National awards for caring pair
Mum and daughter honoured for period poverty work
A MOTHER and daughter who undertook a Christmas campaign to help women in period poverty are now celebrating their charitable organisation’s first birthday.
Caroline Herman and her daughter Cara, who live in Hampstead Norreys, have created thousands of essential ‘period boxes’ to help women and girls struggling to afford essential sanitary products.
They set out to “make up a few packs pre-Christmas” last year and donate them to the local foodbank, but since that good deed – on December 1, 2020 – their campaign has gathered so much momentum that they have set up a community interest company and sent out more than 4,600 boxes of sanitary products to women and girls in need.
And their tireless voluntary work has now been recognised, with both of them winning national awards.
Mrs Herman picked up the inaugural Change Leader Award at the recent Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year awards, which she was presented with at a glittering, star-studded ceremony at Claridges, in London.
Cara has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award for her volunteering.
“She has done so much making the boxes and she comes on deliveries with me when she can,” Mrs Herman explained.
“Our dinner table is like our boardroom, where we are always discussing ideas.
“Cara is very concerned about those in our community who don’t have much and she also worries about the environment.
“We can’t solve the two problems at once, but we do have some environmentally-friendly products.
“She is very modest and wanted to play it down, but I’m very proud of her.”
It has been a busy year for the group, which now has 32 volunteers working across West Berkshire, Reading, Basingstoke, South Oxfordshire and Swindon.
In the past 12 months 4,643 boxes have been sent out to individuals and through 76 community organisations.
In West Berkshire alone, 1,317 boxes have gone out and All Yours is working with 38 community groups, including the Waterside Centre, Berkshire Youth Offending Team, West Berks Foodbank and the Newbury and Thatcham Community Larders.
Across the district it has also provided 10 secondary schools with 1,470 pairs of knickers and 835 pairs of tights to help young girls have access to the products they need.
“We have been through a really tough few years with Covid and people have come to us because they just don’t know what else to do,” Mrs Herman said.
“For me, it’s been good to have a purpose and to be able to help people during this time too.
“I have made some really good friends; we all just want to do something good.”
Mrs Herman has also been working with Newbury MP Laura Farris, who is set to table three questions in the Commons, surrounding period poverty and the Government’s period product scheme.
And then there’s been a University of Reading project, which has seen four students – including one male student – who are looking at the branding and marketing materials of All Yours.
They will be pitching their thoughts to Mrs Herman next week.
There are now donation bins, for people to drop off donated products, at Newbury, Thatcham and Hungerford libraries, as well as at Tesco on London Road and at the weekly Educafe in Newbury.
A roaming collection bin has also been doing the rounds and has visited WI meetings and the Kintbury and Woolton Hill Surgery.
Mrs Herman has also secured one of just 20 places on the Lloyds Bank Social Entrepreneurs Start Up Programme, in partnership with the School for Social Entrepreneurs, and jointly funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, as part of a programme being run by Action Hampshire.
“I’m quite excited about it,” she added. “It is trying to make us sustainable to run for another year, at least, if not longer.
“Going forward we are trying to focus more on distribution through community partnerships, which are already supporting these women.
“We want it to be second nature to include sanitary products for groups that are supporting people.”
If you would like to support All Yours you can make a donation to its fundraising page. Visit https://www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/allyours