The school summer holidays are swiftly drawing to a close and, as girls go back to school, the need for menstrual products becomes acute once again. In research carried out by Proctor & Gamble, 137,000 girls in the UK regularly miss school because of period poverty.

It found that 10% of parents who participated in one of three surveys conducted by Always said they sent their daughters to school without sanitary products due to cost issues. Almost 50% of teachers cited this problem as common. Of parents surveyed, 19% – or parents of approximately 374,000 girls – said they struggled to afford sanitary products for their children.

In March, Always and P&G launched the a campaign to donate pads to schoolchildren through every purchase of an Always pack. So far, almost 10m pads have been donated.

Aileen Nathan, associate director of Always, says, “These findings show that period poverty is a widespread problem amongst schoolgirls in the UK; it’s surprising to see how it’s affecting parents as well as schoolgirls themselves. Always is a champion for gender equality, and ensuring girls have sanitary protection during menstruation is essential to enable them to continue to attend, and learn at, school. We’re pledging an estimated 5m pads to schools to help those girls achieve their full potential.”

To carry this out, Always teamed up with In Kind Direct and the Red Box Project – which campaigns to end period poverty in the UK. Through the partnership, over 650 red boxes of period products have been placed in schools across the UK.

P&G is fighting on behalf of young girls in the United States as well. Through its partnership with Feeding America, Always donated one million period products to women and girls in need. The UK campaign has been supported by poetry shared via Instagram and other social channels and with the support of brand ambassador Alesha Dixon.

Always products purchased until 19 September will support the campaign. Always is also well known for its ‘Like a Girl’ campaign championing female empowerment.

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