The Red Box Project Helping To Beat Period Poverty

The Red Box Project Helping To Beat Period Poverty

Since the start of the academic year, community-run The Red Box Project – Crawley, Horsham and Haywards Heath, led by Crawley’s Holly Davidson has been helping to ensure that girls in and around Mid and West Sussex have the sanitary items they need during their period to keep them in school, maintain their dignity and fight the growing scourge of period poverty.

The Red Box Project initially launched two years-ago in Portsmouth, founded by three friends who wanted to give young people in their local area access to sanitary products. After reading about period poverty in the news, they were angered at the idea that young women were missing out on their education because they could simply not afford the products they needed during their period.

The trio decided to act and contacted several secondary schools in the Portsmouth area to ask whether a constantly stocked box of menstrual product would be welcomed. The feedback from teachers was that the issue was real, and resources were needed. Recognising that the need was nationwide, the number of red box projects soon grew, and they joined forces in the fight against poverty movement.

From Scotland to Cornwall, people began to group together to set-up red boxes filled with tampons, pads, tights and underwear which were then delivered to schools. They fundraised, collected, held sales and donations drives, all to make sure their boxes never became empty. In September, Holly Davidson, started a project to cover Billingshurst to Burgess Hill, to date she has 47 boxes supporting students.

Speaking about the project, Holly, says: “All the menstrual products received are donations from the community. I have boxes in locations where people can drop their donations as well as a crowdfunding page. Unite, Metrobus and Co-op all gave us huge donations of products and Metrobus continues to support the project by doing most of our printing and providing us with some storage space.”

Holly adds: “The government announced that from September it will provide free menstrual products to students in schools and colleges, which is a result of lots of campaigning, a fantastic step. Unfortunately, this isn’t extended to primary schools yet. We believe that every child is entitled to a proper education and we know too well that there are many girls in primary school, missing out because of their period.”

Can You Help Beat Period Poverty?

The Red Box Project – Crawley, Horsham and Haywards Heath relies on the kindness
of the community, if you would like to donate, most of the group’s donation points can be
found on its Facebook page, the organisation accepts towels, tampons, new underwear
and tights, and moist flushable wipes to keep its boxes stocked.

For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page:   www.facebook.com/redboxprojectwestsussex, or: visit:   www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/redboxprojectwestsussex

If you are a school that needs a box, The Red Box Project – Crawley, Horsham and
Haywards Heath, wants to hear from you, email: redboxcrawley@gmail.com