The Red Box Project - how it works

You may recently have seen news reports that disadvantaged young women in the UK are missing school because they have started their period and find it hard to obtain sanitary products. The result? Anxiety, embarrassment, missed lessons, missed education.

I’ve signed up as a Coordinator for The Red Box Project, a Community Voluntary Organisation based in Portsmouth but with branches all over the UK. This should be a straightforward problem to solve. So here is what we've done.....

Local branches of The Red Box Project sponsor and stock red boxes filled with sanitary towels, tampons and spare pants. The boxes are kept in schools at Reception, with the Nurse, Student Services or with an appropriate member of staff.

Posters placed in the girls' toilets encourage a young woman in need of sanitary items to ask for the red box and take what she needs. Plain bags are included for discretion. If she needs supplies for her whole period, we've got her back.

No tearful panics in the loo. No wadded up toilet roll. No sitting awkwardly on one cheek. No anxious embarrassment. No missed lessons or staying home.

This is a simple project and is entirely funded by community kindness. On behalf of the Project, I will be managing red boxes filled with free sanitary products which will be kept in local schools when they request one. I’ll liaise with the schools and keep the boxes fully stocked.

We ❤️ our teachers and support staff and we recognise that they go the extra mile every day. We also think that as communities around our schools, we should step up and do our bit.