Since the start of January, you may have noticed that the ground floor toilets across campus have been fitted with machines which vend free period products. These machines are in all ground floor toilets in all buildings across campus*
These products are available for anyone to take as and when they (or a friend or family member) need them – no questions asked. Period poverty can affect anyone at any time, and can have a negative impact on people’s work, study, social relationships, and mental health.
Now that the machines are installed, you’ll start to see posters appearing around campus shortly to let people know that these products are available, so feel free to share the news with your colleagues or students. We’d also like to share some further information about the free period products, and the company that we’ve partnered with – Hey Girls – who are supplying them. Take a look below to find out more…
Free period products FAQs
Q. What free period products are available?
A. Each machine has a choice of either tampons or sanitary towels which people can just take from the machines according to their need.
Q. Who are the products for?
A. Anyone who needs them. From someone who is caught short and needs the products for personal use, to a parent who may otherwise struggle to afford to buy the product for their teenager – we are encouraging people to take what they need, for whatever reason. At Salford, we believe it is our collective responsibility to champion equity, diversity allyship, and create an inclusive culture for all.
*Q. Where are the machines based across campus?
A. The machines are in all ground floor (where available) male, female and gender-neutral toilets across campus. The exception to this is where a ground floor option is not available, and the location of the products will be signposted in those specific buildings.
In any toilets where installation has not been possible for accessibility reasons, baskets containing the free products have been placed as an alternative.
Q. Why have we partnered with this particular company?
A. Hey Girls are the only social enterprise who donate 100% of profits to fund the fight against period poverty and lobby for period dignity across the UK. For every one product they sell, they donate one for free to their partner network to support vulnerable people. They champion allyship and open conversations around a number of issues including period poverty and menopause, as well as providing support to families on having informed and meaningful conversations around menstruation. You can find more about Hey Girls here including their campaigns.
Q. Why is the company called Hey Girls?
A. Hey Girls was set up by Celia and her two daughters Bec and Kate after experiencing period poverty first hand themselves when Celia was a single mum. Celia used to always greet her daughters by saying ‘hey girls!’ as a term of endearment. It was not intended to be exclusive.
Hey Girls say:
“We have been working behind the scenes to become more inclusive and have big plans to ensure we are supporting diversity and equality around period care and education, for example we’ve changed our packaging to be more inclusive (removing images of girls from the boxes), widened the messaging to change to ‘people’ rather than ‘girls’ and ‘women’ from our resources and website.
We work very closely with The Diversity Trust and focus groups to create educational resources, lesson plans and campaigns to ensure LGBTQIA+, BME and disability communities are part of everything we do.
We also have extensive educational resources on www.myperiod.org.uk – a website designed to create awareness and education around periods, that has been designed as more of a gender neutral menstrual educational tool”
Q. What’s the rationale for putting these in the male toilets as well?
A. By placing them in all toilets, we’re asking people to consider their role as allies. Whilst the products might not be something you would personally use, you could take them for someone you know who could be silently struggling with period poverty.
Q. What about sustainability?
A. All their plant-based disposable products are made with sustainably sourced bamboo and 100% certified organic cotton. The absorbent internal layer of the pads are made from corn starch and the wrappers are made from biofilm which is completely biodegradable within 6 months. All tampons are made using certified organic cotton that can be traced all the way back to its original source. The cardboard applicators are made from recycled cardboard, the plant-based applicators are made from sugar cane and the non-applicator tampons are also wrapped in biofilm which is completely biodegradable within 6 months. If you would like to go zero waste, menstrual cups and reusable pads starter packs are available on request from the Sustainability Team, contact sustainability@salford.ac.uk to arrange collection.
Q. Where can I find more information?
A. As more machines are installed, we’ll also place some leaflets and posters in the toilets which give an overview of Hey Girls, the sustainability of the products, and some signposting to support services for period poverty. You can also find more information about period poverty here.