Hey Girls is built on the understanding that access to period products should be a right, not a privilege. Our work in bringing #PeriodEquality to UK students has been excelled with our recent alliance with The Cambridge Period Project.
A group of students from Cambridge University launched a campaign which aims to bring wide spread period access to all Cambridge colleges across England.
In a survey of over 600 Cambridge students, 55.1% of them could not find clear and free access to period products on campus. The Cambridge Period Project also found that 51.6% of their students find purchasing period products to be a financial burden, with a further 12.5% experiencing this persistently.
Lydia Seed, founder of The Cambridge Period Project said: “A ‘period postcode lottery’ exists within our university whereby the level of support provided for students who menstruate varies immensely across the colleges. I wanted to do something to make period products as freely available and easily accessible as other sexual & reproductive health supplies, and so I founded The Cambridge Period Project, with my Students for Global Health committee, to bring about central change within the university.”
Menstruation is a healthy and natural process that no one chooses to go through. So, why is it we still struggle to freely access essential period products? We know that lack of access has a direct impact to an individuals confidence and health, and has a strong link with the overarching issue of period poverty in Britain.
Not only are The Cambridge Period Project making moves to empower their peers on campus, they are also giving back to their community. The students understand the fact that period poverty is a wide spread issue, and have teamed up with local charity StreetCramps to offer product to those faced with a lack of access to period protection on a regional level.
Hey Girls are proud to already supply a number of Cambridge colleges with our plastic free period care, but this campaign is a welcome addition to the movement. Along with Cambridge Student Union, this team of young activists are working to secure further funding to support the provision of period products on each of the 31 Cambridge colleges. An open letter to the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University has almost received 1,000 signatures from students.
Hey Girls stand in unity with The Cambridge Period Project team to help build #PeriodEquality into the core values of Cambridge University.
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