Period Poverty charity, Irise, are pushing for donations from local businesses as the demand for period products are rapidly increasing in the run up to Christmas.

Irise is a Sheffield-based period poverty charity who work globally to ensure that everyone has access to period products and to bring together young people who are held back by their periods. 

Calum Smith, Head of Operations from Irise, said: “It’s an expensive time of year anyway, and I think also you can now get free period products through most schools in the UK and when you’re out of school it is harder to access most of the time over the Christmas period.

“At the minute, we’re providing support for around 2,000 people a year in Sheffield, but we estimate about 5,500 people are affected by period poverty in Sheffield alone. 

“So we want to be able to meet that whole need but we need more products to help with that.

“So one of the things that we are asking businesses to do is to host a donation drive that you might do for a food bank, but for period products and where it’s appropriate, or where people are interested, we are also asking for cash donations.

“That’s because we can access products at wholesale prices or discounted prices – so for the price you may buy a packet of pads in the supermarket, we can buy four packs. 

“If it works for people to give money instead of products, we can get four times as much for the same price.”

Period poverty can be defined as restricted financial or physical access to sanitary products. OnePoll found that in a year, 137,700 children in the UK missed school because of period poverty.

There is also an issue of stigma surrounding periods. Action Aid found that 22% of women aged 18-24 in the UK feel embarrassed during their period – a statistic that rose from 8% in 2022. 

Volunteer for Irise and University of Sheffield student, Emeli Hanson, 22, said: “I believe that no girl should suffer her period without adequate products, and, therefore, the stigma around the issue becomes increased.”

As Christmas approaches, people have less money to spend, meaning the demand for period products from charities like Irise increase.

The award-winning charity is therefore working with local businesses to ensure that they can help as many people as possible.

Miss Hanson said: “I’ve been working on a project to connect Irise to local businesses in order to facilitate further product donations and monetary donations in the community, particularly at Christmas which is a time of increased demand.”

Irise has also teamed up with the University of Sheffield to organise campaigns and fundraisers, like raffles and bingo, to combat the issue of period poverty and the stigmas surrounding it.

Beth Dixon, Chair of the Friends of Irise Society at the university, said: “We fundraise for Irise International but we also try to do things at a university level as well, so changing the language people use about periods, try to overcome the stigma.

“[Period poverty is] a major issue, especially when money is even tighter, especially at winter anyway with heating bills, as well as buying Christmas presents, it’s actually a big issue.”