Period poverty hit the public consciousness in December 2016 following the release of Ken Loach’s hard-hitting film ‘I, Daniel Blake’.

One scene, where a struggling single mother is caught stealing sanitary towels, particularly caught the imagination, and food banks were flooded with donations of menstrual products.

Recently a  car load of toiletries have kindly been donated by Children’s Centre staff ready to be dropped off at Calderdale Lighthouse Project – and still more to drop off.

#FreePeriods is a national campaign calling for free menstrual products for children in receipt of free school meals

In March, the media were full of reports of schoolgirls in Leeds routinely missing school because they were unable to afford menstrual products.

Children as young as 10 were choosing to stay at home to avoid the embarrassment of bleeding on their school uniform in front of their peers, because they weren’t adequately protected. They miss school every month because they cannot face the shame and fear of going to school using socks stuffed with tissues, old torn T-shirts or newspaper. In these families, menstrual products are an unattainable luxury.