Preston North End and Preston North End Community and Education Trust have partnered with Citron Hygiene to offer free sanitary pads and tampons in all women’s toilets on the stadium concourses at Deepdale.
A vending solution will be installed in every women’s toilet inside the stadium to offer free sanitary products and thus remove any potential barriers preventing women from attending home matches at Deepdale.
Period poverty is the lack of access to menstrual products and sanitation facilities, which can cause both physical and mental health problems. It also affects children and their access to education, with an estimated 137,000 children across the UK having missed school days as a result of period poverty.
The issue of period poverty is said to have amplified in the UK since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic two years ago, according to the charity, Bloody Good Period. Period poverty is said to affect a total of 500 million people worldwide.
Deputy Chief Executive of Preston North End Community and Education Trust, Harriet Creighton-Levis, said: “As the official charity of Preston North End, it is our duty to improve the lives of those in Preston and the surrounding areas, and as part of that, we endeavour to tackle the health inequalities affecting people across our city.
“Period poverty is a pertinent issue which continues to impact women of all ages both in the UK and around the world. We believe in equality for women across all areas of society and we are determined to remove the potential barrier of a lack of access to sanitary products for our participants and supporters at Deepdale.
“Therefore, we have introduced the initial step of the Citron Hygiene vending solution being installed across women’s toilets inside the stadium, which we hope will prevent any vulnerable women from having to choose between attending a match or staying at home.”
Citron Hygiene are on a mission to eradicate period poverty for the whole of the UK. Find out more about how you can join the period dignity movement by clicking here.