It is an unpleasant fact that if you are female, you will menstruate each month for an average of forty years. For many women, the cost of sanitary products to use each month has become out of their financial reach. However, these items are a necessity not a luxury.
In an effort to help women and teenage girls in their local community – particularly as the effects of the Covid 19 lockdown stretched finances further – Caroline Herman and her 14-year-old daughter Cara set up a charitable project in December 2020 to provide period products to those who were struggling to afford or access products over the Christmas period.
‘All Yours’ quickly went from a simple ambition to a much larger scale project. In the course of just one year, they have provided in excess of 4,500 period boxes with the help of over thirty volunteers. The scheme covers Berkshire, South Oxfordshire, Reading, Basingstoke, and Wiltshire. Partnering with more than 50 organisations working within the various local communities including food banks, community larders, schools, youth centres, community cafes, local libraries, and homeless shelters, ‘All Yours’ has provided desperate women and girls with a hygienic alternative to the desperate measures they were turning to by using socks, newspapers, and toilet roll.
Period products are supplied in two types of boxes. Those for adults with experience of dealing with their period and using sanitary products, the other for teenage and younger girls who are just getting to grips with their periods. Sarah Manners is a volunteer covering the Abingdon area and she tells us more about how ‘All Yours’ pays for period products.
“I deliver period products to people in Abingdon. I love my volunteer role and our mission statement. We fundraise by either asking for donations or asking people to buy sanitary products from our Amazon Wishlist. I have a Wishlist and Just Giving page designated for the Abingdon community. This means any money donated or products bought, directly benefit the residents of Abingdon (and some close surrounding villages).”
The period boxes are intended for those people who cannot afford or access period products each month. Boxes can be requested via one of the community organisations listed above or via the ‘All Yours’ website periodbox.uk. Boxes are discretely packaged; they will either be delivered to your door by a volunteer or posted to you, whichever is quicker.
The people involved with ‘All Yours’ have met some amazing people working within their local communities who collectively make life better for those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged. Since setting up ‘All Yours,’ Cara has received the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award and Caroline was awarded the Harper’s Bazaar Change Leader Award at the 2021 Women of the Year Awards.
To find out more please visit ‘All Yours’ Facebook page @allyoursmonthly or to donate, please visit their website. Supporting ‘All Yours’ means that the organisation can continue to make and distribute boxes. A period is not a one-off event and women, and girls will need support throughout the coming year.
