Edinburgh Napier University

Nearly 200 students have taken advantage of Edinburgh Napier’s free period product scheme after it was extended to include home delivery during lockdown. 

Thanks to Scottish Government funding, the University teamed up with social enterprise Hey Girls last year to provide a range of free period products to students in various locations across Edinburgh Napier property. 

The scheme has recently been extended to give students living in the UK the chance to order period products to be delivered to their home – for free. 

Within the first weeks of free delivery being available, a total of 177 orders had been placed, meaning students who were in lockdown, or at home for the summer holidays, could continue to benefit from the initiative. 

Jamie Pearson, Environmental Sustainability Manager at Edinburgh Napier, said: “The deliveries build upon the fantastic work carried out by the University cleaning supervisors and student-led Bleedin’ Saor team to ensure all students at Edinburgh Napier have access to free period products.  

“We’re very grateful to the Scottish Government for providing funding to enable this initiative.”

Social enterprise Hey Girls’ mission since being founded in 2018 is to eradicate period poverty in the UK.

Since 2018, Hey Girls has been working with local authorities, schools and colleges in Scotland and since 2020 in Wales to deliver free period products to students, constituents and service users.  Products were made widely available in 2020 in Scottish public spaces.

Celia Hodson, Founder Hey Girls said: “We don’t believe anyone should be denied access to period products, during a global pandemic or not.  Access to period products is a human right, yet sadly there is still work to be done across the UK to recognise this.

“It’s been incredible to witness, however, the acknowledgement from so many local authorities and educational institutes that this issue is so important, especially during Covid-19. Working with our partners to provide period protection during the coronavirus pandemic hopefully means that women and girls in these settings have one less thing to worry about and can feel confident whilst on their periods.”

“We are working to expand this initiative across the UK, and welcome the opportunity to work with new councils, schools and colleges to keep everyone period protected during Covid-19.”

The home delivery of free period products is the latest in a number of projects Edinburgh Napier has spearheaded which aim to make products available to anyone who needs them alongside helping put an end to the stigma surrounding ‘that time of the month’. 

Last year, a student collective called ‘Bleedin’ Saor’ successfully worked with the University, Hey Girls and PR agency Wire to successfully deliver the first-ever University Bloody Big Brunch as part of a national campaign to raise awareness of period poverty. 

The same collective also worked with Hey Girls and the University’s Property and Facilities team to develop a new dispenser for its range of period products. This dispenser can now be found in key bathrooms across the University and is also being used by Hey Girls’ clients throughout the country. 

Later this year, Bleedin’ Saor will also debut an exciting new collaborative documentary project about period poverty. 

Filmed and edited by Edinburgh Napier BA Film and BA Television students, the film takes its inspiration from the Scottish Government’s ground-breaking initiative to provide free products in all schools, colleges and universities. The film will also cover the collective’s trip to Uganda where it researched international contexts and projects tackling period provision. 

More information on Edinburgh Napier’s free period products and where to find them can be found here. 

More information on Hey Girls can be found here. 

More information on Bleedin’ Saor can be found here.