A YOUNG woman from Bude is taking steps to provide sanitary products to refugees and asylum seekers experiencing ‘period poverty’ in the UK, by introducing a new initiative to her home town — ‘The Bloody Good Period’.

Twenty-three-year-old Sophie McConnell has lived in Bude all her life. She attended Budehaven Community School before studying journalism at Kingston University. Wanting to make an impact on the world around her after the completion of her degree, Sophie decided to do voluntary charity work abroad.

Having recently returned from a VSO volunteer placement in Bangladesh, which came about thanks to fundraising and generous donations from the people of Bude, Sophie worked with local schools in the area to educate girls about menstrual health and ensuring they had access to emergency sanitary products in order to stay in school.

Sophie said: “I went out there presuming that the girls were just so poor to be able to afford the correct products, but they were actually just completely uneducated about what was going on with their bodies and what was right and wrong to be doing.

“There was so much superstition attached to periods and mothers weren’t talking to their daughters about the naturalness of them, so girls were just in complete shock when it first occurred.”

Sophie explained that girls would very often use dirty rags and keep them in the corner of rooms in between their monthly cycles, which would more often than not result in infection.

She said: “In the two months we were out there, we managed to visit lots of schools and run sessions about what to expect and what products are available,”

Sophie continued: “We also managed to set up ‘emergency sanitary napkin corners’, which female students would pay a tiny amount each month in order to provide sanitary products to girls while they’re in school, a way in which to keep more girls in education while on their period.

“When I came home, it took a while to adjust back to the UK’s culture and way of life, but the one thing that hit me was the fact that there are issues around menstruation here in the UK, just as there are in third world countries like Bangladesh. This is when I knew I wanted to get involved with tackling period poverty and reached out to The Bloody Good Period project.”

The Bloody Good Period is a project that provides sanitary supplies and toiletries to asylum seekers, refugees and those who cannot afford these products. Through the generosity of members of the public, the project collects donations of sanitary products and supplies them to drop-in centres and support services across the UK.

Sophie added: “I have already secured a box in the Ark Angel Bookshop, Bude Methodist Church and Neetside Community Centre, where people can drop off their donations.”

All donations will go to Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support centre, based in Plymouth. To find out more about The Bloody Good Period, go to www.bloodygoodperiod.com