Badminton Scotland has been awarded funding from sportscotland to give 20 clubs £100 each to provide free period products for members
Badminton Scotland has been awarded funding from sportscotland to give 20 clubs £100 each to provide free period products for members.
The £2000 grant is part of a £50,000 fund awarded to sportscotland by the Scottish Government. By supporting clubs to offer free period products to participants and visitors, the fund aims to support the Scottish Government’s aims to widen the availability of products beyond education and public sector settings.
The investment will allow people to have access to free period products when they are participating in sport, so people feel included and welcome to take part in club and community sport and no one has to miss out.
Jacqueline Lynn, head of school and community sport at sportscotland, said: “Sport has a positive impact on people and communities and sportscotland wants to ensure sport is accessible to all. These grants will help sports clubs across Scotland ensure all members feel included, comfortable and dignified when they take part.
“It is important we continue to celebrate female participation across our world-class sporting system and make sure everyone feels they belong and are welcome to participate.”
Additional information and support
In 2018 Scotland became the first country in the world to provide access to free sanitary products initially in schools, colleges and universities through direct investment from Scottish Government.
In 2019 this was further enhanced with the inclusion of leisure centre and libraries and most recently a specific initiative supporting sports clubs was introduced to offer free products to participants and visitors, widening the availability of products beyond education and public sector settings.
A number of organisations exist in Scotland to help promote this cultural change and provide guidance on ways to reduce the stigma of periods.
Below are some contacts that you can access to help you make that positive change within your club.
Hey Girls
Hey Girls is a not for profit social enterprise that provide guidance and support to organisations looking to purchase environmentally friendly products whilst at the same time helping to tackle period poverty by providing access to products to low income families.
Hey Girls has created a best practice guide for distributing period products and will give you ideas on how providing free products could work in your setting: https://www.heygirls.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Hey-Girls-Schools-Guide.pdf.
It is considerably more cost-effective to purchase products direct from the manufacturer, rather than from a supermarket. If you are interested in providing plastic-free or reusable period products, including menstrual cups, get in touch with Hey Girls who have put together a bundle and some guidance specially for sports clubs at education@heygirls.co.uk.
Fair Share
Fair Share is an UK wide organisation operating in Scotland that is primarily about tackling food waste and redistributing to charities to provide meals, but they also provide free period products vulnerable groups.
More information can be found by contacting the regional representatives:
- • Tayside and Fife: sanitaryproducts@transformcd.org
- • Central and South East: RachelVette@cyrenians.scot
- • West of Scotland: linda@moveon.org.uk
Schools. Universities, Colleges and Leisure Centres
Local authorities and education providers have received funding from Scottish Government to increase the number and range of places where sanitary products are available for those who need them. How and where provision is made available is a decision for each organisation.
If you are a club using a school, college, university or local authority leisure centre facility, talk to the facility manager about whether they could make provision of free sanitary products available within their facility.