Social enterprise is supplying sanitary products directly to a number of local authorities

Hey Girls has been chosen to deliver the Scottish Government’s initiative to provide free sanitary products to school pupils and students.

The East Lothian-based social enterprise, which only launched in January, is working directly with a number of Scottish councils and universities to provide products as part of the new national scheme that will provide free sanitary products to those at school, college or university.

Hey Girls is supplying sanitary products directly to a number of local authorities including City of Edinburgh Council, Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council, West Lothian Council, and Stirling Council, as well as Glasgow Caledonian University.

Celia Hodson, founder of Hey Girls, said: “The Scottish Government’s commitment to provide period products to all young people in education right across the country is wonderful. It marks a real milestone in the fight against period poverty, and should be celebrated as a real step forward in tackling period poverty.

“We’ve been working really closely with a number of councils and their schools to ensure we’re providing their students with the products they want, and in the delivery method that they want, rather than rolling out a ‘one size to fit all’ approach.

“It’s a really positive thing that these councils are choosing to order a range of products so that people are being given a real choice to choose the item they’re most comfortable in using, but are also given the option of trying out something else, including reusable products which are more sustainable in the long term.”

Hey Girls is also the main provider of menstrual products to Fareshare, who will distribute sanitary products to communities across Scotland via their four distribution centres in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow.

Hodson added: “We are really delighted to be able to provide Hey Girls products to Fareshare in this really important programme. As with all of our sales, we are matching box for box every packet ordered, making that money go further to help those in need.”

Hey Girls will initially supply Fareshare with sanitary pads and tampons, with the provision of menstrual cups and reusable sanitary pads following later in the year.

Training and education sessions will be delivered by community development workers and will promote reusable products and cups to encourage more sustainable and environmentally solutions.

Hey Girls was launched in January 2018, selling menstrual products online using a buy one, give one model – meaning that for every box purchased, a box is given away to a girl or woman in need in the UK.

Since then, Hey Girls has donated more than 1,365,000 boxes of pads and tampons to people across the UK.

In August, the social enterprise launched its products in 228 Asda and 80 Waitrose stores across the UK, following a £50,000 investment from Big Issue Invest’s Power Up programme enabling the social enterprise to upscale.