Hi, my name is Katie-Louise Oakley and I was the Vice President for Campaigns (18-19). During my time as Vice President, my main campaign was about period poverty and being able to provide free sanitary products for anyone who needs them in college.
Period poverty is an issue that affects many people around the world of all ages which can affect their everyday life:
1 in 10 teens in the UK are unable to afford sanitary products.
On average £18,000 is spent on sanitary products in their life which is around £13 a month.
2.3 million people live without basic sanitation worldwide.
This is why it is important to me that we bring this issue to light and help people in this situation and help them to carry on with their day to day lives. To do this, we have made it so free sanitary products can be collected from every reception area, the Students' Union Office and other offices within the college.
To achieve this, i researched the cause and effect of period poverty which can be anything from many missed days at school and college to crippling stigma around the subject. During this i found out about the Red Box Project, which is a scheme to support school and college students through free sanitary products. Once i gathered this evidence, i wrote a Email to a member of the college management team asking them to consider making sanitary products free across all campuses. Lastly, we received branded red boxes after joining the project and marketing material to promote the free sanitary products to students across all campuses.
I'd like to thank Dudley Students' Union and Dudley College for agreeing on the importance of period poverty and i hope this campaign has helped your time at college become more enjoyable!
Katie-Louise Oakley
Vice President of Campaigns 18-19
Comments