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Langford-based The Grace Period Project was set up earlier this year by North Somerset Council social worker Zoe Langford and teacher Nic Goldhawk after they became increasingly frustrated by the soaring cost of tampons and pads.
They felt that period products were becoming increasingly unaffordable for people living in poverty and wanted to do something to help.
Zoe said: “Period poverty is thought to affect nearly one in eight women in the UK and we were seeing the impact of this directly in our jobs.
“We were becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of support.”
International children’s charity Plan International UK also said that during the pandemic, more than a third of young women aged 14 to 21 struggled to afford or access period products.
In February, the pair started supplying their local food bank with free period products.
They packed 10 paper bags each with a box of tampons and a box of pads.
When these were collected, the pair asked for more donations on social media and were overwhelmed by the response.
The project got its first grant in June, from the Sirona Foundation, which gave Zoe and Nic scope to expand.
It has now donated more than 650 bags, supplying more than 100 people with free period products every month.
Regular supplies are now also going to all 11 children’s centres in North Somerset and five other locations in Weston-super-Mare.
Each Grace bag also now contains one wellbeing tea bag, a chocolate, and other seasonal gifts thanks to generous donations.
Zoe said: “For generations we’ve been taught to deal with the menstrual cycle in secret, taught to hide our tampons on the way to the toilet, and keep our period pains hidden for fear of being seen as less than our male counterparts.
“We think this culture of shame needs to change. It’s only when we start normalizing and educating people about periods that we might see a change come about in policy.
“If we all collectively start raising our voices, calling for equality and challenging product prices, the government might listen up.”
Find out more about the Grace Period Project on Facebook, Instagram, or donate via the Amazon wish list.