Young people to give views on free sanitary products

Young people are being encouraged to give their views on how to spend the latest round of funding for sanitary products.

Carmarthenshire County Council has received a Period Dignity grant of £140,301 from Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire Youth Council are keen to find out the views of young women on what products they feel are needed. Last year the money was spent on traditional sanitary products like pads and tampons.

This year the council is looking to offer a greater choice which are environmentally friendly. These include reusable, moon cups, period pants and cloth pads.

People can give their views by completing an online service until January 13.

The #PeriodPovertySirGâr project was launched in April by Carmarthenshire Youth Council, with support from the council’s youth service and education department and funding from Welsh Government.

Carmarthenshire’s Period Poverty Champion, council Deputy Leader Cllr Mair Stephens said: “This year we are offering people more choice on the products they wish to use. By using as many eco friendly products as we can will help the environment. I would encourage as many young people as possible to fill out the online survey and let us know what suits them.”

Boxes containing free sanitary products have been distributed to all 97 primary and 12 secondary schools across the county, as well as colleges, youth groups and third sector organisations.

The aim of the project is to make sure girls do not miss out on their education because they do not have adequate protection during their period and to change people’s attitudes towards menstruation so that it is no longer a ‘taboo’ subject.

CYC Executive Board Member Amber Treharne, aged 15 from Burry Port, said: “I’m so excited to be working on the new part of the #periodpovertysirgar project! Our original idea of providing all schools, youth groups etc with free sanitary products has been a massive success so I can’t wait to see what happens next. It’s vitally important that we try to protect our environment so providing young girls with eco-friendly and reusable sanitary products it ensures we can become more ‘green’ whilst still sticking with our aim of ensuring every girl and young woman within the county can access sanitary products with finance being no barrier.”