Due to collaborative campaigning and our hard work on the ground, galvanizing the most incredible people to join us in our fight for menstrual equality, the government in England have followed in the Welsh and Scottish government’s footsteps and will provide, in early 2020, menstrual products in all schools and colleges across the country. As such, our projects have begun (Oct/Nov 2019) to close down to allow the scheme to work in the best possible way and we will be monitoring the scheme closely.
We are still very much open for all of our many overseas projects and if you would like to set one up outside of England, Wales and Scotland, please email us: .
A huge thank you to everyone for your continued love and support. Together we have made a difference.
Below is a little more about how we began. What a journey!
The Red Box Project is a community-based, charity, which aims to support young people throughout their periods by providing red boxes filled with free period products to local schools.
The Story
The Red Box Project was founded in March 2017 by three friends who wanted to give young people in their local area access to menstrual products. After reading about ‘Period Poverty‘ in the news, they were angered at the idea that young people were missing out on their education because they couldn’t afford the products they needed during their period.
They decided to take action and contacted several secondary schools in Portsmouth to ask if a constantly stocked box of menstrual products would be welcomed. The feedback from teachers was that the issue was real and the resource was needed.
Recognising that the need was nationwide, they invited individuals from across the country to be a part of this movement and the response was overwhelming. From Scotland to Cornwall as well as overseas, people began to group together, set up Red Boxes filled with tampons, pads, tights and underwear which were then delivered into local schools. They fundraised, collected, had craft sales and donations drives, all to make sure their boxes never became empty.
2019 – Two years on from the start…
In 2019, the Red Box Project, with a 600+ volunteers strong, partnered with the Free Periods campaign, founded by Amika George and launched a legal challenge against Government.
The legal challenge was based on claiming that Government was in breach of the Equality Act 2010 and was discriminating against gender by not providing young people, in compulsory education, with access to period products.
This video shows the journey of the legal campaign:
Where have Red Boxes been set up?
We had over 400 projects across the UK and still continue to have projects operating overseas including in: USA, Canada, Poland, Moldova, Republic of Ireland, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Colombia and JapanThe Red Box Project will continue to strive to ensure that no young person misses out on their education because they have their period.