As we enter into the festive season, there is a natural
break in our operations and a chance to reflect on what
has been an incredible year for the Red Box Project.
We left 2018 with news that Scotland had rolled out a
free period products scheme, funded by the Scottish
Government, for all schools, colleges, and universities.
Incredible, right? Wales also acknowledged period
poverty and allocated £1mil of funding to welsh local
authorities to explore period product provision as well
as identifying and exploring potential resolutions for
the stigma attached to periods.
The Red Box Project entered into 2019 with the ambition
of reaching more young people, ensuring that no one
missed out on their education due to having their
period. We started the year with some amazing people who
volunteered and showed brilliant dedication to running
their local Red Box Projects and the Red Boxes we had
out in educational settings was a true testament to
this. The Red Box Project was off to a great start for
2019!
Towards the end of January, the Red Box Project
partnered with the #FreePeriods campaign, founded by
Amika George, to bring forward a legal challenge to the
Government ensuring that they complied with their
obligations of the Equalities Act 2010, within
education.
As we entered into March 2019, it was International
Women’s Day which our volunteer coordinators, up and
down the country, got involved with events, talks and
celebrations! It was also quite a big week for
Government announcements in the world of all things
periods!
The week was started with the Minister for Women and
Equalities, Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt MP, announcing that
the Government would be convening a task force for to
investigate and explore the issue of period poverty. The
task force was to be made up of public, private and
third sector organisations who had expertise in period
poverty. It was also announced, in the same week, that
people who are in-patients in NHS hospitals would also
have free period products available for them to use for
the duration of their stay. This policy was further
extended to cover people who had been detained and
remained in police custody, they too would have access
to the period products they require. We are sure you
will agree, these were all positive steps forward to
achieving a country that has resolved period poverty.
The following week, after International Women’s Day had
been, brought some amazing news for the Red Box Project.
Our campaigning and push to drive about change had been
heard and on 13th March 2019, at the hearing of the
Spring Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
announced that funding would be made available for
period products to be accessible in all schools and
colleges. This day marked an amazing 2 years for the
project!
Upon further analysis of the announcement, it was
discovered that the new scheme would be available to
secondary schools and colleges in England. This is an
England only policy as education is a devolved matter to
the other administrations in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. We continue to campaign to ensure that
primary schools would also have access to the products
they need and in April 2019, the Minister for Children
and Families announced that the provision would be
extended to cover young people in primary schools, too!
Another fantastic achievement for the Red Box Project!
Since this announcement, the Red Box Project has been
engaging and working with the Department for Education,
the government department responsible for the delivery
of the period products scheme, to ensure that this
scheme is as successful as it can be.
The new policy scheme, that will see the provision of
period products made available in all primary and
secondary schools, as well as colleges, in England will
be rolled out in January 2020.
So, what does this now mean for the Red Box Project? We
are sure you will agree, it has been a triumphant year
for everyone involved with the Red Box Project. 2019
will definitely be remembered for the year the Red Box
Project brought about change! The Red Box Project has
always been clear of our aim, to ensure no young person
misses out on their education due to their period. So,
with this in mind, the HQ team took the strategic
decision to wind down our operations gradually towards
January 2020, allowing for the Government’s new scheme
to be rolled out and benefit young people.
As the year has progressed and the impact of our work
and the message behind it has spread beyond Great
Britain. We now have projects in the US, Canada,
Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man,
Jersey, Germany, Poland, Monaco, Tanzania, Japan and New
Zealand! We are very touched that our work has managed
to reach this far around the world and it is a real
honour to work with such amazing and determined people!
The Red Box Project will continue to support
international projects as much as we can. Our ambition
of seeing a world where no young person misses out on
their education because they have their period is coming
ever closer to be achieved!
Anna, Clegg, and everyone who has volunteered with the
Red Box Project over the past two and a half years would
like to express our gratitude and sincere thanks for
your tireless and continued support. None of the
achievements that we have seen in 2019 would have been
possible without you supporting your local project. So,
truly from the bottom of our hearts, a huge thank you!
We wish you a very happy and merry festive break and all
the very best for the New Year ahead!
With best wishes, as ever,
Red Box Project HQ ❤️
