Project Period has moved from a grassroots pilot project to an established university service supplying toilets and other key locations across all seven UK campuses with free period products.

We have purchased of 1.2 million Grace and Green tampons and pads that are organic, sustainable, plastic-free and chemical-free, meaning they have an indefinite shelf life.

These products are provided for free and are available in the majority of campus buildings, with signposting for those who need them. At the start of the project, products were dropped off by volunteers who collected them from a central location.

Now, Estates and Cleaning colleagues replenish stocks in the same way that they do for toilet roll or hand soap. Building operation managers are the main point of contact to set up new locations or address any issues

By moving to a centralised provision of products, the university can take advantage of lower prices – storing the pads and tampons on King’s Meadow Campus for distribution across the university over the coming years.

Project Period was launched in 2020 in the Biodiscovery Institute by Professor Chris Denning and colleagues. It has since spread across University Park, Jubilee, Sutton Bonington, King’s Meadow and Queen’s Medical Centre, Derby and City Hospital campuses.

The project aims to address issues of being ‘caught short’, period poverty, culture and education, including promoting open and inclusive conversations around menstruation and menopause.

The pads and tampons offered by the Project already help protect the environment and will go further by soon trialling reusable period products – including period pants and menstrual cups – with staff and student volunteers. This will help gauge need and interest in this type of product, and whether it should be something the project supplies in the future.

For more information on Project Period, the locations where free products are available, and to suggest new locations to stock products – visit our website.