“Period poverty is real and Ukrainians need these products now more than ever”
MOLLY Fenton is no ordinary 19-year-old. She has been campaigning to educate people about period poverty and get free sanitary products in schools for four years.
Her campaign Love Your Period aims to educate people about periods, from stigma to the problems with plastic in feminine hygiene products.
Last week, Molly rushed around Cardiff to collect sanitary products to be sent to Ukraine.
She researched people in the area, scouring the internet to find where hygiene products were being collected.
Molly said: “Period poverty is real, and Ukrainians need these products now more than ever.
“As soon as we heard donations were going out, I spent a day collecting products that went straight off to Ukraine and then Poland. One hygiene bank was at Yan’s Fish Bar in Gabalfa.
“I’m not funded, so everything I do is limited. It’s just my sister and I. But I will work with Llanishen Rotary Club to get products donated out to people who need them.”
After winning the St David Award for Young Person of the Year in 2021, Molly is continuing to educate people about the stigma surrounding periods on social media.
March 5 marked the fourth year of Molly’s Love Your Period Campaign, which she began when she was just 15 years old.
Molly said: “After being told that period poverty was an inappropriate topic to be discussed at a debating competition, I understood why stigma had become one of the root causes of these poverty levels rising.
“At the time England had announced free period products in education establishments and Wales had not, so I used social media to encourage the Government to change their perspective and realise this was a huge issue that had to be addressed.”
Molly is now on the Welsh Government’s period dignity roundtable, helping to shape policy.
The Welsh Government, in their Period Dignity Strategic Action Plan, said: “We want to end the stigma and shame associated with periods.”
Molly said: “As Love Your Period becomes international, I never forget that we’ve been doing this in Wales for four years now, and it’s thanks to Llanishen Rotary Club and many members of the Welsh Senedd that we’ve come this far.”
In spite of her good work, guidance from the Welsh Government states that: “With many logistical routes closed and transportation systems under significant pressure, sending physical goods could add more stress to the situation on the ground.
“Making cash donations, to organisations responding to the crisis in Ukraine, allows for emergency relief goods to be sourced locally.”
Love Your Period will now be keeping products donated for refugees.
