The Red Box Project is a national initiative and recently launched in Harrogate.
It is about giving young girls easy and free access to sanitary products. Although at most schools there some available, this is about expanding that, with easy access to much more.
Each month many girls don’t have the sanitary products that they need and may take time off school or be forced to improvise. This can be for many reasons including poverty in the household, just not being given products or the child having the money themselves to buy – Harrogate is no way immune from this problem.
The project is a true community initiative and relies on donations being made that are then distributed to the schools.
Jay Kelly is leading the Red Box Project in Harrogate:
We are currently working to develop a network of donation bins where people can easily drop off a few products each month. If you think you could help with this then please just make contact, all support is greatly appreciated.
We are also talking to each schools directly and will have some distribution bins going into schools very soon.
The project has been lucky to receive free support from Studio One, a Harrogate-based design and branding company. They have donated vinyl stickers for the tubs and donation bins plus other signage to help raise awareness within each school – putting back into the community is part of the ethos at Studio One, they also donated a large graphic mural and other branding for the out patients children ward at Harrogate Hospital.
The branding and signs are vital as it is all part of raising awareness of the scheme for people to donate or students realising the scheme is available to them.
Dean Houseman of Studio One in Harrogate said:
As a dad myself, I still can’t believe that period poverty goes on in Harrogate. I was very pleased to support this.
Jay Kelly added:
It’s a big thank you to Studio One for stepping in and helping with the branding and graphics.
It has made such a difference in how professional everything looks and will undoubtedly make this all much more of a success.
An early adopter will be Harrogate Grammar School, they have asked for two distribution bins to cover the main school and six form area.
Kirstie Moat Associate Headteacher at Harrogate Grammar said:
We would love to be a part of this project.
We already have a lot of free products but we tend to find the problem is girls being brave enough to come and take them.
Hopefully with a recognisable scheme it’ll raise awareness and normalise the idea of helping themselves for those who need to.
See http://redboxproject.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/redboxharrogate/ for more details or email redboxharrogate@gmail.com to contact Jay.
