By Laura Barr, reporting for VIEWdigital
A VERY successful donation drive was held last Saturday (December 5) organised by The Homeless Period Belfast.
This volunteer-led campaign provides sanitary and hygiene items to those most vulnerable across Belfast and the wider area.
This includes the homeless, refugees and asylum seekers, women’s refuges, teenagers in care and women from low-income families.
Katrina McDonnell, founder and project manager, said the team were “overwhelmed” by the “generosity, kindness and compassion” from the people who donated at the drive held at the Oh Yeah Music Centre.
The period packs and boxes of donations are currently being delivered to those most in need throughout Belfast and the surrounding areas.
Katrina said: “Covid has exposed a lot of inequalities within society and a lot of poverty and now more than ever we really need to get these essential items out to people in need.”
Nicole Madine, co-ordinator of the charity and volunteer for the last three years, said she wanted to extend her thanks to everyone who came down and supported the drive.
She said: “We had such an amazing response, and we are so grateful for the donations that came in”.
This was the last donation drive for The Homeless Period Belfast until the new year.
The charity is calling on the Department of Education and the NI Executive to bring NI in line with the rest of UK and provide free period products in all school toilets to alleviate the issue of period poverty and meet the menstrual needs of all schoolgirls.
You can sign their petition at Free period products in NI schools #MenstruationMatters | Uplift
• Scotland has become the first country in the world to make period products free for all – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-51629880
