NHS Northumberland Talking Therapies have launched their 'Ask for Kelly' offer, providing free sanitary products.

The service has a Cost of Living steering group, and one of the group's initial aims was to provide a resource directing people in need to supplies of free period products. Following research undertaken by the service, it was discovered that there were very few places to signpost to and that the main advice people were given was to use socks instead of sanitary products. The group agreed that as a service they could do more. Colleagues went out to local businesses to seek as many donations as possible, being so successful that the service has launched 'Ask for Kelly' solely based on these donations!

The service thought carefully about how to make this easy for people and reduce any shame or embarrassment. There are a few ways people can ask for a pack:

• Ask a colleague directly for a period product pack.
• Ask for a package Kelly has left.
• Hand a colleague a laminated card.

The packs are in plain brown paper bags with one packet of sanitary towels inside and a small piece of paper letting people know where they can access more.

The Hygiene Bank's latest report suggests that 8% of the population is impacted by hygiene poverty, but that there is a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities or long-term conditions (21%), lower-income households (18%), and those from ethnic minorities (12%). 50% of those affected by hygiene poverty say that it is causing them anxiety or depression. For more information, you can access the report here.

With this in mind, the steering group's next aim is to seek funding to widen the project to more general basic hygiene supplies.