UL Anytime of the Month team up to help fight against period poverty

UL Anytime of the Month have teamed up to help tackle period poverty. Pictured above are UL students and Anytime of the Month members Hannah Hegarty, Kelly Tobin, Catriona O’Halloran and Aine Crowley.

UL Anytime of the Month team up to help fight against period poverty

By I Love Limerick Correspondent Ann Mc Donald

Anytime of the Month founder Clodagh Guerin

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UL Anytime of the Month have teamed up in the fight against period poverty and will be providing free period products on campus.  

The UL Anytime of the Month initiative was founded by UL graduate Clogagh Guerin with the aim of helping to end period poverty and supply sanitary products to those in need.

The free period products are available across the UL campus, including the main reception, and in the Stables bar.

In addition to this, UL is fully supporting the Anytime of the Month ally badge system, which aims to create a network of ‘friendly strangers’ who can help if someone is in need of sanitary products. 

UL President Professor Kerstin Mey said, “I am so proud of the incredible group of engaged and socially aware UL students who have become change-makers in their community with the development of the Anytime of the Month campaign.  The university is following in their lead to ensure we have supports in place to alleviate the effects of period poverty.”

The initiative began with collecting donations of period products and placing them in public bathrooms or donating them to homeless shelters or direct provision centres. Since its launch in 2019, Anytime of the Month has expanded greatly, with many businesses such as Ebay, Key, and Free Period Angus partnering up with the charity. The campaign team has conducted workshops with 21 third-level student unions across Ireland, and those institutions are now part of the Anytime of the Month network. 

Make sure to join the @UL x Anytime of the Month launch this Friday at 1pm ?

The link is in our link tree in our bio! We hope to see you all there!

We are so excited for the distribution of period products across the UL campus. Check out the video below to hear more! pic.twitter.com/jZPqf72qkP

— Anytime of the Month (@AnytimeMonth) December 1, 2021

Their work in highlighting and establishing supports to alleviate period poverty has since expanded to working with gynecologists, doctors, and nurses to offer unbiased medical information about periods and period health to students. 

Research by Anytime of the Month found that one in two teenagers in Ireland are impacted by period poverty, while one in three students in third-level education are also afflicted by it.

Their study also found that 75% of people have gone longer than the recommended four hours of wearing a sanitary product due to a lack of money or lack of access to them, which can pose a risk to long-term health.

Co-Project Lead of Anytime of the Month Catriona O’Halloran said, “Anytime of the Month started in UL to support students and now to have established the provision of free period products is the long-term change we always hoped to achieve. This is a huge step forward for everyone in the UL community.

“Our initiatives have now reached all across Ireland but we are very proud of our UL roots and it’s fantastic to have the support of the University.”

The team-up with UL is just one of their many recent achievements, as they recently represented Ireland at the Enactus World Cup in November and gained UL Student Life and the Mary I Students Union as ambassadors in September. 

For more about Anytime of the Month and to become a friendly stranger go HERE

For more stories about Anytime of the Month go HERE