Preston North End offering free sanitary pads and tampons at Deepdale to help end period poverty

The football club, through its charity Preston North End Community and Education Trust (PNECET), has partnered with Citron Hygiene to offer free sanitary pads and tampons via vending machines installed in all women’s toilets at Deepdale for use by supporters on home matchdays.

The mission’s aim is to help remove any potential barriers preventing women from attending home matches.

Some 500 million people worldwide cannot access menstrual products and sanitation facilities, resulting in physical and mental health problems. An estimated 137,000 children across the UK having also missed school days due to period poverty. The issue has worsened in the UK since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to charity, Bloody Good Period.

Harriet Creighton-Levis, PNECET deputy chief executive, said: “As the official charity of Preston North End, it is our duty to improve the lives of those in Preston and the surrounding areas, and as part of that, we endeavour to tackle the health inequalities affecting people across our city.

“Period poverty is a pertinent issue which continues to impact women of all ages both in the UK and around the world. We believe in equality for women across all areas of society and we are determined to remove the potential barrier of a lack of access to sanitary products for our participants and supporters at Deepdale.

“Therefore, we have introduced the initial step of the Citron Hygiene vending solution being installed across women’s toilets inside the stadium, which we hope will prevent any vulnerable women from having to choose between attending a match or staying at home.”