Period poverty to be tackled with 'vital £530,000 grant'

The Scottish Government is pledging more than half a million pounds to help tackle the problem of period poverty.

A grant of £530,000 has been given to the FareShare charity, which will use the cash to distribute sanitary products to more than 500 organisations including food banks, refuges, community centres and drop-in centres across the country.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said the move would "help us to remove the barriers some people face in accessing period products''.

The Scottish Government already funds the provision of free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities, with the scheme later rolled out to other public buildings including libraries and leisure centres.

Despite this, Ms Campbell said some women were still being forced to stay at home on certain days because they could not afford these items.

The Communities Secretary said: "FareShare do a fantastic job to ensure more people are able to get the products they need.

"It is unacceptable in this day and age that some individuals are missing out on education or staying at home because they can't easily access sanitary products.

"As a Government, we will continue to tackle period inequality and make more products available in a dignified way to those who need it the most."

FareShare Scotland head Gillian Kynoch said: "Even though FareShare Scotland's main objective is to get surplus food to charities supporting vulnerable people, our distribution network and links to frontline charities puts us in a unique position to help alleviate the serious issue of period inequality.

"It's not right that those on the lowest incomes have to make the agonising choice between buying food for their families and sanitary protection, which is why this funding from the Scottish Government is so vitally important."