Suffolk Women Join Forces To Tackle Hygiene Poverty

A group of students have teamed up with a team of women at a Felixstowe PR company to collect a crate of products for those living in hygiene poverty in Suffolk.

Year 10 students from Ipswich High School joined forces with Prominent PR to collect sanitary products as well as toothbrushes, soaps, shampoo, deodorant and shower gel for women in the area struggling to afford basic toiletries.

The items will be distributed by The Hygiene Bank, a charity set up to fill the gaps of the work done by local food banks.

Keira Booty, PR Executive at Prominent, set up a collection point at her office in January after finding out about the charity which distributes new, unused and in-date hygiene basics, beauty, personal care and cleaning essentials to those most in need.

She said: “Being clean shouldn’t be a luxury or a privilege but there are girls all over the country who can’t even afford sanitary protection and have to improvise using scrunched up loo roll or socks. This is just unacceptable and has become a hidden crisis in the UK – something people just do not speak about.

“Buying the basics when we need them is something most of us take for granted. At Prominent the majority of our team is female, and we felt that this was a charity that resonated.”

Prominent has collected dozens of items for people in the local area in the last year and set up a collection point at its Felixstowe office. Pupils at Ipswich High School doubled the PR team’s efforts, bringing a whole host of donations from students and their friends and families.

Christelle Savary, Head of French at Ipswich High School who organised the collection said: “At the beginning of September I read the article in The Week Junior about The Hygiene Bank and was really touched by it. Prominent was our nearest collection point and it seemed very fitting to be working with a team of women there who felt as concerned as we did by the plight of other females not as lucky as we are.”

Hygiene poverty is not being able to afford everyday hygiene and personal grooming products. A spokeswoman for the charity said: “The reality of low income is that it restricts people’s options, leaving them caught between being able to heat their home, pay their rent, eat or be clean. This grip of poverty strips people of their dignity.”

Prominent will keep their collection point operational for the foreseeable future. If you have any new, unused and in-date products you wish to donate please leave them in the collection box outside the office at Unit 6, Gulpher Business Park, Gulpher Road, Felixstowe IP11 9RB.