A woman who regularly attends a Walkden women’s support group has donated £100 to tackle period poverty across the city.
Women of Wisdom, a support group for women in Walkden, recognised that there was a demand for free hygiene products for women in poverty.
Janet Fairhurst, director of the group, has recently seen a rise in women asking for sanitary products, as they prioritise their children’s Christmas gifts over their personal hygiene.
She said: “At the end of the day, as women and what we go through with our periods and everything, and even if it’s only like £5 to pay for sanitary towels and things like that, wipes, you know, at the end of the day, that’s a selection box for a child.
“We’ve asked a lot of mums, and they’ve said the same, that they buy a selection box rather than buy, you know, what they need.”
One committee member recognised the issue and donated £100 towards creating these packs. The individual ‘felt very strongly’ about the uplifting work and support the group was providing for Salford women.
Janet and the committee came together and created a bundle of ‘hygiene packs’. These bags are filled with sanitary towels, tampons and various other hygiene items. The people of Salford affected by period poverty can collect these hygiene packs from Walkden Gateway Library.
The packs have so far been a success, with the box containing them nearly empty.
Despite the generous donation, Janet is desperate for other donations from other period companies and charities to continue supporting women in need.
Janet added: “We feel very strongly about it and I’m going to try and keep it going for as long as possible.”
According to Action Aid, period poverty rose from 12% to 21% in 2023, affecting 2.8 million people across the UK.
Over the last few decades the taboo of speaking about periods has been broken. However Julie Brook, the group’s Activity Coordinator, still remembers being a young girl afraid to ask for help.
She said: “Even with my mum growing up, my mum never talked to use about it because they just kept it but now everything is open and there’s help out there and support so you don’t have to be afraid of it.”
Like many other mothers, Julie once had to make difficult decisions about hygiene over family, as she continued:
“I’m older now, I’m 60 so I don’t have all that, but I remember when I was younger going through that thing myself. I’d gone through a divorce, I had two children and I always put myself last and deprived myself”, she said.
It is heartwarming for Julie to see people once in the same position as her, receive help.
She said: “To see things like that be offered to people who haven’t got a lot of money. It’s absolutely amazing.”
Women Of Wisdom is more than a weekly meet up for Janet – it is her lifeline. When she set up the charity three years ago she was struggling herself, with grief.
She explained that “Over 11 years ago, my husband got diagnosed with MSA.
“Unfortunately, three years ago, he passed away. So I experienced loneliness for the first time, because my children had grown up.”
Janet thrives over seeing the women flourish while they attend the weekly meetings, every Tuesday from 9-11pm. She described the women as ‘very tight roses who blossom each week’.
She has helped many women of Salford, like Lindsay Cope who joined the group after surviving domestic abuse and suffering with her mental-health for 37 years.
Lindsay said: “I was stuck in the house for a year and I wouldn’t go out because of my depression.”
Lindsay is the Chairwoman of the charity and also has seen first hand the effect period poverty is having on Salford.
With Salford ranked the third most deprived area in Greater Manchester, groups like Women of Wisdom feel it is vital for more services just like hygiene packs to become more available to tackle period poverty.
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