Bloody Good Period
Founding, Scaling, Thought Leadership
How do you fit 6 years of pouring your heart and soul into changing the world into a portfolio page?
Let’s give it a try…
The Challenge
It all started in 2016. I realised foodbanks, asylum seeker drop in centres and refuges were not giving out period products on a regular basis, despite them being absolute essentials. Exacerbating the lack of provision was a taboo and shame-filled society which prevented people without resources (and those with) from even asking for period products.
So I decided to change that.
The Approach
I posted a Facebook status asking friends to buy period products via an Amazon wishlist, which I’d then take to the asylum seeker drop in centre I was volunteering at. And, well, things kind of grew from there.
By the time I stepped down from my CEO role in May 2022, we were an official charity. I had built the most brilliant team, brought along hundreds of volunteers, thousands of supporters and earned a solid reputation as an “industry disruptor”.
We had donated hundreds of thousands of packs of period products (disposable and reusable) to thousands of people living in poverty, ignited an ongoing conversation about period poverty and menstrual equity, campaigned Parliament, co-convened the government’s Period Poverty Task Force, developed user-led menstrual and reproductive health learning programmes for refugee and asylum seeking women, changed the narrative on trans inclusion in period care, created and collaborated on a safe place for Black and POC menstruating people, produced and hosted a podcast for men about periods, partnered with some of the biggest brands in the world, and influenced language and visuals everywhere from the NHS to Bodyform. And so, so much more.
The Outcomes
BGP’s aim always has been to campaign itself out of existence, because why should period poverty still be an issue in the 2020s? However, it still very much exists, as sadly things haven’t changed as fast as I would’ve liked. But with longevity comes influence - and these days the BGP team can be seen meeting with MPs to campaign for free period products for all, educating the masses about why reusables are great for some people, and disposables work best for others. They still donate period products in the hundreds of thousands, and every year run “Bloody Funny” - one of the biggest and best comedy nights out there with the UK’s biggest comedians - something I dreamed up back in 2016 and asked legendary comedian, Jen Brister to collaborate on after meeting her in a pub (she still MCs it to this day.)
I knew it was time for me to step away completely in 2022, when I looked around and realised everyone on board was working towards the vision in a sustainable, compassionate way, making the organisation even more wonderful than I could have envisioned.
