Edge Hill Students’ Union is delighted to announce Edge Hill University has agreed to fund our Menstruation Stations project, meaning Edge Hill students will have regular access to free period products across campus. 

 

Following a successful campaign by EHSU, the University will now provide and maintain all stations across campus. 

 

From September 2022, you can find free period products in: 

 

• Arts Centre - Ground floor (Male, female, accessible)
• BioSciences - Ground floor (Female, accessible)
• Business School - Ground floor (Female, accessible)
• Catalyst - Ground floor (Foyer)
• Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre - Ground floor (Female, accessible)
• Creative Edge - Ground floor (Male, female, accessible)
• Faculty of Health, Social Care & Medicine - Ground floor (Male, female, accessible)
• Faculty of Education Lakeside - Ground floor (Male, female, accessible)
• Faculty of Education Piazza - Ground floor (Female, accessible)
• GeoSciences - Ground floor (Female, accessible)
• The Hub - Ground floor (Foyer)
• Law & Psychology - Ground floor (Male, female, accessible)
• Main Building - Lady Margaret, John Dalton, Stanley, Clough
• Magnolia Room
• Manchester St. James Campus
• Sports Centre - Pool changing, Indoor changing
• Students’ Union - Toilets opposite bar (Male, female, accessible)
• Tech Hub - Ground floor (Male, female, accessible)
• Wilson Centre - Ground floor (Female, accessible)

 

From June 2022 - August 2022, you can find free period products in: 

• Faculty of Education Lakeside - Ground floor (Male, female, accessible)
• Catalyst - Ground floor (Foyer)
• The Hub - Ground floor (Foyer)
• Manchester St. James Campus

How it started

Our Menstruation Station project started with a vision. We believe period products should be free. 

For people who menstruate, the financial burden of buying products is unfair and unnecessary. The Scottish Government, for example, routinely provides funding for menstrual products in universities and colleges, and with inflation hitting student bank accounts, the time for action was clear.
 
In 2021, we launched our first Menstruation Stations in four locations across campus, providing free menstrual products for students in need. Between September 2021 and May 2022, we provided more than 13,000 products including applicator and non-applicator tampons, curved panty liners, and regular period pads. 
 
We gathered feedback from 245 students and staff at Edge Hill. The results were overwhelming, with 98.8% of respondents believing period products should be free. Many students praised the Menstruation Station project for helping smash the stigma around periods, and for helping them out in an emergency when they started their period but found they had run out of products. 
 
Our ambitions were grand, however as a small charity, Edge Hill Students’ Union could not sustainably fund this project into the future. We set out on a campaign for the University to support students who menstruate by picking up our project and expanding it.
 
After the initial success of the Menstruation Stations, our Arts & Sciences President Rhiannon Muise took this data to the University directorate and pitched our project to senior leaders. We argued better access to period products across campus would stop people who menstruate from missing out on learning, or feeling anxious about being able to afford basic hygiene products. 
 
The University loved the idea. 
 
From there, the University agreed to provide upgraded Menstruation Stations, regularly restocked by the Facilities Management department. 
 
Our Arts & Sciences President Rhiannon Muise, who ran the project, said: “I’m over the moon that the University is finally taking action against period poverty.
 
“This is a serious issue in schools and universities everywhere. Students miss out on learning and activities because they get their period and don’t have quick access to pads and tampons. The products available in shops are also seriously overpriced and not friendly to a student budget.
 
“Periods aren’t something to be ashamed of. Everybody who menstruates deserves to have equal access to products, so we’re keeping the stations visible outside of bathrooms to remove the stigma around periods.”
 
 “Nobody chooses to have a period, and tampons and pads are a very expensive unavoidable cost. It’s heartbreaking to think some people could be choosing between their hygiene and putting food on the table, especially in the current cost of living crisis.”
 
“We’ve received so much positive feedback from students saying how helpful the menstruation stations are. Students feel less shameful about their periods because the products are out in the open, and they feel less anxious about getting their period unexpectedly if they run out of products.”
 
“I’m so proud of this project and so happy we’re smashing period stigma here at Edge Hill.”