Students Making a Difference

A group of Concord students, led by Mrs Janet Newton, a member of Concord’s pastoral team, have been busy creating “period packs” to help women and girls who experience period poverty and cannot access period products. Period poverty is a global issue which can lead to missed schooling and stigma. The effects of period poverty are long lasting, and can alter girls’ life chances.

Mrs Newton heard about a project created by Bristol University student Ella Lambert who created a network of volunteers to sew and make reusable sanitary pads.

Mrs Newton requested sewing patterns from the project and recruited students interested in being part of a manufacturing team. Having tried out the patterns, she devised a way that the students could work together to make the pads.

Five student volunteers have been involved all year, and some were able to use the work they did toward their Duke of Edinburgh Awards. The boys , two of whom are in F4 (y10) and three in 6.1 (Y12) developed new skills, learning to sew and to place and cut patterns efficiently. They all benefited from the experience of working together. The students worked for an hour every week during term time and made a total of 89 pads.

As well as teaching them skills and supervising the students, Mrs Newton made beautiful draw-string bags to hold 6 pads each.

The period packs are being sent to Ethiopia, where the college already has links through fundraising for Soil of Amhara, a charity run by Concord teacher Mr Cale.

According to UNESCO, 1 in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa miss school because they don’t have menstrual products or because the toilets at their school are not adequate. The students hope that period packs will support more girls in completing their education.

Talking about the project, Concord Principal Dr Truss spoke of the pride the college has in student charity and volunteering: “Kindness is one of the three pillars of Concord’s ethos and the very practical and direct help of making something for someone else – something that will improve their day-to-day life – is one of many ways in which our students show their kindness. It is something the College is very proud of and the students who have contributed their time, thought and handiwork to this project are a brilliant example of this.”