The Sanitation4Sisters’ team is made up of three secondary school students, Ollie, Venus, and Sol (all 17 years old), and we want to make a difference to the underlying but very much prevalent issue that is Period Poverty. There was a desire to put the project into place for about 6 months as of March 2023, but various exams and other commitments prevented us from being able to gain as developed an understanding of the issue as we felt was necessary to have a beneficial impact on the community. We wanted to wait until we had a strong idea of what we could do to help, and in July 2023, we felt that we were learned enough in the subject to be effective in our support of women suffering from Period Poverty.

Initially it was Venus who highlighted to Ollie and Sol that Period Poverty was and is a much more common issue that one might originally suspect, and after a moment of education for Ollie and Sol, who, like a lot of society, did not know much of the topic, we decided that we wanted to contribute to reducing the issue. Our main belief surrounds the idea that no women should have to deal with added suffering to the inconveniences which already come with menstruation and that it is indescribably unfair to be punished for a process which is natural and mostly unavoidable.

After months of research and discussions on how best to approach our help, we got in contact with the incredible team at the Marylebone Project, who provided us with the exact guidance we needed to refine our aim, and create an organization that is best suited to reducing Period Poverty. From this point on we were able to properly get under way, subsequently allowing us to develop a project that we think is perfectly suited to its cause, and that can help us achieve our goal.

All in all, we are three people who are incredibly passionate about helping others in this world, and our choice to support women suffering from Period Poverty is one that we do not regret in the slightest. We understand the seriousness of Period Poverty, and our research has allowed all members of the team to become really devoted to the process of helping these women. It would be wrong of me to suggest that Sanitation4Sisters is happy with the frequency of Period Poverty-related issues in society, so please join us in our fight against what is such a traumatic issue for so many women.

- Ollie