Why we chose The Zinthiya Trust to support them with period poverty
This week is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week and Secret Whispers wants to raise awareness as well as highlight how they help a local charity, and how you can help, too. I, Julie Čolan, Secret Whispers’ founder, have long believed in running not only a sustainable business that is kind to the environment and people, but also developing a strategy that supports the wider community.
For the last few months, I have been working with The Zinthiya Trust, a Leicester based charity, which helps vulnerable people, who have suffered from abuse, violence and poverty. Whilst their services are open to everyone, a big part of the charity also helps women and girls, who have been subjected to domestic abuse, honour-based violence & FGM (female genital mutilation). Many of those victims face adverse circumstances and live in dire circumstances and severe poverty, before they get help and support from The Zinthiya Trust.
Period Poverty is one of those issues, and, according to De Montfort Student Union, “Leicester is one of the top five worst cities in the UK when it comes to period poverty.” Period Poverty Statistics from 2019 estimate that it is around 35% of people in Leicester alone that face and live with period poverty. This means that Leicester is one of the top five cities in the UK when it comes to period poverty. Period poverty is a term used to describe the situation where people who menstruate are either having to make their own sanitary products from things like toilet paper, are using sanitary products for too long or do not participate in everyday life when they have their period, therefore missing school, college, university or work.
Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan, who is the founder of The Zinthiya Trust, launched the Period Poverty Project, in which she offers discounted sanitary products to women and girls that have problems buying those at regular prices. As a starting point, Zinthiya Ganeshpanchan offers a small pink card, she calls the P card, that allows those who need it to get cheaper sanitary products from her, meaning she is able to support them, even if they do not need her help for other products and services. Her calls for local businesses to support, help and get on board with this cause, struck a chord with me.
My aim is to not only raise awareness of period poverty, but to actively raise awareness with my own period poverty campaign in order to combat those appalling period poverty statistics. I have therefore been working since November last year with The Zinthiya Trust and donate period products in the form of our menstrual cups. For every Secret Whispers’ CupIT Set we sell, we donate one CupIT menstrual cup to the charity. “I was shocked to see those huge period poverty statistics right at my own doorstep, and of course, I wanted to do something to help”, said Julie (quoted from an article in the Niche Magazine).
So how can you get involved? There are various ways. You can donate directly to The Zinthiya Trust by heading to their website (link below) and hitting the Donate button on the home page. Alternatively, if you haven’t already done so, you can purchase at 20% Discount today, one of Secret Whispers’ CupIT Menstrual cup sets and we will donate one menstrual cup to the charity. That way, someone in need will not have to worry for 10 years about buying sanitary products anymore. Let’s work together and support each other, to make Leicester’s period poverty history.
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