Ashley Centre is proud to support a community project led by students from Rosebery School in Epsom, helping make free period products more accessible to everyone who needs them.
The students wanted to make period products freely available in public toilets, recognising that they are an everyday essential, just like toilet paper and soap. With support from local MP Helen Maguire, they set out to find a local venue to help bring their idea to life.
Period poverty can affect people’s ability to go about their daily lives. In the UK, one in five girls miss school because of their period, highlighting why access to period products matters.
Working together, Ashley Centre partnered with Herbox, which provides sustainable dispensers for free period products in public spaces. Two dispensers have now been installed in Ashley Centre’s customer toilets, one in the ladies’ toilets and one in the accessible toilet, making free products available to visitors.
Ashley Centre is the first of its kind in the South East to introduce the initiative, and the first smaller shopping centre in the UK to do so.
For the students, seeing their campaign become reality is a big step towards the community they want to see: one where women and girls can go about their day with less worry, knowing they have access to the essentials they need.