Staff at Heathrow Airport will now have access to free period products thanks to a new multi-way partnership involving an award-winning social enterprise.
More than 100 Hey Girls free vend dispensers will be placed in the airport’s staff female and accessible toilets from August, providing employees with free and environmentally friendly tampons and pads.
The partnership, between Hey Girls, Heathrow Airport’s Altitude Gender Equality Network, and Mitie, comes following a successful four-month pilot at the airport which saw 24 dispensers placed in staff bathrooms.
It will also see period products donated to local community partners such as homeless shelters and women’s refuges, thanks to Hey Girls’ “buy one, donate one” model.
Daisy Williams, partnerships and contracts manager at Hey Girls, said: “This fantastic partnership will have an incredible impact on the lives of airport staff and nearby residents.
“The cost of living crisis is seeing more and more people in the UK struggle to afford period products and turn to often dangerous alternatives.
“Partnerships like this not only help support employees through these tough economic times, but also have a direct benefit to vulnerable people in the area.
“Period products are not a luxury, and we are so pleased that Heathrow Airport has joined us in our fight to ending period poverty once and for all.”
All disposable Hey Girls products are made with sustainably sourced bamboo and are plastic free. They are also free of bleach, toxins, and perfume.
Louise Brown, head of Altitude, said: “Our partnership with Hey Girls and Mitie means that our colleagues will have access to free sanitary products.
“This important initiative will not only improve the wellbeing of colleagues in the airport, it also helps us support the end period poverty by donating products to our local community.”
More than 1,000 products were donated to centres as part of the four-month trial, including Feltham Foodbank in nearby Hounslow Road.
Image: Emma Brooks, colleague welfare and logistics lead at Heathrow
Courtesy of London Heathrow Airport
