Bleed All About it on the Gift Wellness Blog!

Hello, my name’s Lauren and from this day forward I solemnly swear to provide you with some of the best and most informative period-related words you will find on the internet. For long enough we’ve been having the same conversations, sometimes none at all- so it’s time we opened up and truthed up!

Publishing every week, myself and a host of incredible writers will share our own stories and advice, tips and tricks we’ve picked up along the way, as well as starting head-scratching discussions about why we’re not having the right conversations already, why it seems so hard to find realistic representation in the media and just what is being done about the whole thing.

In support of The Gift Wellness Foundation’s Red Rebel Day campaign, we’ll be talking a closer look at the issue of period poverty, examining the damage it does and what we can all do to fight back. Fortnightly we’ll hear from Dr Zareen Roohi Ahmed, our founder and the lead fundraiser at The Gift Wellness Foundation on all that she’s doing to raise awareness and funds in the lead up to Red Rebel Day. It’s estimated that £50,000 buys 55,4160 sanitary pads, and with the average monthly usage being around 15 pads, you can see just how much of an impact every pound has. The Gift Wellness Foundation’s Red Rebel Day campaign aims to double that impact and raise £100,000, potentially improving the lives of 12,300 people who would be supported through 6 months of menstruation.

It might sometimes seem that period poverty is only something that happens elsewhere, to people we don’t know, but in reality that’s not the case, and we want to help those near and far. If you’ve read the international bestselling book Where the Crawdads Sing (soon to be re-imagined in film starring Normal People’s Daisy Edgar Jones- but more on that later…) you’ll know what I mean when I say this blog is for all the Kyas out there, scared and without the knowledge she needs, as well as all the Mabels, Jumpins and Tates, who remind her not to look at her period as a ‘curse, like folks say’.

Our goal for this blog is to open up the period-topic to everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, age, or class. If you’re someone who menstruates, or you just want to know more about a totally normal phenomenon that affects a massive proportion of the population, then you have come to the right place.

We’re here for advice, laughs, solidarity and all-round good conversation. We want your questions and concerns, your film recs and film-wrecks, but most importantly your company. You can find out more about the Red Rebel Day Campaign at periodpoverty.uk.  

Speak to you soon, friends!

Lauren

P.S. If you are a super-duper-generous blog reader who wants to support The Gift Wellness Foundation’s Red Rebel Day campaign right now, then you can text PERIOD 3 to 70460 to donate £3.  

Texts cost £3 plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to give £3 but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text PERIODNOINFO 3 to 70460.