Okehampton Library has opened a new Period Pantry for women and people who menstruate to access menstrual products free of charge in a bid to tackle period poverty.

The service is available to all members of the community struggling to afford period products. Those wishing to use the service should fill in an anonymous form which can be passed to staff who will best match requests to the products available. Staff will hand over the products discreetly and destroy the forms afterwards.

Okehampton Library staff member Kayleigh White, who established the Period Pantry, said she set up the initiative to increase the health and wellbeing services available at the library.

“There are other things we do already – the blood pressure scheme and the baby weigh – but I wanted to do something more. I did some research and one of the things that came up was period poverty. When I read the figures, I was shocked. You don’t think about it but for some people it’s a real problem.”

A 2023 ActionAid poll revealed that the number of UK women struggling to afford period products had risen from 12 per cent to 21 per cent in one year. Sixty per cent of those struggling to afford sanitary products prioritised food, while 48 per cent prioritised paying their utility bills. Twenty-four per cent sacrificed period products for themselves to afford menstrual products for their dependants.

Waitrose Okehampton has lent its support and donated £50 worth of period items through its Community Matters scheme, with plans to add the project to the Green Tokens voting station in store in the future.

In January 2021, the then-Conservative government scrapped the “tampon tax” – a five per cent tax on sanitary products – to end period poverty. Despite this, the cost of sanitary products has continued to rise due to the cost-of-living crisis.