Lidl has announced it has provided over 800,000 free period products in a bid to combat period poverty.
The discount retailer’s Irish operation was the first supermarket to tackle the issue last April by allowing customers to get 65,000 free products through tokens on the Lidl Plus app.
Lidl has also donated 15,000 sanitary products to Simon Communities of Ireland to make products more accessible to homeless people, and to their partners at the Ladies Gaelic Football Association.
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“65,000 free period products redeemed in seven months is the highest level of redemption for any in-store initiative that Lidl Ireland has ever experienced,” Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland chief executive officer JP Scally said.
“We’re not afraid to back issues, to break stigmas and to challenge the norm to help build a better workplace, a better environment and ultimately a better society for us all. We are committed to keeping the discussion front and centre.”
Period poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products due to financial conditions, lack of hygienic spaces and stigma around menstruation.
According to Plan International UK, 137,000 children across the UK have missed school due to period poverty and 1 in 10 girls have been unable to afford sanitary products.
In Ireland, a government report revealed last February that menstruating people spend an average of €96.72 per year on period products, and about €121 per year when pain relief was included.
“Lidl’s support for eliminating period poverty in Ireland has created a lightning rod of conversation across the media, political sphere and indeed across the country,” Homeless Period Ireland chief executive officer Claire hunt added.
“Research shows that one in every two people know the issues that we face when it comes to accessing period products in Ireland for those who are struggling.”
Currently, period products are free for all in Scotland since 2020 and the Period Products (Free Provision) Bill 2021 is currently before Seanad Éireann in Ireland.
While the UK removed 5% VAT for period products in January 2021, it has only rolled out free products in schools and colleges.
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