In 2019 Anytime of the Month was founded by Clodagh Guerin, a student in the University of Limerick, who is passionate about ending period poverty for sanctuary students on our university campus. Upon researching period poverty in Ireland, we realised it was a much larger problem, and impacted many more people, not just minorities. In fact, it was impacting the lives of 1 in 2 teenagers in Ireland. By advocating for free sanitary products for all students, Clodagh brought about real change in the University of Limerick campus, with the Student Life building now supplying free period products in all bathrooms.

The initiative has gained national media coverage, and in interviews and articles we called not only for free period products in public buildings, but also for an end to the stigma surrounding periods in Ireland.

In early 2020 the project joined Enactus UL; an international student social enterprise society, to grow and to make even more positive changes. Together with a passionate team, we have transformed the campaign into a viable sustainable social enterprise. We carried out a primary needs assessment to research the extent of period poverty in our local community, with 33% of those surveyed finding it difficult to pay for period products. However, a massive 75% of people surveyed have worn a period product longer than the recommended 4 hours because they had a shortage of money or didn’t have access to them. This is a form of period poverty, that those surveyed didn’t even realise they are experiencing, and we believe this needs to end. These shocking statistics, so close to home, proved that the work we were doing was worthwhile.

Today, we are currently at the launch phase of the Anytime of the Month.  Our plans are ambitious but as a team we want to ensure transparency and that we alleviate the effects of period poverty in Ireland. Every cent we make is reinvested back into the project, and goes towards buying long term sustainable menstruation solutions for people who face period poverty. Eco-friendliness and sustainability are core values of ours, and we are working to make sure that we are doing all we can to minimise our environmental impact. These products are donated to people living in direct provision centres and homeless centres around Ireland.

We believe that small changes lead to big changes, and that kindness, friendliness, and understanding on a personal level will end the stigma, as well as period poverty.