Working with social enterprises is an important part of our business. We have an ambition, as part of our Now or Never strategy, to set the standard for social value in our sector with how we do business.
Over the past two years we have worked with Hey Girls to help those suffering from period poverty.
Hey Girls is a social enterprise which helps to support those going through period poverty by providing them with the products that they need. They offer a range of products to buy, from pads & tampons to period pants and menstrual cups. When one of these products are bought, Hey Girls also give this product to UK girls or women as well. Each of their donation partners can choose which products they receive to cater to their specific needs.
We support this social enterprise because period poverty is important to end as no female should go without necessary products for a biological occurrence that they can’t control. Plan International UK research found that period poverty affects 1 in 10 schoolgirls across the UK. Donated products can help keep young people in school, improve concentration and support good health.
By purchasing from Hey Girls we are not only contributing to ending period poverty, but also helping period dignity. Construction is known to be a male dominated industry, but with the increasing number of women joining the industry, we want to make sure that they never get ‘caught out’. We provide Hey Girls products in our toilet facilities in our offices and on our sites to help prevent embarrassment.
As well as all of this, Hey Girls is also committed to reducing waste and being sustainable. They sell 100% cotton tampons, are environmentally friendly, plastic free, vegan, and certified organic.
So far, we have spent over £3k with Hey Girls, this correlates to donating the equivalent of 1,096 boxes of period pads to the community, equating to 10,960 pads or 15,792 tampons.
In May, Willmott Dixon as a whole donated 100 pairs of period pants to Mymenses.org and Single Homeless Projects – Arundel Project. These are both London-based organisations who support women and young girls in access to period care, empowerment and education.
Hey Girls testimony:
“Hey Girls donations lift people out of period poverty every month, and with the help of Willmott Dixon, we have been able to continuously support our community partners with our range of organic period products. Willmott Dixon were one of the first major organisations to join our Period Dignity campaign, and since committing to provide their staff with period care on site and in the office, they have built an industry-defining standard for what it means to be an equal employer in modern day Britain. Thank you to the entire Willmott Dixon team for prioritising the wellbeing of your staff, whilst funding the fight against period poverty in the UK.”
