PERIOD POVERTY – How are sports venues tackling this issue?
Women’s professional sports teams have been increasingly moving away from white shorts in order to combat period anxiety. But what about the women and girls in the stands watching? Olivia Franks investigates.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup Final at Allianz Stadium Twickenham broke all kinds of records on the pitch. It broke ground in the stands too or, more specifically, in the toilets.
Working with Egal, Twickenham installed free pads on a roll in cubicles in the women’s toilets. They look like typical toilet roll dispensers except, instead of two-ply, each roll holds 40 individually wrapped pads.
Launched in 2022, the company’s origins are American. Founder, Tom Devlin, was inspired by his journalist wife, Myra, who had been writing about period poverty for the Boston Globe and explained that students had expressed a desire for free products in school.
“He thought, well, no one’s ever made period products like toilet rolls.”
Initially, the company focused on tackling period inequity in educational settings before reaching out to airports and then the sporting world.
Stranded
I spoke to Egal’s Head of Sales & Growth, Niamh D’Arcy, to find out more.
During her first week at Egal in February 2024, inspired by childhood memories of being stranded on her period at Twickenham watching Harlequins, D’Arcy reached out to the stadium to start a partnership.
It was the MD of the Twickenham Experience’s daughter who suggested he go for it.
“I always think the only way that these things happen is when there is an advocate in the room. And it might not be that person. It’s their daughter or their wife or a friend that they have that have spoken about periods.”
It culminated in D’Arcy seeing their work in action at the World Cup Final.
“But I spent so much time just in the toilets talking to people – I feel like I need to redo the whole game!”
“The whole thing about women’s health is that it’s just been so underfunded and not spoken about enough.”
“We wouldn’t imagine toilets without soap, you know, or toilet roll.”
Access
When the partnership was announced, Sue Day, the then RFU Chief Operating Officer, Chief Finance Officer and former Red Rose said: “Access to a period product like Pads on a Roll is often the difference between being able to continue your day as normal and enjoy the match, versus a day of worry or indeed having to cut your day short.”
Egal have also begun working with the London Marathon in their London offices.
The marathon has long been a champion of period equity – supplying free period products at all medical stations, information points and changing rooms.
They also allow pregnant and postpartum participants to defer their place for up to three years without re-qualifying.
Conversation
“That’s always what I try to do is collaborate with as many companies as possible, and especially charities.”
“People have said to us it’s opened up a broader conversation.”
“We work with the London Marathon and in their offices, someone actually felt they could come forward and talk about the menopause that they were going through. She said can we alter the air conditioning? Because it’s not cold enough. Things like that, I feel, it’s a symbolic kind of feature that your needs are met here.”
The pad dispensers have QR codes that allow users to respond with their experience in real time, too.
Finally, one piece of feedback sums up the change perfectly: “I actually started my periods as a teenager at Twickenham Stadium and there was nothing there and I was too embarrassed to tell my male PE teacher or friends.
“To come to Twickenham in my 30s and find this in the loos is a brilliant step to reducing the stigma surrounding periods and to offer a genuinely useful item that every woman needs.”
