Glasgow’s Period Dignity Project ensures free, accessible period products for anyone in need. The project is reducing stigma, tackling poverty, and has even influenced Scotland’s national legislation.
Period care is health care, period.
Vulnerable groups often have no means to buy products or maintain hygiene. In 2017, a political motion was passed which promised to provide free period products to students. The next year, Glasgow began the Period Dignity Project to recognise period care as health care and fulfil that promise. Lorraine Mohr, Senior Policy Officer with Glasgow’s education services and Joe Brady, Eurocities’ Contact Officer and Glasgow’s Policy Lead, explain what sparked the project and why Glasgow decided to act.
“Period care is health care,” says Lorraine. “Fifty per cent of the population has no choice over whether they menstruate or not. Period products should be free and accessible the same way prescriptions are in Scotland, so people can access them regardless of their financial status.”
Since 2018, the Glasgow Period Dignity Project has been working with a two-pronged approach: providing access to free period products and destigmatising periods for citizens.
Period care is health care.
In 2021, Scotland became the first country in the world to protect in law the right to access free period products in large part due to Glasgow’s influence. “Glasgow is a pioneer,” Joe says. “It’s in our DNA to innovate and the Scottish Government is taking note and working closely with the city to find solutions to longstanding problems.”
Tackling poverty one period at a time
Tackling poverty has been the project’s north star since its inception. Period poverty is the insufficient access to menstrual hygiene products and facilities, affecting an estimated 10% of the half of the EU population who menstruate. Period poverty is not only a financial issue but one shaped by gender inequality, social exclusion, and overlapping vulnerabilities.
The gendered nature of menstruation means that poverty disproportionately impacts women, girls, and all people who menstruate. The Period Dignity Project takes an intersectional approach to ensure that support is not limited to mainstream settings, but that it also reaches those whose needs are often overlooked.
This free provision helps maintain dignity and good hygiene.
When women and families are experiencing financial strain, period hygiene is often the first essential item to be cut from shopping lists. Representatives from Glasgow food pantries and homeless shelters reported to Lorraine’s team about how menstruation puts women in a tough spot month after month.
Linda Stuart, Coordinator of the Ardglen food pantry wrote in: “Many families with female teenagers and women in the family tell us that it is increasingly difficult within this financial climate to be able to afford sanitary products. This free provision helps maintain dignity and good hygiene. The fact that they can take them when they are in the shop means that they don’t have to ask.”
Free essential items like period products free up monthly budgets to go toward food and other necessities. For women and families struggling financially, it’s one less burden to carry.
People-centred, place-based
The Period Dignity Project has been people-centred and place-based since the beginning. Through partnerships with schools, community organisations, libraries, leisure centres, and third‑sector groups, the project offers products in 400 venues across Glasgow.
For young girls and women in school, monthly periods often can lead to them missing school a few days out of each month. Local research done in collaboration with schools revealed shocking differences between pupils from ethnic minorities and indigenous Scottish pupils.
Lorraine explains, “Our research with local schools found that pupils from an ethnic minority background were not only more likely to miss school when they had their periods, but also eight times more likely not to have access to period products at all — confirming that period poverty is shaped not only by gender inequality, financial inequality, but also the specific barriers ethnic minorities face.”
“Our mission was to close those gaps by putting period products directly into schools to keep children and young women in school, in sports, and in the other activities that contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty.”
I love being a period dignity ambassador. It makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile for my classmates and community.
Over 6,000 period starter kits have been distributed through schools, while special events offer reusable options including period pants, reusable pads and cups alongside disposable products. Every February, Glasgow marks Period Dignity Month with pop-up events across the city from shopping centres to sports venues to distribute reusable products and raise awareness.
By girls, for girls
Female pupils play a central role in shaping Glasgow’s Period Dignity initiative, ensuring the project meets the real needs of students rather than assumptions. Schools involve girls directly in designing product provision, choosing locations, advising on product types, and developing stigma‑reducing messages through Period Dignity Pupil Steering Groups.
Lorraine says, “The girls keep the project running in their schools. They do the management, the ordering, and with my support, we organise workshops with their peers to squash the stigma and taboo around periods. The girls are having a real impact on their peers by creating a space where all are welcome no matter their religion, culture, or ethnicity.”
The participatory approach is helping to normalise conversations about menstruation, build confidence, and give young people a sense of ownership over the changes happening in their schools. Rajsee Kaur is a period dignity ambassador at her secondary school. She says: “I love being a period dignity ambassador at my school. It makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile for my classmates and community, and I feel proud to be part of the first established period dignity steering group.” The project has even inspired former ambassadors to go on to study politics and medicine in university.
Stopping the stigma
Beyond distributing products, the project is redefining attitudes and raising awareness of period issues in Glasgow. Normalisation through community events reduces the stigma around periods and increases the uptake of period products.
Men are not left out of the conversation, either. “When I speak to men and boys,” Lorraine says, “I always ask if they have a wife, or a girlfriend, a daughter, a mother, an aunt they care about. Of course, 99.9% of the time, they do. From there, I explain to them that if they have someone in their life who menstruates, then this affects them, too.”
Events like Pads for Dads are encouraging men to feel more confident speaking to their daughters about menstruation by educating them on menstruation and period products. Joe says, “I’ve seen firsthand from my friends who are fathers to girls. Through campaigns like this, they’re becoming more involved in the conversation.”
I would like to see more legislation change at the European and national governments to make period products free and accessible to all. In the meantime, cities are leading the charge.
The free app Pick Up My Period, developed with the Scottish government and Hey Girls, helps users across Scotland locate their nearest venue offering free period products, including what types are available. It also includes an FAQ section covering common period-related questions and links to support for issues such as domestic abuse, homelessness, addiction and financial wellbeing.
A model worth replicating
Because it is built on simple, flexible components like free products placed in everyday public spaces, strong community partnerships, and clear messaging that normalises access, Glasgow’s Period Dignity approach is already being replicated.
Similar efforts across the EU in cities like Paris, Bremen, and Munich have tailored the approach to provide free period product schemes, though these are typically school‑based pilots or targeted programmes rather than Glasgow’s broad, community‑wide model.
After seeing how Glasgow influenced Scotland to create legislation, Dr. Michele McClung with Glasgow’s Planning, Performance and Research, Education Services, is hopeful for the future: “In ten years time, I would like to see more legislation change at the European and national governments to make period products free and accessible to all, but in the meantime, cities are leading the charge.”
As for Lorraine, she’s waiting for the day period products are not a pleasant surprise but a given. She says, “My hope is that access to period products and periods themselves becomes so normal that it’s not even a conversation anymore – that it will just be expected as a part of everyday life. I’m not particularly surprised when I see toilet paper freely available in a public bathroom, so why should I be surprised to see tampons and pads?”
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Glasgow’s Period Dignity Project is one of the shortlisted ‘City Initiatives’ at the Eurocities Awards 2026. You can view the full awards shortlist here.
The winners will be announced at the Eurocities Annual Conference in Utrecht, 8-10 June 2026. Register to the Annual Conference to join the ceremony.
