“Girls with Pride and Dignity” is a Non-profit organisation that aims at fighting for Gender equality and equal opportunities for women and girls across the globe.
We are running different projects in the UK, Africa, and Canada
In the UK:
Period poverty project.
We are currently working in Manchester – England. In 2016 GPD started working with underdeveloped countries, assuming that period poverty was only affecting poorer nations. It was until 2018, after research done by Plan UK confirmed that a large number of female students from low-income families in England were also missing school because they couldn’t afford to buy feminine sanitary products during their monthly period. That is when we started providing feminine sanitary products to the Food Banks around Manchester. 49% of girls in the UK missed one day of school and 59% have made a lie or other excuses of not attending school because they lacked sanitary products during their monthly period.
In 2021, research proved that nearly 2 million girls in the UK missed school because of lack of sanitary products during their monthly period.
Some girls in this situation use other alternatives which are less hygienic, and in many cases cause genital infections. There are also several girls who rely on their teachers to provide sanitary pads or tampons for not missing school.
In May 2022, we opened a “Feminine Hygiene Bank” in Oldham/Greater Manchester. We are working in partnership with different Food Banks across Oldham to be able to reach as many women and girls as possible who need Feminine sanitary products. Now that the cost of living is becoming expensive, our help for the community is much needed.
Our beneficiaries will be: Schools, families on low income, workplaces, and organisation that deal with homeless women.
Visit our contact page to find out about how you can donate feminine sanitary products at our drop off points or our donation points.
Empowering Women project.
We are running different projects that contribute to the community of Oldham. Our aim is to do activities that bring women together and at the same time contributing to the main cause of our organisation. We organise activities such as: cooking sessions, therapeutic physical activities, and we have a program called “The Self-Love Table” to empower women through Self-Love. The Self-Love Table brings women from different backgrounds together, to discuss about self-Love, having fun and socialising. Each participant that attends to our activities donates sanitary products to support our Feminine Hygiene Bank.
In Africa:
We are currently working in East African countries: Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.
For Young girls:
We distribute free feminine sanitary products (disposable and reusable) to the girls who are less fortunate in the rural areas. So far, the organisation has helped a lot of girls to stay in school during their monthly period.
Thousands of girls in poor countries miss school at least 4 days in a month because they lack feminine sanitary products during their monthly period. You can imagine how many times girls in this situation miss school, and when you miss one day of school it’s like missing the whole chapter!
Missing school 4 times every month leads to a big number of students to fail their tests and exams. As a result, some girls are forced to drop out of school or end up getting married at their young age. Our organisation is here to help girls in this situation achieve their full education without the barrier of lack of sanitary products.
For women in general:
We support unemployed women (mostly single mothers) and provide small loans to help them become economically stable. This helps disadvantaged women who are going through poverty with lack of employment opportunities, and we support them in developing employability skills with the most essentials to sustain life.
In Canada:
We are currently working in Winnipeg – Manitoba. We contribute to the community work and run summer youth activities in the months of July and August.
