The Council wants to hear your views on the availability of free period products in the area. Period products have been available free of charge since 2018 in East Dunbartonshire schools and since 2019 in 12 community locations, including the Council’s Community Hubs, Community Halls, Community Centres and Mugdock Country Park.
Making period products available for free becomes law in August this year and to help to develop the availability of free products locally, a survey is being carried out – launching today (Thursday 30 June) until Friday 22 July.
Council Leader Gordan Low explains, “We made a commitment at our Council meeting last week to engage with and listen to our East Dunbartonshire communities. We also stressed that the cost of living crisis and the climate emergency are the biggest challenges we now face.
“Providing free period products is a positive contribution to the cost of living crisis, but we want to hear directly from our communities on both what products should be available, including more sustainable options, and where period products should be available.
“There should be no stigma to accessing free period products and we really want to hear the views of those who currently access our free products and also from those who do not yet but would in future. We want to break down any barriers to accessing provision and make sure that the products available are those that our communities want to use.”
The survey gives people the opportunity to let the Council know:
- what they currently access and where
- views on the range of products that could be made available
- where they could be made available
This will then inform the next phase of community provision in the area.
The survey is available online and will be promoted on social media and in community locations throughout the area. There will also be printed copies available for those who prefer to complete the survey in this way.
Period products are also available for free in all Council schools and in the new school session in August, there will be further engagement with school communities to understand preferences and further develop the free provision available in schools.