A group of volunteers from Llanidloes have helped to create a new organisation to tackle hygiene poverty in the county’s schools.

Period poverty, where girls cannot afford enough sanitary products to safely see them through their period, is an international issue that can cause girls to stay away from school and miss vital lessons or even exams due to not having access to the products they may need. A lack of other hygiene items for both girls and boys can lead to exclusion or bullying and the group aim to tackle these issues as well.

Bags of Confidence members have been gathering donations of a variety of toiletries from the public in various shops in Llanidloes as well as from staff and visitors to County Hall and Gwalia Council Offices in Llandrindod.

Some of these toiletries are freely available in dispensers within toilet cubicles so they can be accessed at the point of need. Others are free to those who need them just by asking a member of the school staff.

The Co-op has become involved in the project as their Member Pioneer from Llanidloes, Zoe, is a key player in the Bags of Confidence team, as is Woosnam and Davies Newsagents owner, Trudy, and her teenage daughter Sarah.

Other team members work as volunteers in Severn Hospice as well some staff members from Powys County Council.

All of these businesses have collection boxes where toiletries can be donated.

The team are working towards rolling out the scheme to other schools around Powys as well as Libraries and other public buildings where the products may be needed so that more and more children can attend school with Bags of Confidence to cope with whatever the day may bring.