Period kits will now travel with Teesside University sports teams to away fixtures, giving students access to products if a period starts unexpectedly while they are competing away from campus.
The small kits will sit discreetly inside each team’s larger playing kit bag. The university says the aim is to reduce anxiety around menstruation and remove a practical barrier that can make taking part in sport harder, particularly when students are travelling to another institution and cannot assume the same products will be available.
Vik Brown, Student Lifestyle Adviser in Student and Library Services, is leading the as part of the university’s established period dignity work. Brown said the scheme is intended to support students on and off campus, break down barriers in women’s sport and challenge the stigma that can lead young people to avoid physical activity during their periods.
Support that travels with the team
The initiative is part of Teesside University’s Period Dignity campaign and has been developed with eco-friendly period care brands. It extends an existing campus offer into the setting where sports clubs can be furthest from their usual facilities: away matches.
Samantha Soto Pupillo, a second-year LLB Law student and captain of the university’s volleyball team, is helping to promote the scheme. She said the kits would give athletes reassurance before and during fixtures, allowing them to focus on their sport instead of worrying about finding products after travelling.
Soto Pupillo also works as a student receptionist in the university’s Olympia building and recently received a Volun-tees Gold Award after completing 157 volunteering hours with Teesside Sport. Her work as a Sports Leader has included organising equipment, recruiting players for the women’s and men’s volleyball teams, and completing match score sheets.
Will Jones, Teesside University’s Head of Sport, said free products are already available in buildings across campus. Taking a small supply to away fixtures is intended to close the gap when a team is somewhere without equivalent .
Five years of period dignity work
The university’s wider Period Dignity campaign began in 2021. Its current information page says free products are available across both Teesside campuses, in more than 20 buildings and in public toilets at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.
That wider work includes a trial of plant-based pads on rolls, menstrual cup education, collaboration with Endometriosis Hartlepool and sanitary-bin provision intended to be more inclusive. The university says the campaign is designed around access, and reducing the stress that can affect attendance and participation.
What happens next
The university has not published the number of sports clubs receiving bags, the quantity of products provided or a timetable for reviewing the scheme. It is therefore too early to measure whether the kits change participation. For now, the practical test will be whether students can reliably access them during away fixtures and whether teams find the provision useful.
Students with questions about the Period Dignity campaign can contact Student Lifestyle Adviser Vik Brown at victoria.brown@tees.ac.uk. The university also maintains an online map of free product locations across its campuses.