Leeds period poverty campaigner says MBE is a ‘great honour’ as she calls for fresh education to break the stigma

Tina Leslie, founder of Freedom4Girls, said the problem of period poverty has only been made worse by the cost-of-living crisis.

Tina, who lives in Chapel Allerton, has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list which has been released ahead of the monarch’s Platinum Jubilee.

"I'm honoured to receive an MBE which is very nice and it's been a lot of hard work over the years tackling period poverty and I stand here receiving this award for those that don't have a voice. The people I represent," Tina, told the YEP.

"We are one of the biggest economies in the world so why do we have period poverty? And things have only gotten worse with the cost of living crisis and before that during Covid."

Tina explained how people who are struggling to afford products can end up using unhealthy alternatives such as toilet paper or t-shirts.

"I don't want to be here, we don't want to be here tackling period poverty. We shouldn't be a charity having to do that but we are and we will do until such time as everybody can access period products without shame and stigma," she said.

Her charity, which is passionate about the importance of normalising conversations about menstruation, fights period poverty in the UK, Uganda and Kenya where she started the project in 2015.

Several times a year, Tina travels out to Kenya where they have set up sewing workshops to make washable and reusable period pads.

She is hopeful that news of the honour will make people more aware of the problem, adding that periods are still “a massive stigma and taboo”.

"It is so so important that we educate not only girls but men and young boys too. Without that education we are still ashamed of it. It's a natural bodily function that we don't talk about," Tina said.

"There's still a massive taboo about it so talking about it more and normalising it from an early age is so important and the key to removing that stigma, that taboo."

A recent survey by WaterAid suggested that nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of women who menstruate in the UK said they or their family have struggled to afford period products in the last year.