Frickley Athletic are proud to have joined the ‘On the Ball’ campaign and will provide free sanitary products at Westfield Lane for the coming season, starting with today’s opponents East Stirlingshire.

Coincidently, the campaign was started by three female football fans north of the border as they aim to lift the stigma around periods and highlight the issue of Period Poverty.

‘Period poverty’ refers to having a lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints. Something that many people are lucky enough to probably take for granted.

The following statistics are from girls’ rights charity Plan International UK.

One in ten girls (10 per cent) have been unable to afford sanitary wear
One in seven girls (15 per cent) have struggled to afford sanitary wear
One in seven girls (14 per cent) have had to ask to borrow sanitary wear from a friend due to affordability issues
More than one in ten girls (12 per cent) has had to improvise sanitary wear due to affordability issues
One in five (19%) of girls have changed to a less suitable sanitary product due to cost

So here’s the On the Ball mantra, values that we share at Frickley Athletic Football Club...

We believe period products should be readily available and accessible at no cost, just like soap and toilet roll

Periods are a taboo subject and shouldn't be. We want to put periods into public consciousness and create discussion on menstruation. Social attitude needs to change!

Frickley Athletic want increased visibility for female fans. We want to show that we are forward thinking and inclusive. We want to meet the needs of our fans and send out a strong message

Period Poverty is a major issue. We want to do our bit to highlight this, This is happening in your community, our community. This could be happening to your daughter or granddaughter. I'm proud that our football club is doing its bit to highlight the issue & help in some small way

You can give them a follow here @Onthebaw

#ForzaFrickley
#FootballForAll
#Ontheball