Red Roses captain Marlie Packer has hailed England Rugby's groundbreaking new sanitary provision initiative as a 'fantastic scheme' as the Impact '25 programme gathers pace.
As part of the transformational legacy programme associated with Rugby World Cup 2025, the game's governing body is removing obstacles to participation for women and girls by providing sanitary provision to more than 500 rugby clubs nationwide for their female players, members and visitors.
Impact '25 aims to encourage more women and girls to get involved in rugby by increasing opportunities and improving experiences for female players and as well as bringing clubs up to a minimum acceptable level of sanitary provision, the fund is also raising awareness of the importance of appropriate sanitary provision in rugby clubs and aiming to break the taboo around periods and women's sport.
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Packer said: "I think clubs offering these facilities just makes it more inclusive. Just the simple things of sanitary bins.
"I know that sounds bit stupid, but we never just used to see him in the clubs' toilets and changing rooms, but it's a normal thing.
"And now to see sanitary bins and products, whether that's a sanitary towel or tampon just on the side that you can grab and use when you need, when you've been caught off guard. It's a really fantastic scheme.'"
A study conducted by Women In Sport, funded by Sport England, found that 7 in 10 teenage girls avoid activity when they're on their period with 62% of those citing 'fear of leakage'.
Research also showed that providing sanitary provision in clubs was one of the top three most impactful changes for women in the game, and it was an out-and-out priority for 50% of women.
Research has also revealed that period poverty is a barrier to sport for girls and women and therefore, as a thought-leader in this space, England Rugby wants to address that issue by providing sanitary products to clubs.
As part of the initiative, more than 300 packages have already been delivered to clubs nationwide, with circ. 1000 sanitary products being installed at clubs up and down the country. This is all thanks to funding from Impact '25's seven-million-pound facility investment fund that aims to enhance rugby club experience for females by improving toilets, upgrading changing rooms and developing social spaces.
In addition to this project, England Rugby has developed a revolutionary Women's Health Toolkit to help to break down barriers to participation and fast-track cultural and behavioural change in clubs.
Both the Women's Health Toolkit and the sanitary provisions project fall in line with England Rugby's 'Every Rose' strategy, which aims to improve accessibility for women and girls across the game, with the aim of having 100k women and girls playing the sport by 2027.