Queen Mary provides free period products from a number of locations on our campuses. We’re providing these products to support our staff and students with their menstrual health and reduce the impact of period poverty for our communities.
Period poverty is both a global and local issue, where women and people who menstruate are unable to afford or access period products. This can have a major impact on our ability to work and study, as well as significant health risks where period products aren’t used correctly.
We believe that no one should be disadvantaged because they can’t afford appropriate period products, which is why we’re working toward period equality by providing free products available for every member of our community.
In the UK, disposable period products produce more than 200,000 tonnes of waste each year, with plastic products taking up to 500 years to break down in landfill. The products available from our dispensers are plastic-free, made from 100% sustainably sourced organic cotton, and come in compostable or recyclable packaging.
Currently our campus dispensers stock 100% certified organic cotton tampons, and we are working towards supplying reusable products in the future.
Currently, products are available in the following locations. We’re working to make installation of dispensers standard when we open or refurbish campus facilities.
Building
Location
Mile End Library
First floor gender neutral toilets
Whitechapel Library
Basement female toilet
West Smithfield Library
Basement accessible toilet
Francis Bancroft Building
Ground floor gender neutral toilet (behind Mucci’s)
Maths Building
Upper first floor female toilet
Arts One
Ground floor female toilet (by Mile End Road)
Graduate Centre
Second floor female toilet
Seventh floor female toilet
Garrod Building
Ground floor accessible toilet
The Shield, Dawson Hall
Accessible toilet
Lincoln’s Inn Fields
Visit the Queen Mary website to find maps of our campuses.
For details of the financial support available to our students, visit the Advice and Counselling website.
Welfare Advisers in the Advice and Counselling Service can provide confidential, professional money advice for all Queen Mary students, including prospective students. They can also advise students who need to leave their family home unexpectedly and need emergency financial support, students who are independent of their family, or who are forced migrants.
Being denied access to money to meet basic health needs, like buying period products, is a form of abuse. Visit our website to find out more about the support available from Queen Mary for people experiencing gender-based violence and abuse.