The FareShare charity will distribute sanitary products to more than 500 organisations

More people from low-income households will soon be able to access free period products.

The FareShare charity will distribute sanitary products to more than 500 organisations, including community centres, foodbanks, refuges and drop-in centres across the country.

This is thanks to £530,000 of new Scottish Government funding which it has received.

The organisation has already reached more than 35,000 individuals from low-income households since April 2018.

Announcing the funding, communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: “This new funding will help us to remove the barriers some people face in accessing period products.

“FareShare does a fantastic job to ensure more people are able to get the products they need. It is unacceptable in this day and age that some individuals are missing out on education or staying at home because they can’t easily access sanitary products.

“As a government, we will continue to tackle period inequality and make more products available in dignified way to those who need it the most.”

FareShare Scotland head Gillian Kynoch added: “Even though FareShare Scotland’s main objective is to get surplus food to charities supporting vulnerable people, our distribution network and links to frontline charities puts us in a unique position to help alleviate the serious issue of period inequality.

“It’s not right that those on the lowest incomes have to make the agonising choice between buying food for their families and sanitary protection, which is why this funding from the Scottish Government is so vitally important.”