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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Hygiene poverty is the inability to access everyday products needed to maintain personal hygiene, cleanliness, or grooming.

  • Hygiene is a prerequisite to health, wellbeing, and dignity.

    Depression, anxiety, shame, social isolation, physical health impacts, and barriers to employment or education -which further the cycle of poverty- are just some of the impacts of hygiene poverty.⁷ 

    Hygiene poverty is often considered a precursor to other forms of deprivation or poverty, and has significant physical and mental health impacts.⁸

  • UK poverty levels have continued to rise leading to many families and individuals finding themselves in need of everyday support. 

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    A study led by In Kind Direct found that as of 2025 there is an estimated 9.2 million adults suffering from hygiene poverty in the UK.⁹

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    Research by the Hygiene Bank suggests that low-income households, youth, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and people living with disabilities are at greater risk of experiencing hygiene poverty.¹⁰

  • A number of complex barriers, such as social stigma, feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed,  or being unaware of available help, prevent many accessing support. 

     

    Studies have suggested that:

    • 48% of adults who experience hygiene poverty in the UK feel too embarrassed to ask for help.¹¹

    • 40% of UK adults would feel uncomfortable talking to their friends or family if they were unable to afford hygiene products.¹²

    • 59% would feel too embarrassed to ask for support from a charity or foodbank.¹³

  • There are lots of ways you can donate, please visit our Donations page for full details.

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    Physical donation points for products

    You will soon be able to drop off your products to donation-bins at a handful of stores in Thames Valley.

    Locations coming soon!
    (please bear with us while we're getting set up, in the meantime please see alternative options below, or contact us at support@productive-hygienepoverty.co.uk)

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    Online donation of products

    • Package and post new or unused products you have at home via DropPoint

    OR

    • Buy and donate new products from our online wishlists on Amazon or via For Common Good (who offer free delivery).
       

    Online financial donations

    • Donate one off or monthly donations via JustGiving. 

    • Join EasyFundraising to support our cause, and shop online with more than 7000 brands who will donate part of your spend to us.  
       

    Other

    Your time & Open-Mind

    • Visit our volunteer page to see how you can get involved.

    • Visit our resources hub to learn about hygiene poverty and how you can raise awareness about the issue.

    • Follow us on social media (like, share, subscribe!)

    • Sign up to our mailing list to receive quarterly updates or visit our trustee's update page.

  • Unfortunately not.

     

    While our initial vision included accepting lightly-used items under strict guidelines, safety considerations have led us to focus exclusively on new and unused products for now. We remain hopeful that this can evolve in the future.

     

    In the meantime if you have lightly-used items you'd like to donate please consider donating to charities such as Toiletries Amnesty.

  • No, sorry we do not accept out of date products for safety reasons. 

  • We need a range of  new or unused items to form our product kits. If you have any questions please contact us at support@productive-hygienepoverty.co.uk

    Dental Care

    • Toothbrushes (adults/children/infants)

    • Toothpaste

    • Mouthwash

    • Dental floss

     

    Cleansing Products

    • Soap

    • Shower gel

    • Face wash

    • Body scrubs

    • Hand-sanitiser


    Hair Care

    • Hairbrushes

    • Shampoo

    • Conditioner

    • Dry shampoo

    • Hair oil/ leave-in conditioners


    Body & Skin Care

    • Deodorant (spray, roll-on, or balm)

    • Body/hand/face cream

    • Body/hand/face lotion

    • Body/hand/face balm

    • Lip balm

    • Body/face/intimate hygiene wipes


    Menstrual Care

    • Sanitary pads

    • Tampons

    • Menstrual cups

    • Period pants 


    Absorbent & Hygiene Care

    • Maternity pads

    • Pant liners

    • Incontinence pads

    • Toilet roll


    Pregnancy, Postpartum & Nursing

    • Postpartum relief spray/care

    • Pregnancy & nursing safe body & skin care (including scar or stretch mark balms)

    • Breastfeeding pads

    • Nipple cream
       

    Infants

    • Nappies

    • Baby wipes

    • Baby powder

    • Sudocrem/healing creams/nappy rash care

    • Baby shampoo and wash

    • Baby oil/lotions
      ​

    Hygiene Tools

    • Cotton wool

    • Cotton buds

    • Flannel/loofah

    • Nappy bags

  • Yes, we do not accept the following items:

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    • Medicines

    • Health supplements or vitamins

    • Nail scissors

    • Razors

    • Other sharp or hazardous objects

    • Electronics (e.g. hairdryers, straighteners, shavers)

    • Makeup

    • Household cleaning products

    ​​

    Any items donated that meet the above criteria will unfortunately be disposed of, or where possible recycled.

    ​

    Unfortunately we do not accept open, used, or out-of-date products.

     

    We also do not accept the following:

    ​

    • Medicines

    • Health supplements or vitamins

    • Nail scissors

    • Razors

    • Other sharp or hazardous objects

    • Electronics (e.g. hairdryers, straighteners, shavers)

    • Makeup

    • Household cleaning products

    ​​

    Any items donated that meet the above criteria will unfortunately be disposed of, or where possible recycled.

  • Physical donation

    After conducting checks and updating our donations inventory, we select a mixture of products to form each kit. Ideally all product-kits will have an assortment of different essential items, but the exact items will differ depending on donations.

     

    Some product-kits will be gender specific (including period products) or tailored to parents with infants (including baby hygiene products), or post-partum or nursing mothers.

     

    Our product-kits will then be given to organisations we intend to work with in the Thames Valley region to distribute to their service users. We intend to work with a range of service providers such as women's shelters, homeless shelters, food banks, family support services, refugee and asylum seeker support services, and other recognised organisations in the region. We are currently still getting set up, so are currently developing relationships with such organisations.

     

    Financial donations

    Financial donations go towards buying products to form product-kits, as well as some running costs of the charity (all work is undertaken on a volunteer basis, and the founder is personally funding running costs for the first year of activity). 

  • Our product-kits are designed to provide discretion, helping to overcome any stigma or uncomfortable feelings that may be experienced when asking for hygiene products.

    ​

    By offering ready-to-use kits, we intend to help reduce these barriers and ensure people get the essentials they need without having to ask.

    ​

    The cost of the washbags is currently covered personally by the founder, ensuring that your donations go directly toward supporting those in need. (This may change in the future if operations expand significantly).

  • Yes. We have different sized washbags to accommodate different sizes of products that are donated. For example, if miniature toiletries are donated we would use a smaller size bag or for full size items or larger products such as packs of nappies we would use larger bags. 

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    The size and style of the sustainable washbags may also vary, these are purchased in bulk according to the most cost-effective offers at the time. (The cost of the washbags is currently covered personally by the founder, ensuring that your donations go directly toward supporting those in need. This may change in the future if operations expand significantly).

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