Our Story: From Stigma Breakers to Lawmakers

Menstruation Matters began in 2016, (formerly known as The Homeless Period Belfast), when our Founder, Katrina McDonnell, was volunteering with a homeless outreach project.

At the time, she was also involved in a similar campaign at uni in Liverpool. That’s where she first saw just how bad period poverty could be - people going without the basics and having to use toilet paper, socks, even plastic bags because they couldn’t afford proper products.

The rising cost of period products, mixed with all the stigma and silence around menstruation, meant far too many people were still dealing with it all in shame. At the same time, the UK’s tampon tax was all over the news, Tory austerity was hitting hard, and protests were getting louder. Like a lot of people growing up, Katrina had always felt a bit awkward about her period - like it was something to hide - and was pretty fed up that things hadn’t really moved on. Fired up by what she was seeing, and inspired by grassroots activism, she decided it was time to do something closer to home.

Since those early days, Menstruation Matters has grown into a leading voice for change in this space - helping secure free period products in schools, shaping ground breaking legislation alongside allies at Stormont, and driving forward some of the most progressive period policy in the world.

From grassroots action to political wins, we’ve shown why you should never underestimate the power of people on the ground because that’s where real change starts.

Thank you to everyone who’s been with us on this journey over the past 9 years. We’re entirely run by a team of volunteers including volunteer Directors and co-ordinators, carrying out this work around full-time jobs, and doing the best we can with a very small budget.

But together, we’ve managed to put periods firmly on the map and made history. And we’re not done yet - there’s still more work to do.