The UK’s biggest-ever brunch is set to take place next month – and one of the country’s biggest grocers is calling for people to sign up, take part and help put a key issue for women firmly on the table.
Backed by Asda and hosted by their Hey Girls period product range (a buy-one-give-one social enterprise) the Bloody Big Brunch is being held on Sunday 3rd March in a bid to end period poverty for good.
Their research this month has revealed that the issue of period poverty is worse than previously thought. More than a quarter of women and girls throughout the country have been unable to afford menstrual products, with more than a third of those (38%) bleeding through most days of their period and 26% missing school or work. Shame around menstruation is also widespread, with half of people currently describing periods as unpleasant or disgusting – but 69% of us, including men and boys, wish that we felt more comfortable about them.
In response, Asda is working with Bloody Big Brunch to cook up a simple solution. People can host their own brunch at home and serve Bloody (or Virgin) Marys to friends and family. But the twist is that guests must pay for their drinks with period products. Asda have made that easy to do by featuring Bloody Big Brunch on their home page, which clicks through to a carousel featuring all the ingredients needed to host brunch, plus a promotion of Hey Girls, who will automatically double donations and distribute products to charities around the UK including The Red Box Project, Bloody Good Period, Girlguiding Scotland, YWCA and Freedom4Girls.
Jo Warner, Senior Director for Community and Public Affairs at Asda, added: “Asda is proud to support Hey Girls and help them to raise awareness of the issue of period poverty. This brunch is a simple but fun way for people to come together and talk about period poverty, what it means and how it can be tackled without feeling embarrassed about the subject. Every host will be helping to break stigmas and get period products to where they’re needed most”.
Celia Hodson, founder of Hey Girls, said:“At Hey Girls, we believe in doing good, rather than giving shareholders a nice big profit. Our buy-one-give-one model means that for every box we sell, we already donate a box to a girl or woman in need in the UK. In the last year, we’ve donated 2.3 million products to 200 partners but participation in the Bloody Big Brunch will help accelerate the positive moves already being made.”
In the last year, the Bloody Big Brunch has hosted events that have helped over 5,000 women gain access to period products they could not have afforded otherwise. By empowering members of the public to hold their own brunches on 3rd March, the aim is to raise this number to 10,000 – and also put pressure on the UK government for lasting legislative change.
The campaign is also backed by Stacey Solomon, Grace Woodward, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Amika George and a host of other personalities.
HOW PEOPLE CAN TAKE PART:
STEP ONE: Sign up to host a brunch – and research your Bloody Mary recipes – here: www.bloodybigbrunch.com
STEP TWO: Invite your friends to brunch at your house (there’s an invite template at www.bloodybigbrunch.com)
STEP THREE: Buy your brunch ingredients from Asda here: https://bit.ly/2N5qn5V (you can also purchase period products as part of this shopping cart and another pack will be added to the Bloody Big Brunch donations)
STEP FOUR: Host a banging brunch, and ask your friends to make their donations by either buying Hey Girls at Asda or from here: https://www.heygirls.co.uk/shop/bbb/
STEP FIVE: Share your brunch pics and stories using #bloodybigbrunch on Instagram & Twitter
https://www.bloodybigbrunch.com
https://twitter.com/BloodyBigBrunch
https://www.instagram.com/bloodybigbrunch/
#BloodyBigBrunch