What we do
At The Hygiene Bank, we believe it is not right that feeling clean should be a luxury or a privilege for anyone in our society, yet many are living in poverty and cannot afford to stay clean. We are a grassroots, people-powered charity and social movement, grounded in community. Our passion stems from the injustice that people may be unable to fully participate in society due to hygiene poverty. This is why we work to inspire social change.
The Hygiene Bank provides basic essential hygiene products, including soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, nappies, shampoo, detergent, cleaning products and sanitary products to the most vulnerable individuals and families in communities throughout the UK.
Our project
The Doncaster Project was set up in January 2019 has now has 8 volunteers working to distribute across the whole of the Doncaster area and in 2020 we distributed around 46 tonnes of products to over 5000 recipients.
The project encourages people and businesses to collect unused products and donate them via our localised network of 44 organisations throughout the area comprising food banks, schools, hostels, supported housing schemes, refuges, family hubs and community hubs.
The Stats
- Over 14 million people in the UK live in poverty - that is one fifth of our population. (source: Social Metrics Commission)
- Two thirds of those defined as living in poverty work.
- We know that long before people go to a food bank they stop buying toiletries. (source: The Trussell Trust)
- Over one third of people living in the UK and over half of 18 to 24 year olds have had to go without hygiene or grooming essentials or cut down on them due to lack of funds. (source: In Kind Direct, 2017)
- 8 in 10 primary school teachers say that they’ve seen a rise in the numbers of children coming to school unwashed or not looking presentable in the last five years and have found themselves intervening at an increasing rate. Nearly half of all teachers said they had seen bullying because of hygiene issues. (source: In Kind Direct, 2017)
- 3 out of 10 teachers regularly buy their pupils toiletry essentials. (source: In Kind Direct, 2017)
- Tooth decay remains the number one reason that children aged 5-9 are admitted to hospital. (Royal College of Surgeons, September 2018)
What we will do with your donation
We will be using any funds received to purchase essential hygiene and cleaning products which will be distributed across Doncaster to people experiencing poverty.
Donations into our community