Mary Connelly-Gale invites interested people to the Goulburn Valley Days for Girls open day this International Women’s Day weekend.
Returning time and routine to girls and women who are forced to stay immobilised during menstruation was the inspiration for the Days for Girls charity’s name.
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After working with an organisation helping a Kenyan orphanage, American Celeste ‘Mama’ Mergens pondered how the girls managed their periods, a question that kept her awake at night.
She discovered the girls would stay in their rooms and sit on cardboard for several days of the month during their periods, often going without food.
She wanted to give them those days back, so she founded the Days for Girls charity in 2008.
Days for Girls is now a worldwide charity that distributes washable, long-lasting period products to people experiencing period poverty.
In Victoria, there are 27 teams who volunteer to make washable menstrual kits under a licensing agreement with Days for Girls International.
Nationwide, there are 82.
Shepparton’s Mary Connelly-Gale is the chief operating officer in Australia and Oceania.
“What we have today is something that is made all around the world,” Ms Connelly-Gale said.
“We have provided these washable menstrual kits to over 3.8 million girls in 150 countries around the world, including in Australia and including here in the Goulburn Valley.”
While in the past, the majority of the kits the Goulburn Valley group has made have been exported abroad, in recent times they’ve all stayed closer to home, including some 50 kits that were distributed to people affected by the recent Longwood bushfire.
“In the last two years, apart from 50 kits that I took over to Fiji last November ... all the kits have stayed in Australia,” Ms Connelly-Gale said.
“Now, worldwide we have a period poverty rate of over 500 million girls, and yes, it is mostly in developing nations; however, here in Australia with the cost-of-living crisis, we have poverty here in Australia, therefore we have period poverty.”
A 2024 survey — the Bloody Big Survey conducted by Share the Dignity — of more than 150,000 people revealed that two thirds (64 per cent) of people who menstruate in Australia struggled to afford period products due to the cost of living, with many using socks or wads of toilet paper instead of specific period products.
Ms Connelly-Gale said 1.1 million Australian girls and women were affected, including around 280,000 in Victoria.
“In the seat of Nicholls, it’s around 7000,” she said.
“Here in Greater Shepparton ... this is a bit of a conservative figure, but based on the regional poverty rate of 15 per cent, it’s around 3200.
“And in my home town of Tatura, it’s estimated around 200 people are living with period poverty.”
The charity, with DGR status, is a 100 per cent volunteer organisation.
It’s funded by donations, government grants and its own fundraisers, such as market days.
It offers many ways to get involved through fundraising, administration, social media support, sewing and non-sewing roles on sewing days.
The contents of a full Days for Girls kit.
The full kits Days for Girls produces and donates include two shields and eight liners made with 100 per cent quilters cotton or flannelette to avoid irritation or infection, two pairs of underwear, a face cloth, soap and a carry pouch.
Each kit takes around three hours to make and costs around $15 to $22 in materials, depending on fabric prices.
The Goulburn Valley group has various regular meeting times to suit people with other commitments, as well as hosting various open days throughout the years.
If you’re keen to get involved or find out more, there is an open day at St Mary’s Hall, 74 Hogan St, Tatura on Saturday, March 7, from 11am to 2pm.
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