WEST Belfast convenience store Fitzy’s 24 on the Falls Road is helping to fight period poverty, offering free sanitary products from its store.
The shop was inspired after seeing a mural had been defaced in Belfast city centre that had been created to raise awareness around the issue.
The mural by street artist, Nuala Convery was created to shine a light on the female body, to normalise what is stigmatised, and to raise awareness for #menstruationmatters which is run by the charity Homeless Period Belfast.
“Period poverty affects women and girls right across the world, we believe sanitary products should be affordable and accessible to everyone,” said Conor McCabe, the manager of the store.
“We as a small business have come together and made the decision that sanitary products that are sold from our two stores will now be free. To create change, we must change.”
Nuala has spoken about her devastation after the piece of art was blacked out. “It’s safe to say my heart is absolutely broken to hear that this piece was blacked out. I poured my heart and soul into this and spent three days working on this, unpaid, because I wanted to raise awareness on a number of issues.
“It raised awareness for menstruation matters, an important campaign run by Homeless Period Belfast, highlighting the fact that period products are still not provided for free in public toilets.”
