BRADFORD Councillors are being asked to throw their weight behind a new push to tackle "period poverty" in the district.

At a full Council meeting on Tuesday, members will be asked to back a motion by Labour calling for more to be done to make sure girls and women in the district have access to sanitary products.

The Party says that with a high number of people in the district living in poverty, many might be unable to afford such essentials.

A pilot scheme started in May this year in the Council's Britannia House offices to take donations of products to be provided through the Storehouse, a local charity that supplies food banks.

If the motion is passed on Tuesday, the council will work with doctors, schools and period poverty charity The Red Box Group to research the best ways to tackle the problem, with findings presented to the Council later in the year.

Labour Group councillors will also provide a collection box outside the council chamber the meeting is being held in at City Hall, enabling councillors, officers or members of the public to donate sanitary products which will be distributed through the Bradford branch of the Red Box project.

The charity has been working in Bradford schools in the past year, and say they have heard that 40 per cent of girls have used toilet paper or having to choose between buying lunch or sanitary products.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “It’s appalling to think that with the rising poverty and food bank use that we are seeing in the UK, there are more young girls and women who simply cannot afford sanitary products or who are faced with having to choose between that and food. It’s simply not acceptable in a civilised society.

“It can also have a huge impact on a girl’s education and on her confidence and wellbeing so it’s vital that we tackle this. We already have a pilot scheme running in the council that takes donations from council staff but we want to work with partners to scale this up and make sure no young woman should be in need wherever they are in the district.”

Charlotte Furness and Victoria Raw of The Red Box Project said: “The Red Box Project in Bradford welcome the commitment from the council to work with us to tackle period poverty and ensure no young person is left without access to menstrual products.”