On Saturday 7 March the tenth Sewing Day was held at Dilton Marsh Memorial Hall. The Pachamama Project was started in 2020 and Holy Trinity Eco Church started holding Sewing Days in October 2021 to make pads for them. Since then the charity has distributed more than 240,000 pads, taking more than 22,500 women and girls out of period poverty. The Holy Trinity Eco Church Group have made and sent over 4,000 pads during that time.

It was a fantastic day, 25 ladies came and 17 machines were soon whirling away. We were joined on the day by three young people and four men whose help was invaluable. One helped with towel trimming [a thankless task] and the other three started adding the poppers to the finished pads. Pads were also received from some of the ladies who make them at home. I am delighted to say that I have now packed 618 pads to ship to the charity

The pads being made at present are going to Uganda, to Arimumikonoye Dick, a teacher who is on a mission to end school girl drop outs in his region. He was buying all the girls in his school reusable pads and seeing incredible results on their attendance, he reached out to Pachamama and the rest is history. Arimumokonoye who, after renting a van and driving eight hours to Kampala to pick up the shipment, went school to school delivering menstrual health education and our reusable pads, including to schools that can't even be reached by car. All in all he delivered 12,000 pads to 1,500 students in 12 schools, two orphanages and a girls' sports academy. This will help de-stigmatise menstruation for girls and give them access to all the opportunities that come with being able to stay in school.

The need for pads continues as the work of the charity continues to expand. They are now supporting groups in Lebanon, Pakistan, Uganda, USA, Greece, Syria, Ukraine, Italy and the UK. If you would like to get involved in the project you would be made very welcome.

The next sewing day, on Saturday July 11 will be making drawstring bags for the pads to go in. There will be another pad making day on the Saturday 12 September. We also have volunteers who make them at home between sewing days. We welcome donations of fabric and materials. Please get in touch with Lynne Vercoe for more details. E mail [email protected]

Thanks must go to the Dilton Memorial Hall, who so kindly provide the venue free of charge. Without their support we would have great difficulty in continuing our support of this essential project.