Michael Sheen launches new Hey Girls period poverty campaign for dads

Michael Sheen has teamed up with Big Issue Invest-backed period poverty-busting social enterprise to break the stigma around the issue for dads.

The Welsh actor, who is a huge advocate for social enterprises, launched the #Pads4Dads campaign to encourage fathers and daughters to talk about periods in an online video yesterday.

You don’t have to have to go through it to talk about it! So excited to launch our #Pads4Dads campaign on @WeAreSTV today with none other than @michaelsheen (!!!) Check out our new #Pads4Dads booklet and get ready to go with the flow with #HeyGirlsUK! https://t.co/XRNYXAGpUApic.twitter.com/AOaRMmLok7

— Hey Girls (@HeyGirlsUK) March 11, 2019

Socially-conscious success story Hey Girls have created a resource on their website to help dads with the great unknowns of the issue after carrying out research to find that four out of 10 dads never learned about periods.

The handy tips include when to ‘have the chat’ to kids of all genders about periods and how to prepare as well as negotiating the minefield of buying the right products.

Hey Girls has even gone a step further with the latter, offering an all-in-one Pads4Dads kit on their website, available for £12.95, including a handy leaflet guide.

“It’s awkward for dads to have this chat because chances are, they didn’t learn about periods in school,” said Sheen in the launch video.

“Believe me, we want to be supportive, but there’s almost no information out there aimed at dads. Let’s not leave dads out of the bloody conversation!”

Hey Girls’ rise has been remarkable since the social enterprise was founded by Celia Hodson and daughters Becky and Kate at the start of 2018.

Shop Hey Girls at The Big Issue Shop now

Their products are now available in Waitrose and Asda stores while their mission of activism and education has been boosted by a £50,000 investment and mentorship from Big Issue Invest’s Power Up Scotland.

The enterprise is also a key partner in the Scottish government’s period poverty roll-out with free sanitary products to be made available to an estimated 18,800 Scottish women through foodbanks, women’s shelters and community centres.

Image: Hey Girls