Yorkits: Growing and spreading

The main photograph (above), supplied by Tanzanian aid worker Alice Kostrzewa, shows a group of schoolchildren in Arusha, the United Republic of Tanzania, proudy displaying their personal hygiene kits, locally made from templates provided by Yorkits.                                 Image source is Yorkits ©

Stewarding for Yorkits workshop at York Minster in International Women’s Week - Thursday, March 5, 2026

There are two sessions in the day: morning session from 10.00 am to 12.30; and the afternoon session from 13.30 -16.00.

Yorkits relies on Rotary York Ainsty to help get everyone registered and settled as smoothly as possible. It gets very busy when everyone arrives at once.

Volunteers can book tickets (free) to attend the event via the York Minster events website. When they arrive at the registration desk, they can sign in and give an email address if they want to receive newsletters in the future. They can also pick up a name badge to wear while they are in the Minster. With school parties, the leader can register with the number of students they have in their party, but all the students should have a name badge to enable friendliness.

Could volunteers also offer a copy of any free information available (postcards with meeting details, latest newsletter etc). Also, inform attendees that tea/coffee will be brought round to where they are sitting by members of the Minster community. The Yorkits team on the work tables will also give these messages.

Pass 'new' volunteers to one of the Yorkits team (who will be wearing Yorkits aprons or red sashes). They will find them a place at one of the work tables.

We understand that there will be less room available than last year so the space available to place Rotary banners/information will be limited to a single pull up and leaflets. We hope to have the Yorkits pull up returned and Yorkits will supply the pull-up display and postcards.

The Minster team will have set up the area with tables, chairs etc, and will dismantle them after the event is over. The Yorkits team will have set up the sewing machines and materials for kit making, and the Yorkits display table. We will remove all of that afterwards. We hope that a Rotarian will be able to take back the RYA banner etc.

Many thanks to all helpers from the Yorkits team.

ABOVE: Stewarding for Yorkits workshop at York Minster in International Women’s Week - Thursday, March 5, 2026

For the past ten years, the Yorkits project of Rotary York Ainsty has been making washable, reusable period kits for girls around the world to lessen the period poverty burden.

The group has made an average of 300 kits each year since the project began. Kits have gone to twenty-five countries, refugee camps and women’s refuges.

In March 2023, the group ran its 8^th International Women’s Week workshop in York Minster - resulting in 70 finished kits and many more partially completed. Nearly 250 kits have already been sent out in the first 6 months this year.

 Tackling period poverty one kit at a time

Every month, 1.8 billion people across the world menstruate. However, it’s estimated that at least 500 million women and girls lack access to the facilities they need to manage their periods Having access to period products is also a major barrier for women and girls worldwide.

For many girls around the world, getting their period means putting their lives on hold as stigma, embarrassment and lack of appropriate toilets and facilities can exclude them from daily activities. Many women and girls also have limited information on how to manage their periods as well as lack of access to period products. Period poverty doesn’t just affect women in girls in developing countries. In 2021, 50% of girls in the UK said they couldn’t afford period products at some point

Each kit includes: eight pads; two pad pockets; a waterproof bag for carrying soiled items; two pairs of knickers; a flannel; and a resealable polythene bag to use as a makeshift washing machine in areas with poor access to water; instructions with diagrams; and a postcard with kind messages from Yorkits. The contents are all packed into a discreet fabric drawstring bag and sent to where they are needed.

A kit can last a girl three years, which equates to 200 days of education she does not have to miss because of menstruation. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON YORKITS - CLICK HERE