Blog Post

Sneak Peek of our Crowdfunding Rewards

  • By Chloe Tingle
  • •
  • 11 May, 2016
  • •

We go live with our crowdfunding one-week today! Have a look at some of the rewards we will have on offer.

We are running a rewards based crowdfunding campaign starting at 9.00am on 18th May 2016.  Our crowdfunder will go live at this link: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/nomoretaboo

We wanted to ensure there was a reward for everyone and so have split our rewards into three categories.

The three different types of taboo busting rewards available are Break the taboo, Smash the taboo and Wipe out the taboo:

 

Break the taboo:

Bag yourself an amazing perk. Whether this is the little nudge you need to try a menstrual cup or washable pad or if you want to show off your taboo breaking skills in a stylish tshirt there’s plenty of ‘period people perks’ to choose from available from £10-£50. There will be 15 different perks to choose from, here's a taster of three of those perks.

  • £15- Break the taboo: Try a reusable menstrual cup today, get a Fleurcup to try out, great for first time users or those unsure about menstrual cups.
  • £20- Break the taboo: A limited edition “No More Taboo in Nepal” calendar. Why not plan your life whilst looking at beautiful mountains and toilets? Our limited edition calendars show our latest work out in Nepal.
  • £30- Break the taboo: No More Taboo Tshirt, high quality ethically sourced t-shirt showing off just how much you believe in taboo breaking!


Smash the taboo:

If you’re not fussed about a perk and prefer your money to be spent directly on our taboo smashing work this is the option for you. These rewards are purely donation based, we will keep you in the loop with how far your donation has gone each month. Available from £5 to £1000 or choose how much you want to give. Here's some examples of what your donation can do: 

  • £5- Smash the taboo: A reusable cloth pad for a girl in Nepal costs around 70rupees or 45p so your £5 will help 10 girls get their first washable pad. Thank you so much!
  • £150- Smash the taboo: Your £150 will help build a period friendly toilet block and provide education on how and why it should be used in our first project in Nepal. Helping women and girls menstruate in privacy and with dignity. Thank you so much!
  • £1000- Smash the taboo: Corporate sponsorship for a year- Your money will support the development of our programmes throughout the entire year, to show your official support we will post your logo on the website as a sponsor and promote your organisation through our blog and social media. Plus receive 5 mugs for your office break out area to help start those conversations on menstruation. At the end of the year we will come to do a lunchtime talk for your staff about what your money has helped us achieve. Thankyou so much!

 

Wipe out the taboo:

Do you want to share and empower others with your reward? Why not pick a ‘wipe out reward’, these range from being one of our very first ‘Period Party hosts’ exploring menstruation whilst having fun with your friends, getting a workshop on taboos for your workplace or school* and even having a period policy make-over for your business. Available from £50 (if you’re an earlybird) to £700. Here's a preview of 3 of the 8 different 'Wipe Out Rewards':

  • £75- Wipe out the taboo: Become one of our first period party hosts, we’ll provide a period guru, you provide the friends. Our period parties can be as low key and sophisticated or as silly and lighthearted as you choose. Involves a close up look at the range of products, a chance to ask the questions you wouldn’t usually dare ask and quizzes/activities to test your period knowledge. Includes a private one-to-one session to select yours (or a friends) perfect sustainable sanitary product.
  • £100- Wipe out the taboo: Q&A and talk from No More Taboo founder. Chloe will come to do a lunchtime Q&A at your workplace or evening Q&A to your group e.g. sports club. A chance to hear more about our work in developing communities as well as with women living in poverty in the UK. 
  • £150- Wipe out the taboo: Educate to empower for Young People. No More Taboo will do a half day/evening workshop on women empowerment, sustainability and how menstruation ties in with this at a school or young person’s group of your choice e.g. Girl Guides.


Here's a reminder of what you can do now before the big launch:

  • Go to www.crowdfunder.co.uk and take a look around, you can set up an account here so you are all ready to go next week https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/user/sign_up
  • Help us find more supporters. Statistically, the more support we get in the first 24-36 hours the more likely our crowd-funding is to be successful. Although our pre-crowdfunding campaign has now closed successfully you can still share our Crowdfunder Backer's Sign-Up list with your network.
  • Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with our campaign and to share it with your friends.
  • If you're Bristol based, keep Saturday 28th May 3pm-5pm free. We are hosting an International Menstrual Hygiene Day event to celebrate periods and would love for you to come along- more info coming soon.

Join us for Period Poverty Training!-4th Mar Plymouth and 12th Mar Bristol!

By Chloe Tingle • 25 Feb, 2019
We are hosting two period poverty training courses this spring. See the details on eventbrite.

Staff Training at CoLab

By Rebecca Batala • 30 Jan, 2019
Here's a little insight into what our Staff Training at CoLab was like...

WOW Exeter 2018...the highlights

By Chloe Tingle • 18 Oct, 2018

WOW Women of the World festivals have been popping up across the world, if you get the chance to go along to one we would strongly recommend it.

WOW – Women of the World  festival celebrates women and girls, and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential.

Around the world, individuals and communities are insisting on the simple proposition that women and girls must have equal rights and asking the question: why is gender equality taking so long?

Southbank Centre's WOW – Women of the World  festival is a global network of festivals which provides a platform for celebrating what has been achieved, and exploring all the ways we can change the world for the better.

What’s not to love?

Our Founder, Chloe, and her Mum Angela went along to represent No More Taboo with a stall across the two days. Here’s her highlights:

“Although we didn’t get much time to take in all the discussions as we were kept busy wo-manning the stall (thanks Mum for helping out)! We had some great discussions around gender, equality, inclusivity and of course periods with new customers, supporters, other panellists and some old friends who came to see us.

In fact, we were really pleased to catch up with Plan International UK who were opening the festival with a discussion about Period Activism exactly one year on since the launch of our #BreaktheBarriers research and Period Poverty Conference that we ran in collaboration with Plan.

By Your Leave

By Catherine Blom-Smith • 01 Oct, 2018
We look at what introducing menstrual leave to workplaces in the UK might mean.

It Must be Lush

By Iloni Kingston-Smith • 17 Sep, 2018

On the first weekend of September, No More Taboo set up shop at Lush Cribbs Causeway for their Charity Pot weekend.

The Lush Charity Pot is a wonderfully creamy shea-butter hand lotion where all the sales money (excluding VAT) goes towards a chosen charity or non-for-profit. This scheme is designed to help boost grass-roots, small and local organisations, like ourselves, financially so that we can continue to do the work we do such as our Tackling Period Poverty programme.

As we were Lush’s chosen organisation for the weekend of the 1-2 September, one of our volunteers, Iloni, and one of our advisors, Carolyn, went along to wo-man the (suitably Lush-styled aesthetic) stall that Lush had kindly provided for us. We took along a range of our products, stacks of leaflets and information as well as our enthusiasm for talking about all things to do with periods.

Over the weekend, we sold over £200’s worth of stock with Ruby Cups and Honour Your Flow re-usable pads proving most popular with Lush customers. On top of this, Lush sold so many of their Charity Pots that £340.60 was raised for No More Taboo – which was amazing! 

However exciting the money side of things were with this event, what I personally took away as being the real highlight of the weekend was the number and nature of conversations we shared with customers. 

Mothers and daughters came and chatted to us about how they agreed it was so important to use re-usable products for personal and financial reasons as well as for the planet’s sake. Boyfriends accompanied their other halves as they prodded and probed the range of menstrual cups on display. Older women commented on how it’s such a relief to be able to talk about menstruation in public and with people you’ve only just met. They regaled of a time when periods were even more hush-hush and celebrated with us out mission of there being No More Taboo.

We would like to thank Lush Cribbs Causeway for being such wonderful hosts, encouraging every customer that came through their doors to consider buying the Charity Pot or simply to chat with us. Each member of their staff team was incredibly warm and so keen to find out more about what we do. On behalf of all of us at No More Taboo, thank you.

Over the Moon(cup)

By Catriona Dickie • 26 Jul, 2018
What is a Mooncup?

If you're following No More Taboo, chances are you are already aware that a Mooncup is a silicone menstrual cup. It is inserted vaginally and used throughout your period. There are two different sizes: size A, for those who are either thirty and over or have given birth vaginally, and size B, for under thirties who have not birthed a child vaginally. 

Why Use One?

The main reason I wanted to convert to a Mooncup is because I was feeling concerned about the amount of waste my period was generating every month. During the twelve years I've been menstruating I must have thrown thousands of tampons into landfill , and as I became more aware of the impact this is having on the planet, switching to a sustainable sanitary product seemed like a straightforward lifestyle change that would really make a difference.

Another advantage for frugal (or rather, perpetually skint) me was that for a £20 upfront investment I'd have an item that would last up to 10 years. And while a box of own-brand tampons is only a pound a pop, there's always a risk that a trip to Boots will result in an impulse buy and before I know it I've bought a new nail varnish and a Graze box and end up spending a tenner.

I also love to travel and have more than once found myself in a situation where I'm in a country without ready access to tampons. I'm not a big fan of pads and had found myself obsessively carrying around a box of tampons with me at all times and becoming anxious when I didn't have one on me. The great thing about the Mooncup, for me, is that all you have to do is empty it out and with a quick rinse or wipe it can be used again.

Finally, Mooncups are not known to carry any risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome, which I think we'll all agree is what nightmares are made of for those of us who menstruate. 

Putting it In

I was lucky enough to come on my period on a lazy Saturday afternoon. With no plans for the day that involved leaving the comfort of my home, I was able to fiddle around with folding and inserting and looking up advice online. After three failed attempts , the cup stayed put and I heard the satisfying sound of the vacuum seal closing in. Minimal leakage did occur over the course of the day but once I got the hang of the fold-and-insert method I was confident enough to wear my proverbial white jeans, like those women in the adverts who bleed blue menstrual blood.

Out and About

As I write this I've been using my Mooncup for about 6 months, and it did take me about 3 cycles to completely get used to it. I think after over a decade of using tampons, which are a lot smaller and more streamlined, this is probably normal. For me it was worth persevering and the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, of which I can't think of any aside from the following: I have dropped it down the loo while taking it out a couple of times. This has never been much of a problem until last weekend when I dropped it down a portaloo never to be seen again. So much for that 10 year investment.

Verdict

What can I say, I'm a convert. For anyone willing to spend £20 I'd really say its worth giving the Mooncup a chance and persevering with the tricky first days. As for me, I'll be buying another to replace my lost menstrual cup and will be using organic tampons at festivals from now on.  

Feeling Inspired?

Are you ready to give the Mooncup a chance? Buy your Mooncup, or another menstrual cup, from our shop , where all profits go towards tackling period poverty in the UK.

If you're wondering how else you can reduce your plastic consumption, read about how me and Catherine challenged ourselves to a plastic-free fortnight. 

Big Green Week with UWE Bristol

By Catherine Blom-Smith • 19 Jul, 2018
Watch this space for information on how No More Taboo will be involved in Big Green Week, UWE's annual festival of eco ideas, events and smart living. 

For more information, take a look at their website:  https://www1.uwe.ac.uk/whatson/biggreenweek.aspx

Environmenstrual Week of Action

By Catherine Blom-Smith • 19 Jul, 2018
A whole week of period-related and enviro-conscious action! What could be better? This event will run from the 13th of to the 20th of October. Watch this space for details on how No More Taboo will be involved. 

Read more here:  https://www.wen.org.uk/environmenstrual-week-of-action/

No More Taboo Workshop at WOW!

By Catherine Blom-Smith • 19 Jul, 2018
At this year's Women of the World Festival, our founder Chloe will be holding a workshop at their event in Exeter. She will be talking everything you need to know about cups! This event is on Sunday 14th October. Find out more at this link:  https://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/women-of-the-world/

Summertime Sailin' on the Red Sea

By Jenna Yates • 19 Jul, 2018
Find out how we've been getting ready for the highlight of our summer, Shambala Festival, where we'll be helping you safely navigate the festival period... Jump on board for a period-friendly weekend trip away with the monthlies!
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