Workshops aim to promote period positivity

The Leaky Truth project is running creative workshops throughout the week

Myths and taboos around menstruation will be tackled in a series of creative workshops in Bradford.

The Leaky Truth, conceived by 23-year-old West Yorkshire-based artist Ellie Cansdale, also aims to raise awareness of the rising impact of period poverty.

Ms Cansdale said the week-long events are designed to encourage "period positivity" and to empower people.

Recent research by the charity ActionAid found that more than a fifth of those in the UK needing sanitary products were struggling to afford them, with period poverty rising from 12% to 21% in 2023.

The charity said the cost of living crisis was cited as the major factor behind this, despite the government removing the 5% rate of VAT on sanitary products in 2021.

Ms Cansdale said affordability was still "such a barrier to many and that shouldn't be the case".

“It's not a luxury, it's a matter of life, and it isn't something that should just be dismissed."

She said the events, being held at the Rockwell Centre, would include arts, crafts, quizzes and discussions designed to "promote period empowerment and get the conversation going a bit more".

“I distinctly remember in year seven of high school, the girls got taken away to one classroom, the boys to another classroom," she recalled her own period education.

"But when I first started my period, I still didn't really know what to do about it."

She said she was "quite scared" and did not really know how to talk about it with friends.

“It's such an important part of our lives, and it's a conversation that's needed, for everyone," she said.

Ellie Cansdale said she hopes the workshops will trigger conversations

Participants in the workshops will also be invited to make reusable sanitary pads in a variety of designs and to express their own period stories through creative writing, Ms Cansdale said.

She is also hoping to trigger new conversations around the representation of menstruation in the media.

“It wasn't until 2019 I think that I saw an advert using red liquid or blood in an advert for period products, “ she said.

“I want the conversation to be more normalised. I want people to be able to say the word because even I still kind of whisper it sometimes, especially when I'm telling my male friends about it. It’s just so internalised.”

The Leaky Truth creative sessions are being held from 12.30 BST to 14:00 BST every day this week at The Rockwell Centre in Bradford.

The project was created with the help of a grant from the Radical Social Awards, a support programme run by Bradford community arts organisation The Leap.