SOMERSET Libraries are looking for donations of women’s sanitary products for their new Tricky Period Service.

The Tricky Period Service aims to tackle period poverty by using libraries to collect donations of sanitary products which are then redistributed among those who need them.

The public can donate tampons and sanitary towels at any library in Somerset, including Bridgwater.

Those in need of products can then come into Bridgwater Library to request items using a discreet, no-questions-asked service.

They simply need to ask for a Tricky Period order form and a member of staff will process it for them

On average each period will cost around £11, which is difficult to afford for many women including school girls, the homeless, refugees, those living on state benefits and young women living in refuges.

Alex Cunningham-Scott from Somerset Libraries said: "A recent survey found that 10 per cent of girls had been unable to afford sanitary wear and that 12 per cent had been forced to improvise sanitary wear due to affordability.

"It is a very real problem for many women."

For more information contact Alex Cunningham-Scott at Somerset Libraries on acunninghamscott@somerset.gov.uk or 07976 691860.