The Hygiene hub with Boots
What is The Hygiene Bank?
Founded by Lizzie Hall (AKA our 2019 Woman of the Year), The Hygiene Bank provides essential hygiene and personal care products to those living in poverty. From deodorant to shower gel, and everything in between, this incredible charity is helping tackle hygiene poverty throughout the UK and Ireland – one donation at a time.
What is hygiene poverty?
Hygiene poverty is being unable to afford the everyday items most of us take for granted.
It’s having to choose between eating or staying clean because you can’t afford both. It’s being unable to change your baby’s nappy as often as you’d like. It’s using rolled up loo roll and socks because you can’t afford sanitary products, like tampons and pads.
There’s an estimated one in five people in the UK living in poverty. It can impact someone at school, in their job or in their social life. If someone can’t be clean it can have a catastrophic effect on their mental wellbeing.
About Boots’ partnership with The Hygiene Bank
Supporting hygiene poverty in local communities isn’t a new mission for Boots. In fact, soap was one of the first non-medicinal products that our founder Jesse Boot sold, because he recognized that basic hygiene is the foundation of good health.
In 2019 our very first ‘Boots Wellness Warrior’ Women of the Year Award was given to The Hygiene Bank Founder Lizzy Hall. Since then Boots and The Hygiene Bank have worked together in partnership to provide essential hygiene and personal care products to those living in poverty.
How can I donate?
Working alongside this trailblazing charity, we’ve installed donation points by the side of the tills in over 400 of our Boots stores as of July 2021. With one being at Willow Brook.
What can I donate?
The Hygiene Bank accepts donations of new, unused and in-date toiletries – including hygiene, beauty and personal care essentials.
“Adding an extra toothpaste every now and then to your shop will probably not make much difference to most people, but to somebody who doesn’t have it, it’s life changing.”
– Lizzy Hall, Founder of The Hygiene Bank
Here’s a list of things you can donate:
• Sanitary pads and tampons
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Cleansers, creams and body wash
• Deodorant
• Toothpaste and toothbrushes
• Disposable razors and nail files
• Nappies and baby wipes
• Washing powder
• Plasters
• Hairbrush and hair ties
• Loo roll and tissues
If you want to help, rummage through your bathroom cabinets at home and see what you can donate.
What happens with my donation?
Once we’ve gathered your donations, The Hygiene Bank redistributes the products to schools, charities, local authority services and voluntary organizations to help those in need regain their dignity and confidence.