Working in collaboration with The Hygiene Bank, Community Health Partnerships (CHP) have set up several hygiene donation points across its sites to help support hygiene poverty in local communities.
Recent surveys have shown that currently in the UK, hygiene poverty was found to affect an estimated 3,150,000* adults, which equates to around 6% of the population (* taken from report conducted from YouGov, October 2022)
With poverty rates and the current cost-of-living crisis rising, both factors are putting more and more pressure on households in the UK to afford basic, yet necessary essentials.
A majority of CHP’s sites are in areas of high deprivation and healthcare needs, our sites not only provide health care services, but our Buildings at the Heart of the Community (B@TH) initiative aims to bring together local communities and create a central hub for support and information.
Pioneered by our B@TH initiative, our local Operations and Relationship Mangers (ORM) have worked closely with The Hygiene Bank to support their work. Hygiene donation boxes have been placed in waiting areas for staff and visitors to donate hygiene essentials such as toothpaste, shampoo, soap, deodorant, nappies, period products and laundry detergent, which are then collected by The Hygiene Bank, who distribute these products to schools, charities, local authority services and voluntary organisations in the local area.
Several of CHP’s sites in Stoke, Midlands, including the Sexual Health Service, Cobridge Community Health Centre, Meir Primary Care Centre, Shelton Primary Care Centre and Fenton Health Centre have collection points installed.
Other sites across the CHP estate with collection points include the Healthy Living Centres in Medway in Kent and sites across Sheffield.
I'm pleased that CHP can support local communities in tackling hygiene poverty. We believe that everyone should have access to basic hygiene essentials and the right to feel good, which can have a positive impact on an individual's physical health and mental wellbeing in the long-term. By partnering with The Hygiene Bank and placing donation boxes in our health centres, we hope that our staff, patients and visitors are able to help those who require additional support.
These collection points will have a direct impact on the lives of local families experiencing hygiene poverty. We believe everyone deserves to feel clean and the new collection points across CHP’s sites are a welcome and valued addition to our local network.
To find out more about the work by The Hygiene Bank – The Hygiene Bank – The Hygiene Bank
Find out more Buildings at the Heart of the Community
CHP’s Buildings at the Heart of the Community initiative aims to encourage local community groups and charities to make the most of our buildings by enabling the use of space in our centres to host health and wellbeing related events.
