A WOMAN is helping with the global fight against period poverty by donating pairs of sustainably-made underwear to those in need.

Sarah Jordan, from Summertown, switched her career working at Oxfam, in Oxford, to creating a sustainable underwear brand after she visited Uganda back in 2016.

The entrepreneur had been on a trip there helping a local business in the country try to sell sanitary products, but she realised the reason the products weren’t selling as well as projected was because 10 per cent of girls in the country had no underwear.

The lack of access to underwear or sanitary products, means these girls can miss up to 12 weeks of school every year.

Ms Jordan therefore came up with Y.O.U. Underwear - an online underwear store that works under a ‘buy-one-give two’ model, meaning that every time a customer buys a pair of pants, two pairs are automatically donated to someone in need.

Y.O.U. Underwear, which stands for Your Own Underwear, works in partnership with Smalls for All, a charity which collects underwear to give to adults and children who are in need in Africa and the UK.

Ms Jordan said: “I had no background in fashion prior to this, and I had gone to Uganda to support women setting up small businesses over there.

“That’s when I learnt 10 per cent of women did not have underwear, therefore could not use any sanitary products we were providing.

“Not only does this lack of underwear cause obvious health and hygiene issues, it also increases the risk of violence against them and means women have to miss out on their education while they are on their period.”

Yet Ms Jordan stresses that this is not just an issue for those in other countries, but is also one for girls and women in the UK.

She continued: “When I came back home, I was frustrated by the impact lack of underwear and period poverty was having on women, particularly their education.”

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The creator of Y.O.U. Underwear also wanted to ensure that the underwear was made sustainably, from organic cotton and materials that would not harm the environment.

During 2020, the company managed to save over 400,000 litres of water by using organic rather than conventional cotton.

The underwear is also manufactured with ‘India’s leading ethical and sustainable manufacturer’ to ensure no one is exploited while producing the clothing items.

Ms Jordan also works alongside homeless shelters and wider period poverty campaigns which fight to provide free period products and make sustainable sanitary products an option.

As of today, Ms Jordan’s company, has donated 15,782 pairs of pants to those in need globally.

By 2023, she hopes to have donated 23,000 pairs to those less fortunate.

You can visit and order your own pair of undies here.