Charity breakthrough for Essex student's project to provide period pads for refugees

Credit: University of Bristol Ella Lambert, founder of the Pachamama Project, which gives out sewed re-usable period pads.
Ella Lambert, founder of the Pachamama Project, which gives out sewed re-usable period pads. Credit: University of Bristol

A student who started a project to sew reusable period pads for refugees during lockdown has surpassed 100,000 pads and gained official charity status.

Ella Lambert, from Chelmsford, Essex, started learning to stitch from YouTube before starting the Pachamama Project in August 2020 in her kitchen.

The 23-year-old, who was a languages student at the University of Bristol at the time, has since built a global network of 2,000 volunteers in three years.

The organisation has sewn 100,00 colourful Pacha Pads, which are then delivered to refugees and vulnerable people in 10 countries, including the United States, Lebanon, Pakistan and Greece.

Speaking after the project gained charity status, Miss Lambert said: “It is so, so exciting.

“I just didn’t think this would ever happen. A few years ago, I had a little lightbulb moment and today we have this beautiful community – it’s really snowballed.

“When we started, we had volunteers who were shielding or feeling isolated and they’ve been able to find a purpose and be part of a worldwide family.

“Three years ago, people weren’t really talking about periods. Now it’s on the agenda.”

Re-usable sanitary pads, which have recently started to be used in Uganda thanks to the Pachamama Project. Credit: University of Bristol

She is now aiming to launch school period pad sewing clubs in a scheme similar to The Duke of Edinburgh Award in a bid to eradicate period poverty and stigma.

Last year, Miss Lambert visited Poland to oversee the distribution of thousands of pads to hospitals in Ukraine and women in refugee camps.

She recently graduated with a degree in Spanish from the University of Bristol and is now working full-time on the Pachamama Project.

“I’m really excited for the future,” she added.

“When I think about what impact we’ve had in just three years, with no one working on it full-time, I think we could triple our impact.

"We want to eradicate period poverty and eradicate period stigma.”

Her plans include continuing to grow Pacha Clubs, which see refugees and other vulnerable groups sew pads using the charity’s designs and sell them to create an income.

Volunteers are given sewing patterns and can choose when and where to make the pads.

Ruth Smith, a volunteer, said: “I have loved learning an important life skill, knowing that the pads we make are improving the dignity and hygiene of women in many different communities.”

The project is named after the goddess of fertility Pachamama, a figure revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes.

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