Days for Girls United Kingdom is a registered not for profit in the UK and is a Country Affiliate with Days for Girls International. More than 500 million people worldwide do not have what they need to manage their periods leading to serious health challenges, continued stigmatisation and many missing school and work because of their periods. Days for Girls UK's mission is to increase access to menstrual care and education by developing global partnerships, cultivating social entrepreneurs, mobilising volunteers and innovating sustainable solutions that shatter stigma and limitations for women and girls. The charity does this by shattering stigma through education, elevating menstrual health and advocating for global advocacy change.

Volunteers across the United Kingdom mobilise to increase access to menstrual products and vital health information for women and girls around the world. To date, the UK teams have distributed 23,324 menstrual product kits around the world. In 2021, Days for Girls UK partnered with organisations in six countries (UK, Romania, Pakistan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Senegal) and these organisations supplied 2,950 Days for Girls UK kits to women and girls along with providing health education to women, men, girls and boys.

Days for Girls UK is a newly-registered charity in the UK but has already made huge strides and in June 2021 it ran its first online International Conference for three days with 15 speakers from seven different time zones. It focused on the work of Days for Girls, national and international menstrual advocacy and current projects to engage with. This was a huge success, nurturing partnerships, distributions and new volunteers.

Moving forward, it plans on identifying and securing further partnerships with community organisations to increase its kit distribution and resource capacity; build its volunteer base through supporting and growing more teams in the UK; develop a Days for Girls UK curriculum to be used within schools and universities.

As part of the Days for Girls UK's exciting growth plan over the next few years, it is now looking to expand its Board of Trustees. The new Trustees will use their specific skillset and relevant experience to help the Board make strategic decisions and expand its reach to transform the lives of young girls and women by shattering stigma around menstruation through education, elevating menstrual health and advocating for global advocacy change. The Trustees will have a strong alignment with the vision and mission of the Days for Girls UK and pro-actively help to work towards its success and growth.

In addition to the formal Board meetings, Trustees will be willing to undertake informal engagement with the charity, including providing advice on an ad hoc basis to the management team. Trustees will be expected to use their specific knowledge and experience to help the Board reach sound decisions; assist the leadership team with advice as required; and keep informed about, and support as appropriate, the activities of the organisation. 

Days for Girls UK seeks up to two new Trustees who will be aligned to its mission and will be active, engaged and genuinely have an intrinsic desire to help alleviate the global problem of girls being taken out of education in several countries because of a simple biological cycle. 

In terms of specific skillsets, one of the new Trustees will bring expertise in devising and implementing comprehensive media strategy and digital marketing content. This Trustee will be able to assist in the community engagement and public relations across social media platforms to increase its reach and brand awareness. Professional experience in Media / PR is important for this role and the candidate should be able to demonstrate their knowledge of relevant media outlets that would be attractive for Days for Girls UK to expand its visibility and garner public support. 

One of the two incoming Trustees will play a central role in overseeing Days for Girls UK's fundraising and will make introductions and initiate individual relationships with philanthropic decision makers, as well as advising and guiding the executive team on fundraising activities for a newly-registered charity. They will assist with potential donors and commercial partnerships with organisations in order to help the charity's goal of continued distribution of Days for Girls Kits to women and girls in low-medium income countries and contexts.

Mariama Ifode-Blease — Chair
Linda Johnson
Nicola Bennison
Sarah Haile
Amy Barklam
Celeste Mergens

This role is unremunerated. The appointment is for a three-year term, which can be renewed at the discretion of the Board. The time commitment will include quarterly Board meetings and ad hoc regular communication when required.

This organisation will have remote Board meetings due to the international nature of the charity and therefore, Trustees can dial into virtual meetings and in-person attendance is not required for this role. The Board hopes to have one physical meeting next year as part of its annual conference and this would be held in the South-East of the UK.