On The Baw...

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MCB
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Joined: 11 May 2016, 17:41

On The Baw...

Post: # 281633Post MCB »

OK, this will potentially cause controversy, or be ignored (as it was by the club) but here we go...

On The Baw (@OnTheBaw on twitter) are three Celtic fans behind the 'On The Ball' campaign to get free sanitary products in football grounds around the UK.

You can read more about what they are doing in this BBC article - it will answer your questions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45262541

There is of course a separate campaign to end 'period poverty' but this is focussed on making football grounds more female friendly environment. Of course this is important at The Hive as it covers a supposedly family friendly club (Barnet FC) and 2 professional ladies football clubs - London Bees and Tottenham Hotspur Ladies. We have a disproportionate amount of female fans watching football at The Hive, and it is of course in our interest for this to grow.

The common question asked is "why should the club pay for tampons / sanitary towels" - well, you expect the club to provide essential products like toilet paper and soap. You don't bring your own toilet paper in case you suddenly need a dump at half time do you? It's provided in the ticket price.

As for the argument that "if people can afford a match ticket, they can afford a tampon" - well a lot of people that need them might be with school groups, or free tickets and one in ten 14-21 year olds have been in the situation of not being able to afford sanitary products. Or it could be embarrassing to ask your dad for £2 for the sanitary machine.

And also, no, you can't always be prepared, or know when your period is expected, to the minute / hour / day / week.

Finally it's important to know that the club / stadium holds female fans with the same importance as male fans. We want to be known as a female friendly club, grow our supporter base.

It's also not an expensive option. This is what Leyton Orient do:
It's minimal cost as people are only taking what they need. There are nicer options as well that other clubs have adopted. Many supporters clubs are covering the cost, but this is not an option.

And to be clear - this is now wide scale and common - it started at Celtic and now 100 professional sports clubs have signed up.

I asked Barnet to be the 100th club to sign up (with London Bees & Tottenham Hotspur Ladies being the 101st and 102nd) - but it's too late. But - it's not too late to sign up of course. I'm only talking about having this within the toilets within the ground itself, not for public toilets used by the gym or weddings etc (they can of course be added).

I had approached the club about this, and sadly the response I have received was
We will pass this to the relevant department for their consideration who will make contact should they wish to take this further.
And of course nothing more. So perhaps it's simply a case of the club thinking there is not the interest there?

Maybe there isn't. But, if you'd like to show your support, can I suggest you email tellus@thehivelondon.com & justtellus@thehivelondon.com saying that you'd like to see this introduced at The Hive.

Or, tweet the club, perhaps including @OnTheBaw in any correspondence.

I've got 2 young daughters I regularly bring to The Hive. So of course i'm always looking to see The Hive be a more family friendly & female environment. But you don't need to be a women (or even know one...) to want to see the club take this forward.
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