'A small amount of material can change lives'

"You wouldn't believe a small amount of material can change lives," muses Pat Kellett.

She has spent years as a volunteer creating sanitary kits for women and girls in developing countries.

Pat's work has been used across the world - latterly as part of the Yorkits project. The scheme has been producing washable feminine hygiene kits for the past 13 years.

The 69-year-old, who believes she had delivered more than 1,000 items over 20 years, says she was inspired to get involved when she was volunteering with a street children's charity in Goa, India.

"I found out that the girls when they have a period they had to leave the family and go to a menstruation area in the slums where they stayed for the duration of their period," she recalled.

Pat, from Hampsthwaite in North Yorkshire, initially began taking kits produced by charity Days for Girls to help those in poverty.

"The fathers earn a few pounds a day, so girls' sanitary products are not on the agenda, it's food and rent," she explains.

Pat, who has a background in midwifery, says she discovered that as well as a lack of products, a lack of education was also evident.

"They were using anything to stop the menstrual flow and were getting infections."

Pat, who has run educational projects on feminine hygiene to help improve girls' knowledge about their bodies, says she finds the reactions of those who receive the kits rewarding.

"The girls are emotional, they can't believe how pretty they are," she smiles.

Each kit includes pads, pad pockets, a waterproof bag for carrying soiled items, two pairs of knickers, a flannel, and a resealable polythene bag to use as a makeshift washing machine.

They also include instructions with diagrams and messages from Yorkits and all come in a fabric bag.

Yorkits co-ordinator Janice Lawson said: "Each kit allows a girl to go to school when she is having her period, rather than be isolated at home, missing education and being vulnerable to abuse.

"A kit should last a girl for three years – equal to 200 days of schooling not missed."

Run by the York Ainsty Rotary Club, the group are holding their annual workshop event in York Minster on 5 March as part of International Women's Week.

Janice says volunteers completed 128 kits at the event in 2025.

"That's more than 25,000 days of schooling.

"It's a busy cheerful event and gives us a big boost to our kit making."

People wanting to volunteer at the event can secure a place through the Minster's events page.

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