PIE was successful in receiving funding from the Tampon Tax Fund last year! The purpose of the TTF is to allocate the funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to projects that improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls. So, we’ve used it to run two girl-focussed, Future Ready projects at St. Anne’s High School in Stockport and so far, we’ve worked with fifteen pupils in Year 9 and fifteen girls in Year 10. All students involved with us will go on Trips to Sharp Project and Year 10 will visit Vinci construction for a Women In STEM visit, and then attend MMU for taster sociology lectures in the summer. We are so pleased to be able to get back out there for trips and visits!
We started working with Year 10 in October 2020 when we had to pause the programme due to lockdown, but we were keen to keep up the contact so we sent tasks remotely during that time. They have been running a social action campaign promoting and celebrating equality at their school, with a focus on LGBTQ+, women’s rights and cultural diversity.
Here’s what they’ve been up to:
- The group designed posters which have been shared around school. These have also been turned into postcards to share at their school and around Stockport.
- They produced a magazine to promote positivity for teenage girls.
- The group designed awards badges for teachers to celebrate staff who promote and encourage equality. These have now been presented along with certificates.
- They hosted a henna session for girls from their year group where they could trial henna and taste Asian sweet treats.
- They have produced a power-point about gender equality myths to share with all students.
We started working with Year 9 after Easter and their programme will run until the summer. We can’t wait to see what they come up with!
At PIE we are committed to supporting Student-led learning and development, which I think you'll agree, really shows here. The girls taking part in these projects have embraced each others' interests and chosen to engage with issues that are personal and appropriate for them and their environment. Great work girls!