Gabby Edlin: ‘We’ve had five bloody good years – but we don’t want to make it to ten’

Five years ago, in the wake of the Brexit referendum and Trump’s election in the US, I set out to make some change in the world.

Growing up in a liberal Jewish family where social justice was really important, and as an active member of a socialist left-wing youth movement, I was determined to bring about change that was driven by togetherness, inclusivity and positivity – the very opposites of what seemed to be the driving forces in the world at that time.

Back then, I was volunteering at a local synagogue’s drop-in centre for refugees and asylum seekers, where I realised period products weren’t being given out. When I asked where they were, I was (kindly) told that ‘those things’ were distributed only in emergencies. I thought, that’s not how periods work. They happen every month – and if you don’t have the products you need, every single one is an emergency.