Lilypads

Lilypads has two aims: first to ensure no woman is disadvantaged by her period and the second to eliminate environmental waste from periods.

Our UK commercial company designs and sells reusable period pads in the UK. They're more comfortable and affordable than alternatives and support our charitable arm which aims to reduce gender inequality and period exploitation.

Lilypads started in Kenya three years ago, where I found girls were exchanging sex for sanitary products, just remain in education. We knew we had to try and stop this, and began making our own reusable pads for them.

While testing the pad on a UK audience, we began to learn about issues here: environmental impact, comfort and cost of products. Each year Scotland sends 1.6bn sanitary pads to landfill. Lilypads are 100% reusable, reducing the carbon footprint of sanitary pads by 90%.

We redeveloped the pad using innovative British materials to reduce the thickness and improve the design and comfort. Through lean manufacturing, we were able to reduce the cost to become one of the cheapest reusable pads on the market without compromising on quality or comfort.

We launched our product in July 2020 by Crowdfunder and successfully funded in just 1 week. We quickly learnt there are other problems on the market - especially surrounding incontinence products and in the different ways people experience periods. We are now looking to create an innovative reusable incontinence pad which works and empowers women.

Furthermore, we hope to improve our reusable pad range by making them more inclusive to different genders and body types. Lilypads are currently focused on the UK market, however, we are aware there is demand in different global markets. At the end of 2021, we will look to expanding into these new markets, increasing our growth.

Sales from our UK product support our work internationally. The larger we grow our UK company, the bigger impact we can have globally. We have recently formed partnerships with organisations in Cambodia and Malaysia providing access to reusable period products. In early 2021 we will begin training women in the community to sell these products at an affordable cost ensuring sustainability and a greater impact. We are currently in discussion with 7 organisations from countries around the world.

Lilypads believes no one should be limited by their bodies. Help us achieve that.