Tag: The Hygiene Bank

UK teachers tell of significant absenteeism due to poverty-related hygiene issues

Stuart Mitchell

Stark new research has laid bare how a lack of access to hygiene products due to poverty is forcing children out of the classroom, with UK teachers reporting that it’s causing pupils to miss an average of 6.5 school days per year. The result? Children missing out on vital learning, and struggling with mental health and socialising As the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce prepares to publish its strategy, new research from laundry brand smol, with support from national charity, The Hygiene Bank, reveals a 68% year-on-year surge in state school…

Read More

New Research Uncovers the Shocking Reality of Hygiene Poverty Impacting Families Across the UK

Stuart Mitchell

In an era where self-care and well-being dominate headlines, families across the UK are facing a stark truth: over a third (38%) of Brits have experienced hygiene poverty.  Brits are having to make tough decisions, with almost half (49%) admitting they have had to sacrifice buying hygiene products in order to afford food, rent, or healthcare. For 15%, this is a choice they have to make often. New research unveils the hygiene crisis many Brits are experiencing in 2025, that extends far beyond financial hardship. The research reveals the common, yet often unspoken,…

Read More

Research finds UK’s school staff spent £40m of their own money supporting pupils in hygiene poverty in past year, as campaign calls on new government taskforce to help

Stuart Mitchell

Teachers are calling for urgent action from the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce as new research reveals the UK’s school staff have spent £40M over the past year supporting pupils with hygiene issues. This comes as growing levels of hygiene poverty impact children’s wellbeing and ability to learn.  Research from smol, in collaboration with charity, The Hygiene Bank, has found that the UK’s state school staff believe that, on average, over a third (37%) of pupils in their school are experiencing, or have experienced, hygiene poverty; not being able to afford…

Read More

Boots and The Hygiene Bank launch appeal to donate toothbrushes and toothpaste to support children back to school

Stuart Mitchell

Boots and The Hygiene Bank have launched an urgent appeal for donations of toothbrushes and toothpaste to support children as they head back to school. Boots is donating 175,000 toothbrushes and toothpastes to The Hygiene Bank and has teamed up with TV personality Josie Gibson to encourage the public to donate too via donation points in its stores. For every kilogram donated, Boots will donate an additional full-sized product to The Hygiene Bank. The Hygiene Bank will distribute all the donations to schools and projects that support young people in…

Read More

smol launches Clean Clothes Can campaign for fifth year of partnership with The Hygiene Bank

Stuart Mitchell

smol has recently launched a new campaign in partnership with The Hygiene Bank to highlight the significant lack of access to clean clothes for those experiencing poverty in the UK, with people having to regularly re-wear dirty clothes and underwear due to not being able to afford to wash them- impacting mental wellbeing, physical health and ability to work.   smol’s research has found that a quarter (24%) of adults experiencing hygiene poverty (the inability to afford hygiene products that many of us take for granted) frequently struggle to afford to…

Read More