WOMEN living on the streets are to be given vital sanitary products thanks to a new initiative from three students at Oxford Brookes.

The Cowley-based students are holding a 'Tampon Drive' asking people to donate sanitary products and then taking them to the charity Homeless Oxfordshire, which will distribute them.

Alice Pickthorn, 21, started pop culture magazine the Fanny Pack with her friends, 20-year-olds Issy Neilson-Clark, and Fran Glover to discuss their mutual interests when they got involved in activism.

The third-year history of art student said: "We wanted to show that an interest in fashion doesn't negate interest in politics and social issues.

"The magazined expressed our personality.

"We have an Instagram account where we started talking to other people about issues, and got interested in period poverty, it became something we started talking about together, we discussed how it wasn't addressed in Phillip Hammond's Budget.

"Very early on we knew we wanted to do something, especially in Oxfordshire where there is a one of the highest number of homeless people.

"Period poverty is something that should shock and outrage everyone.

"Homeless women are forced to use socks or even plastic bags as make shift pads when they are menstruating.

"It’s undignified, unsanitary and unnecessary."

The three women have urged Oxfordshire residents to be generous and purchase an extra packet of tampons and pads to donate, and are willing to travel around the country to pick them up.

She added: "If we are to end rough sleeping by 2027 – like the Chancellor put forward in his Budget – we need to get homeless women into interviews for jobs.

"But if a woman does not have access to sanitary products, she is not going to be able to go to her interview and therefore will miss out on a job.

"So to tackle rough sleeping by 2027 the government needs to tackle period poverty among homeless people.

"This is particularly relevant to Oxford".

Alice is also involved in other activism such as a planned protest in Parliament Square next month where she will campaign for all girls on free school meals to be given free sanitary products.

To see their magazine, go to thefannypackuk.com/activism/.

To contact them for donations, email thefannypackgalz@gmail.com.