She founded Freedom4Girls after spending time in Kenya, volunteering for other charities and working on a mother & baby project; this work inspired her to start a project of her own. After supporting a local Kenyan Gym and raising money to renovate a football field and supply football kits to local children, Tina was horrified to discover that 60% of girls and women in Kenya had no access to safe menstrual protection. It took her back to her experience of starting her period when she was 11 years old, almost 40 years previously. She was on a French exchange trip and couldn’t access any menstrual products, so had to manage with toilet paper and sleeping on the floor for a week, worried that she would soil the sheets. We all have stories to tell about how we have had accidents when we have been caught short on our periods. That is why Tina is so passionate about helping to create a world in which everyone is educated about their bodies and has safe, hygienic access to menstrual products. No one who menstruates should have to suffer!

She does this alongside her work as a Prison law consultant and running the organisation’s Uganda based projects. Tora’s awareness of the issue of period poverty originated during one of her first female human rights law clients; a woman with severe learning difficulties who was disciplined following her refusal of a strip search because she was menstruating. The differences between how men and women are treated across socio-economic and criminal justice systems led then led Tora to turn her career focus onto gender-specific work for women and girl’s voluntary organisations. As someone with endometriosis and M.E. Tora is passionate about supporting young people and women with multiple complex needs and disabilities.

Sheona first met Tina Leslie when she was leading a team of sewing volunteers in Leeds, making re-usable cloth pads to distribute to girls and women in developing countries. They began to collaborate, and Sheona's involvement with Freedom4Girls gradually increased until she officially joined as a trustee in July 2018. Her inspiration to become involved in the fight against period poverty stems from her feelings about the importance of educational opportunities for all, regardless of their social, economic or religious background. Something as simple as access to safe and hygienic menstrual products really is life-changing, and Freedom4Girls provides a unique opportunity to make a tangible difference to the lives of those who menstruate and to interact directly with people who benefit from the charity's work.

Megan is passionate about the work Freedom4Girls is doing because as an organisation, we place a high value and focus on education and not just provision. Despite the fact that provision is important, Megan states that only through education can awareness and change be brought. “If no one knows there’s a problem it can’t be fixed.” Megan is a trained actor and in her spare time she like to read. 

Mum of 3 and passionate business woman, Lesley part time studies and works part time for Freedom4Girls. Lesley enjoys working at Freedom4Girls as she is a women’s and girl’s rights enthusiast and support of gender specific support within the women’s sector.