Today, we have launched a crowdfund as part of our campaign to reclaim £500 million of the estimated £700 million raised by VAT on period products - commonly known as the Tampon Tax - for dedicated, specialist women’s charities. This money should have been reinvested into saving the lives of women and children, as promised by George Osborn in 2015, but it wasn’t, and is instead going to other charities and projects. 

Our crowdfund campaign aims to raise £9,000 that will ensure the government is held accountable for dishonouring its promise, and will allow us to work with other charities and organisations across the UK to demand that the money is paid back into the women’s sector. 

Domestic violence killings are at a 5 year high, with the vast majority of victims being women.  As government funding is decreasing, domestic violence killings are increasing, and there is a crisis in women's refuges where there is currently not enough room for all the women seeking to escape abusive relationships. 

There are women’s charities and organisations across the country working on other issues such as mental health and housing, providing vital support, who don’t have money to keep their doors open. Many are already closing. 

WRC CEO, Vivienne Hayes MBE, said: 

“Reports show that women’s health services save the NHS half a billion pounds per year. Women and girls are charged a 20% tax for period products. We estimate that over £700 million has been collected in VAT today. The least the government could do is pay the money back into the women's sector as promised in 2015.”

The Tampon Tax campaign has already received backing from Rosa, the UK fund for women and girls, and author Ranjit Kaur, who has donated a portion of the profits from her book of short stories, The Dancing Maharani, to support the cause. We also have 1,793 signatures on our change.org petition supporting the campaign. Please show your support by signing and sharing here. 

The funds raised by our crowdfund campaign will enable us to create a campaign toolkit including template letters for contacting local media and MPs about the Tampon Tax Fund, creating a campaign strategy with policy support, providing a single point of contact for women’s organisations who want to get involved, and seeking expert legal advice on developing and progressing the campaign.

Any excess funds will go towards a roadshow of events to support women’s organisations, and enable us to work with organisations in different UK cities who will promote the campaign in their areas. 

You can donate to the Tampon Tax crowdfund via the button below.

Full details of the campaign can be found here.

See the campaign's release in The Independent.

If you have any more questions about the campaign please see our FAQ.

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Read about Why We Launched the Tampon Tax Campaign