Urban Student Teams Up with Pleasantri to Tackle Period Poverty

We’re super excited to announce that Urban Student has teamed up with Pleasantri, a student-run initiative from the University of Bristol, to help tackle period poverty both locally and globally.

The project was introduced to us by Adishree Bansal, a University of Bristol student, who reached out to share her passion for this important cause. We’re proud to be the first company backing her, and we’ve committed to funding  3000 Urban Student-branded sanitary towels that will be distributed across Bristol’s university campuses.

When we first heard about period poverty, we knew it was a real issue, but we were shocked to learn that 1 in 5 people in the UK struggle to afford sanitary products every month. It really opened our eyes to how many people are affected by this on a daily basis.

As a business that’s all about supporting the Bristol community, especially students, we knew this was something we had to get behind. At Urban Student, it’s not just about providing great accommodation—it’s about giving back to the community that means so much to us.

We know we’re often seen as a business focused on profit, but we hope this partnership shows that we genuinely care about more than just housing. We’ve been part of the Bristol community for over 20 years, and it’s important to us to show that we listen, support, and care about the issues that matter to students.

We believe that access to sanitary products should be a basic right, not a luxury. By supporting this initiative, we hope to do more than just provide free sanitary products; we want to spark a conversation. Menstruation is something that affects half the population, yet it’s still a taboo subject. Our goal is to get people talking—whether that’s on campus, in the workplace, or in everyday life.

Just like the growing conversations around mental health, we want to see more open dialogue about menstrual health. It’s time to break the silence and normalise the conversation, because everyone deserves access to basic hygiene products.

Stay tuned for more updates as we roll out this collaboration. We’ve got some exciting content coming your way, so make sure to follow @pleasantri.initiative and @_urbanstudent on Instagram to stay in the loop!

Let’s keep the conversation going and make a real difference together!

Published: 17.03.25 by Phoebe Clutton