Everyone has the right to feel clean. That is why we have marked National Hygiene Week 2021 by expanding our partnership with The Hygiene Bank, says Michael Snape, Chief Financial Officer at Boots

New research released this week by our partners The Hygiene Bank revealed almost one in three people in Britain have been unable to afford personal care products at least once in their lives. Imagine having to choose between feeding your family and keeping them clean. We believe that no one should have to make those decisions. 

It is an invisible issue and one that sometimes carries a stigma, so we are continuously using our platforms to shine a light on it, take away this stigma and really shout about the ways that people can get help – not just during this week but beyond.

Our partnership with The Hygiene Bank began just over one year ago. We were so impressed with the work of its founder, Lizzy Hall, who did an incredible job in raising awareness of hygiene poverty and building a grassroots, people-powered charity to tackle the issue. 

We started with the launch of donation points at a small number of select Boots stores where our team members and customers could donate unused care products to The Hygiene Bank to distribute to those who need them. We are proud to say that we have increased this number to over 400 stores this week with all the donations going straight to the communities where the bank is based.  

This week we also launched for the very first time, e-vouchers that customers can purchase from boots.com to donate products directly to The Hygiene Bank and also teamed up with our friends at Unilever to donate one Unilever product to The Hygiene Bank for every two purchased online or in store.

Lastly, thank you to all the Boots team members who have volunteered their time in our warehouse this week to support The Hygiene Bank by packing bags of hygiene essentials donated by Boots. We have all been reminded of the charity’s motto is that feeling clean is a basic right not a privilege.

In fact, we have been living this value for over 170 years. Soap was one of the first non-medicinal products that our founder Jesse Boot sold because he recognised that basic hygiene is the foundation of good health and because he believed that everyone should have access to basic hygiene products and healthcare. 

To find out more about how you can join Boots to support The Hygiene Bank and its beneficiaries, please visit boots.com/TheHygieneBank.