Why should you pay for periods? Meet the founder making organic tampons free

Period products are not an optional purchase; they are a biological necessity. However period poverty is a growing UK issue, with a new poll from Irise’s Red Report revealing that one in five Brits (21%) sometimes struggle to afford period products.

Growth marketing veteran and mother of two Jenna Holmes has decided to address this societal issue by launching Free. Period., the UK’s first free organic tampon brand.

“The more I learned about period poverty in the UK, the more it touched a nerve. It felt like an obvious issue I couldn’t unsee, so I decided to build something that actually fixes it.”

Free Organic Tampons Funded by Brand Advertising

Leaving her role as a marketing director in the male-dominated crypto industry, Jenna’s idea is an industry first: free organic tampons, funded by brand advertising on the boxes.

Jenna has over twenty years of marketing experience building and scaling consumer brands. Previously at Google, and founder of Korean skincare Buttermilk Skincare Ltd - which she grew to over 250 Boots stores, before a successful exit - Jenna has spent her career at the intersection of brand building, paid media, and direct-to-consumer growth.

“I’ve spent over twenty years building growth marketing for brands including Google and British Airways, and I built and sold a skincare line before this. Free. Period. isn’t following that same playbook; this is the one I’m building to keep. I’ll never stop advocating for women.”

The proposition behind Free. Period is simple: 100% organic tampons, completely free to menstruators, funded by the brands already spending millions to reach them. Free. Period.’s model flips the economics of advertising on its head: instead of brands paying to reach women through media, they fund something women actually need.

"I’ve spent my career watching brands spend millions trying to reach women. Free. Period. offers them the chance to use that spend to give something back. The model is simple: brands pay to advertise on the packaging, so the product itself is free to the person picking it up. It means nobody has to choose between a period product and something else they need that week."

The Stigma

There is still a huge amount of stigma and embarrassment around periods in the UK. Irise’s Red Report reveals that of people who have struggled to afford period products, 1 in 2 (49%) have felt embarrassed in the last 12 months. As a mother of two daughters this is something Jenna is keen to change:

“Periods are still treated like something to whisper about, and that silence is a big part of why so many people don’t know free products exist near them. We wanted getting a tampon to be as normal and easy as picking up a coffee.”

Free. Period.’s organic tampons are available nationwide through their website (freeperiod.uk) and consumers can order a box of 35 once a month, paying only for postage and packaging. Smaller packs of 8 are being rolled out through gyms, cafes, restaurants, pubs and workplaces, helping make tampons more accessible when they’re most needed.

Tackling Ingredient Safety and Accessibility

In the UK, tampon manufacturers are not legally obligated to disclose or label ingredients in their products. One 2025 study by researchers at UC Berkeley in the US found measurable traces of 16 different metals, including lead and arsenic, in tampons from 14 different brands sold across the UK, US and EU.

The barrier to buying organic tampons is often driven by cost and was something Jenna was determined to address with the launch of Free. Period.

Free. Period.’s organic tampons are 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton and free from fragrance, bleach and pesticides. The comfortable and easy-to-use non-applicator tampons are suitable for those with a regular flow.

“Choosing what’s in your tampon shouldn’t depend on what you can afford. Organic was never the premium version for us, it was the baseline. Organic isn’t a nice-to-have. If someone’s getting their tampons for free, they should still be getting the ones I’d choose for myself.”

"I'm building this with my partner; we're both feminists, and for us Free Period UK isn't a campaign or a side project, it's a long game we're building together. We want it to be the thing we're still doing in ten years, not something that fades once the novelty wears off."

For more information and access to Free. Period.’s organic tampons, please visit freeperiod.uk.