Hygiene Hub

We are pleased to announce the opening of the first Hygiene Hub in the city, if not in the country!

Over recent months we have been considering and discussing how best we can tackle the issues around hygiene poverty being experienced by many Plymouth households. There are creditable initiatives tackling food insecurity across the city, but hygiene products often take a back seat.

The eventual vision is to offer a range of hygiene products in return for a small membership contribution. Initially, the Hygiene Hub will prioritise oral hygiene advice and products. This is urgently needed because the ‘Plymouth Report 2023’ confirms that there is a worrying trend of poor dental health amongst children. It confirms that in 2022, 350 children were admitted to hospital for tooth extractions under general anaesthetic due to severe tooth decay!

We are grateful to Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise for their support and partnership in this project. They acknowledge that an essential part of the model is to share key information and advice to build resilience, increase skills and raise awareness for those accessing the service. To that end, their Dental Outreach Team will train our volunteers to give the right advice to the Hub’s service users.

Collaboration has been at the heart of this new initiative and has only come about because of four city centre churches working together. They are All Nations, St Andrews, St Peter’s and Vineyard. We would especially like to thank Vineyard Church and their Uniform Store team for making space available for the Hub at their premises in 93 New George Street.

The Hub will open its doors for the first time from 10 am to 1pm on the 18th of October 2024.