Image: Istock
Tackling the hygiene poverty crisis
Each year, millions of people in the UK have to choose between eating and staying clean. The Hygiene Bank aims to change this, restoring dignity and opportunity to households facing hardship
INNOVATION & IMPROVEMENT
Ruth Brock
Chief Executive, The Hygiene Bank
Ruth Brock
Chief Executive, The Hygiene Bank
Issue 82 | February 2026
The Hygiene Bank is the only UK charity dedicated to exclusively tackling hygiene poverty at a national scale. Driven by a passionate community of more than 600 volunteers, we believe everyone deserves to feel clean and we work every day to provide people with the hygiene essentials they need.
From shampoo, soap and toothpaste, to deodorant and period products, we now support more than 60,000 people every single week. Yet, in the past 12 months, 5.3 million adults in the UK have still had to choose between eating and staying clean, while 20 million people do not yet know what hygiene poverty is. We’re on a mission to change that and to end hygiene poverty in the UK.
Restoring dignity
Because of our unique infrastructure and as a trusted brand, we are often the first organisation called when councils or schools identify gaps in provision.
Our network of more than 1,600 community partners – including schools, family hubs, food banks, domestic abuse refuges and homeless shelters – is the final mile of the supply chain, transforming public and corporate donations into direct relief for households that would otherwise fall through the cracks.
Since our inception in 2018, we have distributed more than 2,000 tonnes of hygiene products to people facing hardship. But our impact is about far more than numbers. It’s about restoring confidence, dignity and opportunity – one bar of soap at a time.
“Our impact is about far more than numbers. It’s about restoring confidence, dignity and opportunity – one bar of soap at a time.”
5.3m
adults in the UK have had to choose between eating and staying clean
8.7 million
adults in the UK have missed work or a job interview because of hygiene poverty
1 in 10
children have skipped school
3 in 10
low-income households estimated to be affected by hygiene poverty
20 million
people in the UK do not yet know what hygiene poverty is
Limiting life chances
Currently, hygiene poverty affects an estimated three in 10 low-income households. But it is more than not being able to afford everyday basics or cleanliness, it’s not even mental and physical wellbeing; hygiene poverty blocks opportunities and limits life chances, leaving families to make impossible choices.
In the past 12 months, 8.7 million adults in the UK have missed work or a job interview because of hygiene poverty and one in 10 children have skipped school – often through fear of bullying.
Parents are stretching one bottle of shampoo between several children, workers turn down shifts for fear of embarrassment, retired people are not leaving the house because they are embarrassed by the way they smell. The absence of something as simple as soap or deodorant can quickly erode a person’s ability to work, study or engage socially.
Claire knows this reality too well. A single mum from Hastings, she works two jobs to afford the nursery fees for her daughter, Sarah. ‘It’s awful to have to choose between heating your home, feeding your child and keeping yourself clean and healthy. I always pay my bills, but it leaves me with nothing.’
“It’s awful to have to choose between heating your home, feeding your child and keeping yourself clean and healthy. I always pay my bills, but it leaves me with nothing.”
A tax too far
Last April, we launched a petition to remove VAT on soap; currently, soap and other essential hygiene products are subject to a 20% VAT rate. Yet, luxury items like lobsters and art are tax-free.
Taxing soap disproportionately affects low-income individuals and families, making it harder for them to maintain basic hygiene and pushing them to make difficult choices between putting food on the table or staying clean.
How to help
Hygiene poverty is solvable. But we cannot do it alone. There are many ways people can play a part in our vital mission, from signing the petition to help us remove VAT on soap to donating their unused toiletries.
People can visit our website, enter their postcode, and find their nearest drop-off point – we have more than 1,200 drop-off points, including more than 500 in Boots stores across the country.
We also need volunteers to help us sort, pack and distribute hygiene essentials to those in need – or even start a new local hygiene bank to support your local community. People can also make financial donations to help us support our mission and end hygiene poverty, once and for all.
