The students creating toiletry kits to address hygiene poverty in Norwich
By: Communications
A student-led initiative at the University of East Anglia (UEA) is helping to address hygiene poverty in Norwich, by creating and distributing hygiene kits to local homeless charities.
Soapful Hands is a Norwich-based project, conceived and run entirely by UEA students, that aims to help local disadvantaged people in the area by combatting hygiene poverty – the lack of access to basic hygiene products and facilities.
Created as part of the Enactus UEA society, which empowers student teams to start social enterprise projects for the benefit of the local community, Soapful Hands focuses on creating hygiene kits with a variation of items: shower gel, foaming cleaner, body scrub, body spray, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a comb, a brush, and handmade soaps. The kits have two variations that are tailored for male and female recipients.
As part of this process, students create their own soaps through dedicated workshops hosted on Fridays on the UEA campus. A portion of these soaps are used in the hygiene kits that are donated to homeless housing trusts in Norwich, including YMCA Norfolk, St Martins and other safe spaces like the Mitre Café on Earlham Road. 17 kits have been distributed by the project so far, with more than 30 additional kits packed and ready for distribution.
Image: Students making soap at the Soapful Hands workshops on campus
Katherine O'Connor, third-year Psychology student and President of Enactus UEA, said: “Our team has worked incredibly hard this year to provide support for the residents of our partner charities. We want to improve the accessibility of hygiene products in a way that can be fun and enjoyable for those who give up their time and money to support others in need.”
Jan Sheldon, Chief Executive of St Martins, said: “The high-quality hygiene kits we received from Soapful Hands and distributed to people living in our hostels were very well received, which is important to us when we distribute donations as it shows the people we support that they are valued. So many people are feeling the pinch in the current economic climate, so donations of hygiene supplies make a huge difference to the people we support.
“Working with Soapful Hands has been fantastic because they have engaged with us so well to find out what is useful to us. They have visited our services and have plans to run a soap-making workshop with us, so the people we support can get involved.”
Katherine, Natalie Chabot and Conrad Yip are all leaders of Soapful Hands, which they currently oversee while studying at UEA. The overall aim of the project is to host as many workshops as is feasible, to instil community action and ensure hygiene products are accessible for as many people as possible.
Image L-R: Natalie Chabot, Katherine O'Connor and Conrad Yip
Natalie, third-year Natural Sciences student and Project Leader for Enactus UEA, said: “We have been able to tackle this local issue using fun, engaging workshops that bring together the local community in making truly beautiful soaps, to help keep Norwich sqUEAky clean. Our plans for the future are to continue this important work in the East Anglia region and reach out to more charities in the area, to widen our impact and help even more people facing hygiene poverty.”
The final soap making workshop of the academic year is being held on Friday 24 May. If you are interested in coming along, please contact soapfulhands@gmail.com for more information, or visit the Instagram page @soapful_hands.
Enactus UEA
Enactus UEA is part of the global Enactus initiative, which sees student teams start social enterprise projects for identifiable community benefits. The UEA branch has been running successful social enterprise projects in and around Norwich since 2014, with 17 active student members across ten Schools at the University.
This April, for the first time ever, the Enactus UEA team reached the top five finals of the Enactus UK & Ireland National Expo 2024: a competition which aims to showcase the impactful work of the next generation in social innovation. The team’s achievement rewarded them with additional funding for their projects in 2024-25, which will go towards wider community engagement with the soap making workshops.
Conrad, second-year Business Management student and Vice President of Enactus UEA, said: “Six months ago, our team launched Soapful Hands. What began as a humble idea has blossomed into a remarkable innovation, garnering substantial attention and earning the recognition it rightfully deserves – in addition to propelling us into the top five national finals for the first time in UEA's history!
“I am incredibly proud of our achievements this year and I can't wait to see the long-lasting impact this project will have. This starts with the projection to provide our beneficiaries with an estimated 500 hygiene kits by 2025.”
Finbarr Carter, Student Enterprise Officer and University Adviser for Enactus, said: “Not only did they get UEA into the Enactus National Finals for the first time in 22 years, but they have managed to rebuild the society from low numbers and engagement to a thriving and active community... a phoenix from the ashes.”
Image: Enactus UEA team at the Enactus National Finals (credit: Alex Wilkinson)
Top row L-R: Tsukine Teranishi, Sam Newman, Ben Bishop, Lily Asenso, Zac Steventon-Barnes, Hongli Nian, Sabreena Khan, Ruvimbo Mazarura, Abioseh Kamara, An Ha.
Bottom row L-R holding the flag: Katherine O’Connor; Natalie Chabot; Conrad Yip.
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