Graphic design student Beth wins Creative Conscience Award
A Bolton student has won a national award for her hard-hitting advertising campaign to make sanitary products available to women living on the streets.
Beth Harrison, a final year graphic design student from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), has won a Creative Conscience Award for her ‘Bloody Hell’ campaign, which took her to the streets of Bolton, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston so she could really find out how a lack of access to sanitary products affects homeless women.
The 21-year-old Great Leaver resident spent weeks working with local women to learn and share their stories. She then created a video, packaging for potential emergency sanitary packs and a poster campaign to encourage donations. Beth now plans to take her ideas to local councils and charities.
She said: “What started off as a university project suddenly became much more and now I want to work with local communities to see if we can really make a difference. I got to know several women who put their trust in me by sharing their sometimes harrowing experiences. Simple things, like having a locker to keep sanitary items in, would make such a difference.”
"Winning a Creative Conscience Award is fantastic and will help me get my message out there. The biggest reward for me would be to see a local council or charity take some of my ideas on board."
The Creative Conscience Awards are open to all students from any creative discipline. They celebrate work promoting positive social impact and aim to give a platform to ideas that can change the lives of others.
The video shows her interviews with several women explaining the small changes that would make a big difference to their lives. Beth’s posters also share hand-written messages.
The former St Joseph’s RC High School and Pendleton College pupil added: “I knew the best way to get the message across was to let the ladies speak for themselves. The video is quite shocking and it needs to be to have an impact. I’m very grateful to the women who opened up to me and made the project possible.”
Beth is one of eight UCLan students to win a Creative Conscience Award, which she will receive at a ceremony in London on the 3 July. Her award-winning work will be on display at UCLan’s Preston campus until the 22 June as part of the Lancashire Arts Festival Degree Show.
Beth’s campaign video is available to watch on Vimeo
