Case Study

In Kind Direct: Telling the Human Story of Hygiene Poverty

By Press Association Assignments 27 October 2026

Service: Photography & Video

The Project

In Kind Direct: Telling the Human Story of Hygiene Poverty
Service

Photography

The Brief

In Kind Direct commissioned Press Association Assignments to create a video exploring the growing issue of hygiene poverty and the changing profile of people affected by it. Filming at St Vincent’s Centre in Bradford, we interviewed Centre Manager Julie-Anne Webb and Sam, a beneficiary, alongside Michael Gidney, CEO of In Kind Direct, and Ruth Brock, CEO of The Hygiene Bank. The aim was to combine first hand experiences with expert context, showing how access to everyday hygiene products can affect dignity, confidence, physical wellbeing and mental health. The finished piece needed to explain a sensitive issue clearly while keeping the people experiencing it at the centre of the story.

Challenge & Solution

The subject required a careful, people first approach, particularly when interviewing Sam, who was speaking on camera for the first time about a deeply personal experience. Our producer and camera operator created a quiet, comfortable space away from the main centre, taking time to put her at ease before filming and asking questions sensitively. We balanced her testimony with Julie-Anne Webb’s frontline perspective and interviews with Michael Gidney and Ruth Brock, who provided wider context around hygiene poverty. This combination of lived experience and expert insight allowed us to create an authentic, informative film without losing sight of the human story.

Results

The final video gave In Kind Direct a powerful, human led asset that explained the realities of hygiene poverty through both lived experience and expert insight. The story also gained media pick-up across several newspaper titles, extending the conversation beyond the original film.