C-Card
Condoms & where to get them
You might already know this logo, but if you don’t it’s the C-Card scheme. Wherever you see this logo it’s a place where you can get FREE CONDOMS and sexual health advice, and it’s totally confidential: if you live in Plymouth or Gloucestershire you need to be under 25, for Somerset it's under 19 and in some cases under 25.
How do I get one?
1. Registration – a young person will have a 1-2-1 intervention with a trained worker and be assessed for what is known as Fraser or Gillick competency. This means that if you are under 16, you are mature enough to understand what sex is and that you are assessed as needing information and guidance as well as condoms. Don’t forget, the age of consent for all young people (straight or gay) is 16. We take consent really seriously.
If you are really ready for sex, then you’ll probably need to:
- Be able to talk about how to manage pressure to have sex and receive other delay messages
- Demonstrate how to use a condom effectively and correctly
- Understand the ways in which a condom can prevent STIs and pregnancy
- Know what action to take if something goes wrong when using a condom
- Understand how condoms can be damaged
- Know how to dispose of condoms correctly
- You will be given information about other sexual health services and other distribution C-Card sites
2. Distribution – Young people, if already registered, can pick up condoms when they show their C-Card. You need to get registered first though….
Click below for a list of C-Card sites in the South West. If you can’t find what you’re looking for then please email info@eddystone.org.uk or call us on 01752 254 406 or 0800 328 3508
Plymouth C-Card and Chlamydia testing sites
Click this link for a list of C-Card registration sites in Gloucestershire, the majority of schools, colleges, universities and GP surgeries across Gloucestershire all take part in the scheme. There are a number of other active sites that register only their own service users. For more information on these please contact glosccard@eddystone.org.uk. Once you have your C-Card you can access free condoms anywhere you see a C sticker. These sites include the majority of pharmacies in Gloucestershire
