I was saddened to read your report (Girls from poorer families ‘struggling to buy tampons’, 18 March). This is alarming and consistent with the rising levels of child poverty in this still wealthy country. But with our current divisive Brexit fixation, this situation will only deteriorate. It is no wonder that mental health problems are affecting more and more young people. To add this extra burden on young girls at a sensitive time of the month is iniquitous, leaving them languishing at home negating their education at a very important stage.
It is to be hoped that the government thinks again about the funding for schools, as this will undoubtedly lead to more teachers being made redundant and their altruism to these girls will be placed further in jeopardy. Please, Mrs May, forget your vainglorious grammar schools and bring our girls back from the brink where even the basics are unaffordable.
Judith Daniels
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
• On the day that we read that Freedom4Girls, a Leeds-based charity that provides sanitary products for women in Kenya, is now being asked for support from British teachers, following concerns that some girls are having to miss school because they are unable to afford pads or tampons, we also learn that our ex-austerity chancellor, George Osborne, has landed himself a new job (Report, 18 March). George will become editor of the London Evening Standard, continue to work one day a week for BlackRock, earning £650 000, receives a £120,000 stipend from a US thinktank, and last year earned £800,000 from15 speaking engagements. Despite his limited availability for parliament and his constituency, he clearly believes he is still worth every penny of his £75,000 MP’s salary.
Just in case you have a problem spending all that cash George, Tina Leslie of Freedom4Girls has launched a crowdfunding campaign to research the extent that girls are missing school due to the lack of affordability of sanitary products. Perhaps you might like to help out?
Kate Simblet
Brighton
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