Strategy 2030
As a University, our role in transforming individual lives and positively impacting society is unquestioned, and this is something that we will continue to do through Strategy 2030
​
At the event launch on 16th February 2022, students submitted their creative writing pieces on Sustainability and Social Injustice, which you can read below!
Poetry
by Elizabeth Wright
It’s more than PMS,
The monthly stress.
Desperate to find any way that you could
to stem the oncoming flow of blood
and, when faced with an empty tampon box,
resorting to an old pair of socks.
Or, with nothing on hand to ‘plug the hole’
wrapping your knickers in toilet roll.
Sometimes there’s nothing else to do
but risk the shame of bleeding through.
And to add to the rising costs that you face
that’s another pair of trousers you need to replace.
Because ‘menstruation’ is a scary word
that those with the power pretend not to have heard.
And countries and corporations are hell-bent
on making us choose between tampons and rent.
And even if pads are on some kind of deal,
it's still a choice between them or a meal.
It's a peculiar kind of rage
knowing these essentials cost more than spare change,
and because of this, across the nation,
young girls are missing out on their education.
A mother is struggling to keep her head above water
to provide menstrual necessities for her and her daughter.
And let us acknowledge, before it’s too late
that transgender people also menstruate.
This is the reality and the indignity
in the ongoing fight for equality
don't get me started on sustainability
A lifetime’s worth of pads lined up end to end
is more than the length of 26 Big Bens.
(and before all the pedants start to glower,
yes, I know it’s actually Elizabeth Tower).
And something else to make you frown,
one pad takes 500 years to break down.
Pads and their packaging are 90% plastic!
Can they be recycled? Of course not. Fantastic.
Though there are more sustainable solutions
they require considerable financial contributions.
Reusable pads have years’ worth of wear
but the upfront cost is too much to bear.
And of course some people aren’t trusting
and think reusable pads are disgusting.
(which, in my opinion, just isn’t true
and a result of the ridiculous period taboo).
So the cycle of poverty cannot be stopped
until the ridiculous prices are dropped.
And the government think that they can relax
because they got rid of the tampon tax.
but in foodbanks across the country
Food and pads are given to the hungry.
Those facing period poverty was 1 in 10,
but during covid this rose again,
instead of 1 in 10 it went up to 3.
More than enough to make it a priority.
If, like me, you think this is a sensible suggestion
ask yourself the following question:
What can I do to help pass legislation
in a world run by ‘men’ without the ‘struation’