Year 4 Joint Third Prize
Matchgirls by Sabiha
If I talk I get punished.
If I be late I have to pay them.
If I’m bored or tired I have to work more.
If I do anything wrong I get abuse.
After a while I quit.
I’m still poor.
I decided my condition was bad, so I would fix it.
I decided I would focus on my own Life.
I decided I would get treatment.
I thought how to get money but I had no ideas.
I got better and better every day.
I told the other girls in the factory to quit.
The boss was angry, but it was
The right choice.
I could have done this before.
My skin got better,
My health got better,
My inside body got better.
I was so happy that I quit.
I hope mean boss doesn’t find us, or he’ll punish us.
On 5th July 2022, a new English Heritage Blue Plaque was unveiled at Bow Quarter (the old Bryant and May Factory) to commemorate the Matchgirls Strike of 1888.
The Matchgirls Memorial ran a schools poetry competition to celebrate the unveiling.
Sabiha from Blue Gate Fields Primary School won joint Third prize in the Year 4 category with the poem, 'Matchgirls'.