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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.

Blue Gate.png

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'.

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