Oban Times Letters to the Editor - 18.7.24

Open Letter

 
The chair of the Covid 19 Inquiry has indicated that she intends to refuse the application of  Long Covid Kids (‘LCK’) and Long Covid Kids Scotland1 (‘LCKS’) to be core participants in  Module 8 of the Covid 19 Inquiry investigating the impact of the pandemic on children and  young people.

 
The charities directly represent approximately 11,000 children and families suffering from  Long Covid. The decision means that they are closed out of the Inquiry process: they will not  have the right to review relevant documents, ask questions of witnesses or make submissions  in an opening and closing statement to the Inquiry. This is the only module dedicated to investigating the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, and yet children and young people with Long Covid will not be represented.

 
Children and young people with Long Covid suffered the dual burden of the social, education  disruptions and loss of learning that all children suffered, as well as long-term injury to their  health. For many children and young people with Long Covid those impacts persist to date,  resulting in chronic illness, substantial and long-term impairment. 

It is essential their voices and experiences are represented at the Inquiry. Their status as  core participants will ensure that the Inquiry fully understands the perspective of children and  young people with Long Covid in the course of the investigations in Module 8. If the Inquiry  proceeds without LCK and LCKS present, there is a clear risk that the impact of Long Covid  on children and young people will not be properly and fully explored.  
Their members are now calling for the Inquiry to review this decision.  

For more, visit bhattmurphy.co.uk/newsroom
Long Covid Kids.

Help give young girls the chance to be educated 

It is a shocking thing that around the world, so many girls are missing out on an education that could be their ladder out of poverty. 

Only 49 per cent of countries have gender parity in terms of primary school attendance and this has wider consequences – for the girls themselves, their families and their communities. An educated girl has far better outcomes in terms of health and her ability to earn a living.

There are many barriers which prevent girls from attending school, but often they come down to poverty. When families cannot afford to send all their children to school, they often choose the boys and the girls remain at home.

I recently met two young women in India who had grown up in a very poor community. Their parents told me that it is unusual to send girls to school and most are married off young to save money for the family.

For Fatima and Soni however, things were different because of the provision of Mary’s Meals. A nutritious daily meal in school was a huge incentive for the girls’ parents, who were struggling to feed their family, to send the girls to school. Over time, both the girls and their parents saw the value of education.

Fatima is the first girl in her community to gain a university degree and is set to become a teacher. Her sister is entering the police force. Mary’s Meals fuelled the future for these young women and with your help, we can change the story for millions more girls around the world.

Just £19.15 can provide a daily school meal for a girl for a whole year. Please visit marysmeals.org.uk/her-education and make a donation which can change a girl’s life.
Jessica Faulkner, Mary’s Meals.