Seventeen years after losing her council job due to needing endometriosis surgery, Michelle Dewar’s campaign for paid menstrual leave gained 50,000 signatures in a week, reports ELIZABETH SHORT

THE situation for the arts continues to get bleaker as Scotland and Wales have added another nail to their own proverbial coffins.
Last week the Arts Council of Wales (ACW) announced its list of organisations that would receive conditional grants, allocating a total of almost £30 million funding from Welsh government and the National Lottery.
The dropping of Mid-Wales Opera and National Theatre of Wales from its list was alarming as they have been vital stepping stones for Welsh artists to get their work tried and tested.

BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore


