Clara Meadmore, having remained a virgin all her life, recently celebrated her 105th birthday. Celibacy, she said, was one of the keys to leading a long and happy life.

Here, Sonia Poulton explains why sexual abstinence has numerous benefits and why she can't think of one reason why she'd want to jump into bed with a man again...

Miss Meadmore has described sexual intimacy as 'a hassle'. I can relate to that. When I was sexually active I was also, in common with millions of other people, deeply anxious. I was in a constant state of preoccupation, asking myself over and over: 'Will he or won't he call?'
I was suspicious if my lover was late, fearing that he was cheating on me. And I would often, mistakenly, believe that my partners found my girlfriends more attractive than me and secretly wanted to sleep with them.
I was insecure and needy, and no amount of reassurance would assuage my feelings of being unloved and used. There was an underlying nagging feeling that I had given myself too easily and would now be cast aside.

Oh please, who does she think she's fooling! Nothing worse than seeking self validation in the way she did!
- Alex, Brisbane, Australia, 14/10/2008 0:43

Sounds like the problem's with her, not sex itself. This woman seems to equate sex with emotional turmoil and that says more about her choice of partner than it does about the so-called 'hassle' of sex.

You don't have to be celibate to be discerning and anyone who thinks celibacy and celibacy ALONE leads to 'deeper' companionship is kidding themselves.

Whenever a woman protests against the value and joy that comes from a sexual relationship my first thought is, "Who are you trying to kid?" My second is, "I feel sorry for you."
- Paige Turner, Dundee, Scotland, 14/10/2008 2:15

Glad to read this story - I'm so sick of the notion that everyone is either having sex, or seeking sex, all of the time. Ultimately, not everyone needs sex to fulfil them, and there is nothing wrong or unnatural about people who choose not to pursue it. Bravo!
- Steph, Cornwall, 14/10/2008 1:14

Good for you, Sonia.

I am a "40 year old virgin". I'm 45 to be precise. And like Miss Meadmore, I'm saving it for the one.

There are ones I hoped might be the one. But they didn't think of me as "the" one for them, just as "a" convenient one. So I declined.

The interesting thing is that any number of male acquaintances who've heard this have tried to scare me with, "You know, if you've never... and you meet a guy you think is the one... and you tell him you've never.... he's going to think you're ODD. That there's something wrong with you." And then they'd offer to help me with my plight, as if I had never had the opportunity before! I'd point out that if he didn't respect that I'd waited for him, then he isn't the one. My perplexed acquaintances can rarely wrap their minds around it.
- Barbara, Bellevue, Washingon, US, 14/10/2008 6:09

- Paige Turner, Dundee, Scotland, 14/10/2008 2:15

Paige Turner ??? Page turner? Yeah, right.

Years of therapy had shown me that growing up without a father - he left when I was three - had a profound effect on my self-worth, and I had a tendency to date inappropriate men who were either emotionally or physically abusive.

If the average man did this I would be prosecuted for porn offences and grooming children. See how BIG Business can get away with anything under new LABOUR.

- Alan, Newcastle, 12/11/2008 13:15

call it education if you want.... i call it grooming! And this government has been very clever in the way it has manipulated 'age' rights and more importantly sexual education...

- Wilcox, Hereford, 12/11/2008 15:46

Is Lord Sainsbury still giving funds to Labour, I wonder? I never could work out why he did in the first place. I stopped buying from Sainsbury's for ages when I first heard but I have to admit they are still the best shop and I went back to them eventually.

- RW, Wells, England, 12/11/2008 15:50

Another example of how England is going down the gurgler. Get out now. If you can.

- Jim, Auckland, 12/11/2008 17:39

Well said, Matt King. There is now NOTHING sacred in this liberal, anything goes culture that we now have. I feel so sorry for young ones these days, they are being betrayed by those who really should know better.

- Kristle Hannah Roe, Rotherham, England., 12/11/2008 18:01

Are my children safe in this country? Can I ever hope to protect them either from irresponsible adults, or unsuitable literature and education? What about the people who are not shielded and protected from these crass edu-leaflets we keep seeing or hearing about? They pose a real threat to decent people by lowering societiy's morals and expectations. No wonder teenage pregnancies and STDs are on the rise when it's accepted that this behaviour is almost the norm.
Whatever happened to common decency??

- Clairew, UK, 12/11/2008 18:03

Isn't Lord Sainsbury in Labour clan I rest my case.

- Richard, England, 12/11/2008 14:20

'Try something new today ...' blundering Sainsbury's gives booklet on sex positions to eight-year-olds

Sounds like a simple cock-up to me. But (some) of the Mail readers demand ACTION!

No irony?

'Try something new today ...' blundering Sainsbury's gives booklet on sex positions to eight-year-olds

Sounds like a simple cock-up to me. But (some) of the Mail readers demand ACTION!





Sorry but I wouldn't have thought that Labour had anything to do with this.



You need to get a life, RW! Fancy not shopping at a shop just because the owners give money to a political party. It's not that important!



Hardly.



IT WAS A BLOODY MISTAKE. Do you think they did it deliberately?



See above Clairew.



And your case is what, exactly?

From what I read in the article, the children found it amusing but didn't really understand what was happening. Only the adults were shocked and offended.

GOD help us all.

- Pickles, Lincolnshire, 13/11/2008 17:01

Any woman prepared to have unpotected sex with someone they hardly know deserves all they get, in my opinion.

- Diana, staffs, 13/11/2008 17:28

so women go to clubs and sleep with crazy people they just met without a condom... oh dear..thank god my children are decent ... I brought them up with morals ...which will protect their lives..
people are these days im afraid so common ...

- rob page, nottingham nottinghamshire, 13/11/2008 18:00

Another fine example of womens intelligence

- j platts, chesterfield, 13/11/2008 18:40

I believe that sex should be kept within the confines of the marriage relationship. People do not have a right to live their lives as they please if they expect tax payers to pick up the bill for their immorality.
All sexually transmitted diseases and abortions should not be funded by tax payers. Those who want to live an immoral life style should pay for it.

- K. Latham, Waterlooville, Hampshire, 13/11/2008 20:30

I very much hope that none of these people he is alleged to have had unprotected sex with are blood donors. Please take note the blood donor service.

- Mick Davies, Watford, 13/11/2008 20:46

Perhaps these women were on the pill, or drunk? Commenters could show a little compassion rather than implying they all deserved this life-threatening disease because they dared to have sex. Not much Christian charity here.

- Rebecca, UK, 13/11/2008 20:50

Rebecca, UK - What has being on the pill or drunk have to do with having unprotected sex. The pill is a contraceptive for protection against pregnancy, not STD's. Can't believe in this day and age that people think like you, and as for being drunk enough to have sex with a stranger..............................

- signorasue, Torrevieja, Alicante, 14/11/2008 9:24

A nation of drink sodden, promiscuous, cultureless, ignoramuses.

- alan, weybridge, 13/11/2008 21:51

Serves them right. Idiotic women!!!!

- Beverley Waugh, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire., 14/11/2008 3:54

Helen from London, it's your way of thinking that got us into this much to liberal world. Even though it is the 21st century, I think we could learn a thing or two from men and women of the past who understood much more about decency than us. Ladies, this is why you should keep your knickers on with strangers!

- jamie, Jakarta, Indonesia, 14/11/2008 3:59

No sympathy from me, if people didn't sleep around there would not be this problem!

- Tracy, Lincolnshire, England-, 14/11/2008 10:24