Welcome to our Centenary Year
Find out how Soroptimists are celebrating 100 years of improving the lives of women and girls worldwide.
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Become A Member
What Soroptmists Do
Read about what Soroptimists have been doing to help women and girls in their communities.
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Become A Member
Find more information on how to become a member of SIGBI.
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Find A Local Club
Use our club finder to locate your local SIGBI club.
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Donate
Find out more information regarding donations.
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About Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI)
Educate. Empower. Enable
Soroptimist International is a global volunteer movement working together to transform the lives of women and girls with nearly 72,000 Members in 121 countries. Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) has 6000 Members in 270 Clubs in 18 countries including Great Britain, Ireland and countries in Asia, the Caribbean and Malta, who work at a local, national and international level to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls.
Find your local club
Join the 80,000 Soroptimists worldwide, the majority of whom belong to their local Club, where they can make friends with like-minded women, have fun and work on projects that help improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internationally.
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What We Do
As a member of SIGBI you can have fun and work on projects that help improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and internationally.
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Who We Are
Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland (SIGBI) has 7000 Members in 320 Clubs in 29 countries including Great Britain, Ireland and countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Malta, who work at a local, national and international level to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls.
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Become Part Of An
International Women’s Organisation
Improve Lives
Improve lives of women and girls
Make Friends
Meet like minded members
Travel The World
Opportunities to travel abroad
Volunteer
Opportunities to volunteer
Attend Conferences
Annual conference & meetings
Stay Updated
View our online magazine
Get Rewards
Access to Members’ Rewards Portal
Federation Projects
Meru Women Garden Project
This Project ran from 2016 – 2019 and worked with the organisation CHILD.org. It provided an agricultural training programme to develop women’s skills enabling them to build a sustainable income to support their families. It was so successful that it was extended to provide nutritional classes for pregnant young women.
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Every three years Clubs are invited to submit a project to be chosen as the Federation Project. All members have the opportunity to vote for the Project they prefer. To be selected it must address a number of Sustainable Development Goals and leave a lasting legacy in the locality. Delivery is ensured by working with partner organisations to ensure that targets are met.
International President’s Appeal
Each President of Soroptimist International has an appeal lasting for their two year term of office, supported by all four Federations. The 2019 – 2021 appeal is “Road to Equality”, which aims to advance the human rights and equality of women and girls through empowerment and education.
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Making A Difference Worldwide
109403
Women & Girls Helped
72000
Soroptimists Worldwide
270
SIGBI Clubs Worldwide
“If you enjoy the friendship of a group, enjoy trying to make the world a better place, join!”
“Join and make a meaningful contribution to affecting the lives of women and girls around the world”
Caron da Silva
Pretoria, South Africa
Creative Earth Art Competition for under 16’s
The UK Government have launched a Creative Earth Art Competition, in partnership with the World…
The Role Of Women In The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
Did you know that December 10th was Human Rights Day? Marked annually since 1950, Human…
International Universal Health Coverage Day – 12 December
Figure 1 https://covid19.who.int Building Back Better - what can we do? Now that there is...
Frequently Asked Questions
Please find a selection of Frequently Asked Questions that may help you, if you have further questions, please contact us.
The name Soroptimist was coined from the Latin soror meaning sister, and optima meaning best.
Soroptimist is perhaps best interpreted as ‘the best for women’. From the founding of the first Soroptimist club in Oakland, California, in 1921, through to the present day where over 3000 Clubs are flourishing throughout the world, Soroptimists have continued to strive to achieve ‘the best for women’ in every sphere of their lives.
We are an international women’s movement and together our Members are a global voice for women.
Our achievements have a huge impact on the lives of women and girls. We are an organisation with special consultative status at the United Nations (UN) through the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In addition we make friends and have fun!
Member benefits include:
The opportunity to contribute to improving the lives of women and girls by doing projects with other women
The opportunity to meet Soroptimists in other countries when travelling abroad
Access to our Members’ Rewards Portal, which has selected offers for Members which change every few weeks
Access to our online magazine, issued four times a year
The opportunity to attend our annual Conference, Regional Conferences and Club Meetings
1) Club Membership
Join a local Club, attend regular meetings and events and participate fully in their project work which is local, national and international whilst enjoying close friendships forged through regular Club attendance.
Interested? You can search for your nearest Club or if you know your local Club complete the online form. Then hold tight, your local Club will be in touch soon.
If there isn’t a Club in your area, why not start one? Contact the SIGBI Membership Officer sally@sigbi.org to find out more.
2) Linked Membership
Is for women who want to be “Linked” to and involved with what’s happening in a particular Club but due to their geographical location or personal circumstances they cannot physically attend a Club’s regular meetings.
With this form of membership you can still get involved with Club projects and social events when you can.
3) Associate Membership
Associate Membership is open to women who believe in what we do, want to be involved, but can’t commit to Club Membership. You will learn about our organisation and get involved in our project work to improve the lives of women and girls through our magazine, website, social media and email updates. This is an online membership although Members can attend our annual conference and may be invited to attend local Club and regional events.
To join a local Club, attend regular meetings and events and participate fully in their project work which is local, national and international whilst enjoying close friendships forged through regular Club attendance.
Interested? You can search for your nearest Club or if you know your local Club complete the online form. Then hold tight, your local Club will be in touch soon.
If there isn’t a Club in your area, why not start one? Contact the SIGBI Membership Officer, please visit: https://sigbi.org/get-involved/membership/
Contact SIGBI
To contact Soroptimist International Great Britain & Ireland (SIGBI) or for information about how to join, please fill in the enquiry form.
For urgent matters, please call our head office:
+44 (0)161 480 7686