Cervical Screening Awareness Week 17th – 23rd June 2025
This campaign is vitally important because cervical cancer can be eradicated and wide spread screening is how it can be done.
We are providing information.

We were out in sunny Talisman Square in shifts on the morning of June 21st morning handing out Cervical Screening information cards to Kenilworth people as they went about their shopping. We were particularly pleased to be joined by Alison Insley, the town’s Deputy Mayor, always an active supporter of
#soroptimists.
This was backing up the display of the same materials in Kenilworth Library – again, we are very grateful that they give us this opportunity to reach the community we live in.



We are contacting the local medical centres to ask them if they would use their waiting room screens to show the Cervical Cancer video which has been produced by SIGBI.
Seeking advocacy of the campaign in parliament
SIGBI have provided an excellent letter to send to our MP and this has been sent.
An extract –
“We ask you to confirm the vaccination coverage in your constituency and clarify local plans for achieving the 90% WHO vaccination target.
Considering the challenges we also ask you to advocate to the Government to take the following actions
- Enhanced Public Awareness Campaigns: To educate the public on the importance of HPV vaccination and regular cervical screening.
- Targeted Outreach Programs: Especially in areas with low vaccination and screening rates, to address disparities and ensure fair access to preventive measures.”
Read this extract from the SIGBI campaign group with the latest information from NHS England regarding changes to their approach to screening.
CERVICAL SCREENING AWARENESS WEEK
NHS England announces a significant change in its cervical screening programme in time for Cervical Screening Awareness Week!
Around the world, every two minutes, a woman dies from cervical cancer, and even here in the UK, two women a day die from this entirely preventable disease.
Despite this, one in every three women fails to take up their invitation to attend a screening appointment; however, early detection of cell changes through screening can prevent up to 75% of cases…….
NHS England has announced that from 1 July 2025, all women of screening age (25-64) will be invited every five years in England, unless they are at a higher risk of cervical cancer because of high-risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and or cell changes, when they will be seen more often.
The move follows a recommendation by the UK National Screening Committee, following research led by King’s College London, which showed that 5-yearly screening is as safe as three-yearly, that the same number of cancers are found, and less frequent cervical screening tests are needed.
Eligible women will first receive a notification through the App, to alert them to book a screening appointment, followed by a text message if the App notification isn’t opened. Letters will remain in place for those who need them.
This week, Soroptimists will be out and about in their communities, speaking to women and raising awareness of the need to take up that all-important invitation for cervical screening.
There will be further action later in the year.
Thank you for reading.
Railway Station Survey – May 25
SI Kenilworth and District have contributed information to the SIGBI project surveying facilites available at local stations to promote safe railway travel for everyone in our community, with an awareness of the potential vulnerability of women.
Taken from SIGBI website:
“First launched in 1996, ‘The Future of the Railways’ was an investigation into personal safety on the railways, which the charity’s members – known as Soroptimists – used to lobby the Government into taking action to do more to protect women on public transport.
It was launched in response to a Soroptimist being attacked on a train in the London area.
Soroptimists carried out grassroots research into the views and experiences of women passengers, as well as speaking to station managers and staff and visiting over 500 over-ground stations across Britain.
SIGBI published a report making recommendations to the UK Government on how to improve safety in stations, claiming the Government’s approach to passenger safety in railway stations was ineffective.
To further advance the work being done, the charity is kickstarting the project again – asking the same questions to the UK’s railway stations, to see how much has changed, as well as expanding it to airports and bus stations, to obtain a more detailed bigger picture of women’s safety across the country. The charity is also questioning whether the Government’s approach to passenger safety has moved on since 1996”