About our club

What does Soroptimist mean?

Soroptimists are a world wide voluntary movement of women and girls, supporting women and girls, to realise their ambitions and reach their full potential.

The name comes from two Latin words: soror, meaning “sister” and optima, meaning “best”.  Put simply, it means “the best for women”.

Who are Milton Keynes?

We are a friendly and welcoming group of women from all walks of life who come together because we want to make a difference – both within our local community and further afield.

10 Years of Friendship, Action and Making a Difference

Established in 2015, SI: Milton Keynes has been making a difference for women and girls for over a decade. In 2025, we proudly celebrated our 10th anniversary – a wonderful milestone in our journey.

From supporting local charities and community projects to raising awareness of issues affecting women and girls, our members have worked together to create positive change, both locally and around the world.

What is our mission?

Our Mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable women and girls and help create a world where every woman and girl has the opportunity to be safe, valued, heard and empowered.

How do we make a difference?

We turn our commitment into action through projects, volunteering, fundraising and raising awareness.

Our principles are to:

Educate, Empower and Enable,
Through Awareness, Advocacy and Action and
We also have fun – and most importantly Friendship by being members of our club.

Charities we support:

Our club supports the following charities:

• MK Act – providing Domestic Abuse and Women’s Refuge services to MK.
• YMCA Midlands (MK branch)  – supporting young women to get their lives back on track and off the street.
• Works For Us (now part of Citizens Advice MK) – assisting those unemployed to enhance their skills, raise their confidence and thus chances of employment.
• Baby Basics MK – providing essential items and support packages to vulnerable families and children aged 0 to 6 experiencing financial hardship.
• Sexual Assault and Abuse Support Service Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes (SAASSBMK) – provides free confidential support to survivors of sexual violence, rape and domestic abuse.

We support our linked charities with: annual donations; a link Soroptimist for each charity to keep our work relevant to their needs; regular fund-raising events; and support for Christmas-time requests (e.g festive presents for YMCA residents; chocolates/buffet for the UnityMK clients; and gifts/vouchers for the families at MK Act).

The project work we do are many and varied and of the various projects we undertake, a key project at the heart of our Club’s work is the United Nation’s

Orange the World campaign to end violence against women and girls.  

To get a flavour of past and current projects and what we have been up to visit our Club History page and our Projects page.

Club History Page   Projects Page

Why not join us?

Now we’re looking forward to the next 10 years – and we’d love you to be a part of them!

Together, we can make a real difference,

raise awareness, 

take action and support positive change –

while making new friends and

enjoying a strong sense of purpose and belonging.

Contact us via email at [email protected]