SIGBI set up in 1975 the Diamond Education Grant to fund female students to help with cost of courses and books/equipment This grant awarding body’s purpose is to provide grants to assist women to update their skills after employment breaks or to acquire new skills to improve their opportunities for employment and promotion. Awards are made to help towards the cost of course fees or books/equipment, not for living expenses. The grants that have been  awarded have included courses as diverse as helicopter engineering, teacher training, an MA in play therapy, a BSc in midwifery, a conversion course for  an overseas qualified pharmacist and a diploma in sign language interpreting. SIGBI are now accepting applications for grants towards courses that take place during the academic year September 2021 to July 2022. Help us by making a donation to help some woman or female student get a

2020 End Violence Against Women campaign 25 November 2020 saw the start of 16 days of activism to mark the Ending of Violence Against Women Day which is an annual event always on 25th November. In 1994, the United Nations defined violence against women, as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”. Let’s all try to be ware of this and to raise awareness where ever we can and to listen and provide what support we can. During this week our chair, Amanda Carter Phillpot  attended a performance of Never Going to Beat You – Domestic Abuse in the Traveller Community on 23rd November hosted by Soroptimists International ST Albans.