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Our Work on Education

Advancement of Education

Education is the foundation of opportunity for everyone. It delivers the tools to create your own future. It supports independence, freedom and confidence.

That’s why every woman and girl, both nationally and globally, deserves the right to be able to access education.

Sadly too many girls still face numerous barriers to gaining a full education.  Too many obstacles exist for girls in many communities and parts of the world to gain the meaningful education they deserve and should expect.

We work to break down these barriers with the aim of creating gender parity for girls as this is what will empower women to overcome hurdles and stereotypes, pursue their dreams, and shape their own futures.

We do this by:

Programme Action

Through our club projects, we support the lifelong learning of women and girls through a variety of training, assistance, fundraising and partnership activities.

Club members with specific skill sets offer training to local groups in financial acumen, IT, sewing and crafting among many other activities.  Club members attend local schools, prisons and other institutions to help with reading for women and girls at all ages.  We facilitate book swaps and story competitions. We organise school STEM competitions to encourage girls to find their vocations in this field.

Running and facilitating public speaking competitions are a very successful part of our programme work. At our 2024 conference, SI Kings Lynn won a Best Practice Award for their public speaking competition which has been running since 2006 for Year 6 students. In the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland clubs have been running public speaking events for over 40 years, also winning Best Practice Awards. More on our 2024 awards: https://www.flipbookpdf.net/web/site/a586f2604280fe91925ef4fa261f18cdeedb2932202411.pdf.html#page/8

Read more about our programme action here: https://sigbi.org/2025/day-of-education-blog/

Diamond Education Grant

A separate charity originally started in 1972 by SIGBI, this fund provides scholarships to assist women in advancing their education.   In 2023-2024 the charity has given grants of £28,000 and has enabled 26 women aged from 27 years to 61 years to undertake further education, pursue new career paths or gain relevant qualifications in their chosen professions.   Read our blog here: https://thehub.sigbi.org/blog/deg_trustees_CqCjR

Where We Stand : Soroptimist International

Read our full position paper and recommendations from Soroptimist International

Universal access to safe, inclusive and high-quality education and training for women and girls is a fundamental human right and is crucial to ensure sustainable development.

Global cooperation is required to address the challenges associated with access to education and training. Unified actions from States, the private sector, NGOs and civil society are necessary to promote gender equality in education and remove systemic barriers facing women and girls.

As the saying goes, ‘If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.’

It’s only when women and girls have the same opportunities to learn as everyone else that we benefit from a more inclusive and just society for all.

Follow our work here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/soroptimist-sigbi/.