Today over 258 million children and young people do not attend school. They may never learn to read and write, or access the skilled labour market. Without a basic education and knowledge of their human rights, these children are subject to labour abuse as well as physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse. The Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF) works with educators to deliver projects that will change this situation for many people.

SSF aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal 4 – to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. We are proudly making our mark in the world and we believe that equitable education is key to achieving all of the Sustainable Development Goals; it provides a route out of poverty, impacts on climate change and sustainable futures, equality for all, and provides the foundation for peace in the world.

Our mission and aims are to create an international community of educators and learners striving for universal access to quality education and ongoing improvements in teaching and lifelong learning. We work towards these aims in a way that is enabling and breaks the cycle of dependency. We aim for our projects to be owned and managed at a local level and to be replicable and sustainable. We prioritise projects that support the achievement of gender equality. We are collaborative and we encourage people to succeed.

Our projects are created in response to the needs of local people to create a grassroots movement for change. For example, our Positive Periods Project is a unique solution that came from understanding one of the obstacles that prevent women and girls in many areas of the world accessing education.

Our work focuses on three main themes:

1. Access to Education.
2. Resources for Educators.
3. Education Dialogue.

• Through our partnership work with educators, we have delivered Positive Periods and Gender Based Violence training to over 180,000 women and girls.
• We have set up 4 Learning Resource Centres and 2 Digital Classrooms.
• Provided 150 bicycles in The Gambia so that students can travel to school safely.
• Provided 500 solar radios so students can study without electricity.

You can find out more about the Foundations projects here: https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/projects

For more regular updates please visit their blog: https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/blog

Below we share two of our current projects.

Positive Periods

Girls miss up to fifty days of schooling each year because of period poverty; having no access to menstrual products, coupled with the shame and stigma around menstruation, impact these absences greatly.

We have developed inventive ways of teaching people how to make reusable pads that are sustainable, affordable and environmentally friendly. This training is then shared through communities and schools, to reach more people. In this short time and despite the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, the project has evolved to include training and support in preventing gender-based violence. To date we have supported over one hundred and eighty thousand girls to manage their periods with dignity and pride and most importantly attend school every day. The project is currently operating in Sierra Leone, Cuba, Haiti, The Gambia, Malawi and Guinea Bissau.

Learning Resource Centres and Digital Classrooms

We have developed learning resource centres and digital classrooms that support the local education system. They supply online learning for students in some of the most rural parts of the world and offer the opportunity of educators connecting with each other to share challenges, pool ideas and support each other to develop their teaching practice.

All the centres are locally owned and managed and are located in Haiti, The Gambia, Nepal and a centre is due to open in Sierra Leone in 2022.