On behalf of the Scottish Government and the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls, Sleeping Giants Team put together a panel of 20 diverse women and girls from all parts of the country and all backgrounds who don’t normally have the chance to talk about their lives and what matters to them. We have been working together since May 2023, reporting to the National Advisory Council and Scottish Government to make sure that what they do makes a real and lasting difference to all women and girls across Scotland.
The Empowering Women Panel has been supported to build their knowledge, skills and confidence, so that they have both the power and the capability to hold Scottish Government and the National Advisory Council to account, as well as the power to investigate and research issues that are important to them.
“They empower each of us, they empower us to be ourselves, to be our authentic selves and to empower each of us. It’s powerful.”
-Panel member, focus group
To find out more about the Empowering Women Panel, watch this video:
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Full Video:
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Short Video:
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Some of the members have written blogs about issues they are particularly passionate about:
View photos from our day sessions here:
Year 1
cost of living crisis
We carried out an evaluation of the first year with the help of an independent researcher. You can read the executive summary here:
Our focus was on the cost-of-living crisis and how this has impacted on women from marginalised communities. View this here:
Year 2
care
Exploring and discussing women and girls’ experiences of unpaid care, social care, childcare and working in care was the focus of the Panel’s work in Year 2. You can read their care stories here
We carried out an evaluation of Year 2 which you can read here:
We carried out an evaluation of Year 2 which you can read here:
National Advisory COuncil
Independent evaluation
Research Scotland was commissioned to carry out an independent evaluation of Phase Two NACWG.
The aim of this independent evaluation was to:
To inform the evaluation, a Theory of Change was developed to outline the change the National Advisory Council aims to achieve throughout Phase Two and interviews were then held with members of the National Advisory Council, Empowering Women Panel and Scottish Government officials to gather findings.
The full report and executive summary are available for download, alongside a visual and audio summary of the findings delivered by members of the Empowering Women Panel.
For more information and to view the report and summary, click here.
The aim of this independent evaluation was to:
- assess whether and how the National Advisory Council is delivering its objectives
- establish what works and identify elements of good practice
- make recommendations for improvement.
To inform the evaluation, a Theory of Change was developed to outline the change the National Advisory Council aims to achieve throughout Phase Two and interviews were then held with members of the National Advisory Council, Empowering Women Panel and Scottish Government officials to gather findings.
The full report and executive summary are available for download, alongside a visual and audio summary of the findings delivered by members of the Empowering Women Panel.
For more information and to view the report and summary, click here.
what people say
"What Sleeping Giants and the Empowering Women Panel group themselves have done is some of the best examples of lived experience support I have seen so this (work) is simply about making the most of the good work done to date."
-Scottish Government official
"Sleeping Giants’ enthusiasm, openness and honesty and willingness to work collaboratively has been key to ensuring we are able to engage meaningfully with the Panel. The trust between Sleeping Giants and the Panel has supported officials’ ability to quickly establish trust and rapport with Panel members. Strong pre-event briefing – both informal and formal, has helped us to identify and tackle potential barriers to working together."
-Scottish Government official
-Scottish Government official
"Sleeping Giants’ enthusiasm, openness and honesty and willingness to work collaboratively has been key to ensuring we are able to engage meaningfully with the Panel. The trust between Sleeping Giants and the Panel has supported officials’ ability to quickly establish trust and rapport with Panel members. Strong pre-event briefing – both informal and formal, has helped us to identify and tackle potential barriers to working together."
-Scottish Government official
