Impact reports

Explore our annual impact reports, each a snapshot of the progress we have made to make sure nobody is left out of learning.

Join us in celebrating the progress we make in tackling low literacy and low numeracy, inside and outside of prison, year on year.

You will find the most recent impact report below. View past reports by selecting the desired year in the drop down menu.

2024 impact report

Making sure nobody is left out of learning

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Introduction

An introduction from our Chief Executive, Ian Merrill

It is my privilege to write the introduction to our impact report covering 2024.

The theme of this introduction is similar to previous years. It has been another year of real steps forward for Shannon Trust in our mission to tackle low literacy and numeracy. A year in which our whole organisation, including our learners, mentors, volunteers, staff and trustees, can be proud of our collective achievements.

As you will read throughout this report, our team continued to deliver operationally and build our organisational capabilities. Our fantastic army of prison peer mentors deserve the most recognition. They have taken on their roles with tenacity, dedication and good humour, often in testing circumstances.

The challenges we face remained familiar too and were often outside of our control. The prison population grew, early release schemes continued and, in a reflection of wider societal issues, the literacy and numeracy needs of those coming to prison increased. His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) seemed to face crisis after crisis, and the environments we worked in demanded a resilient and well-trained workforce.

One of the most pleasing aspects of our continued organisational growth, was the increase in the number of learners we were able to engage in our literacy and numeracy programmes. That number swelled to more than 11,000 in 2024, a real step change compared to where we stood as we launched this strategy in January 2022. Some of this expansion was down to the launch of our own numeracy programme Count Me In, now operating in 80 prisons. Through this growth in learner numbers, and the individual strides made by our learners, Shannon Trust remained a powerful catalyst for positive change across the prison estate.

Outside of prisons, our community development continued apace. We launched further probation programmes during the year, worked with more than a hundred other community partner agencies, launching Turning Pages Digital (TPD), and began creating Count Me In Digital. We also developed a remote coaching function for our digital tools. This could not have been done without the help of our digital partner Yalla Cooperative.

Our organisation continued to diversify its income and, as you will read in this report, we managed to raise nearly £3.6 million. This was through a combination of contracts with the Ministry of Justice, grants from trusts and foundations, donations from the public, large and small, and via commercial sales of learning materials, mainly through our strategic partnership with fellow charity Read Easy. We also developed our first post release pathways for our mentors and learners through this collaboration.

Overall, a very busy and productive year, and one that should stand Shannon Trust in good stead for 2025 and beyond.

Thank you to all involved – our learners and mentors, our commissioners and funders, our staff and volunteers – a real team effort, in which everyone played their part in bringing the gift of literacy and numeracy to so many.

Ian Merrill
Chief Executive
Ian Merrill, chief executive Shannon Trust

Thank you as ever to all those who supported us, promoted our programmes and helped us to keep getting better through their feedback and ideas.Here is to more progress in 2024.

Ian Merrill

Chief Executive

Who we are

We believe in a future where everyone can experience the positive impact of learning. 

Throughout 2024, we have been working towards this vision, supporting people in the criminal justice system to learn to read and improve their numeracy skills, so they can pursue wider opportunities and thrive in the community.

At Shannon Trust, we value:

The individual
We are supportive and non-judgmental - with our learners, mentors, volunteers and each other. By focusing on learners' unique and individual needs, we can grow skills and confidence so they can reach their full potential.
Inventiveness
We know reading can be the first step to transforming lives, yet we also recognise wider needs. Ambitious, energetic and creative, we take a learner-led approach to innovation to increase the breadth and impact of our work.
Collaboration
We can't achieve our vision alone, so we are resourceful and collaborative. By working with mentors, volunteers and partner organisations, we can ensure our programmes are widely accessible across the criminal justice system and communities.

Established for over 20 years, we support people who can read to teach those who can’t, in prisons and communities.

It’s only with your support that we can continue to work towards our vision. 

Together, we can make sure nobody is left out of learning.

Our impact in 2024

11,056
learners engaged with one or both of our learning programmes
1,712
new learners joined our numeracy programme
5,803
new learners joined our literacy programme
1,975
Count Me In manuals were completed
3,709
Turning Pages manuals were completed
117,770
learning sessions took place in 2024 (equivalent to an estimated 177,000 hours of purposeful activity)
2,080
new mentors were trained
43
new volunteers were recruited, joining a team of 133

Jason's learner story

“Upon entering prison, I was unable to read even the most basic of books. I never wanted to learn to read or spell, however, my Shannon Trust mentor gave me the confidence to try and learn. 

“From our first meeting, Tim took the time to get to know me as an individual and as a learner. He was patient and during every session he took the time to explain things to me before we started any workbooks. 

“During many sessions when reading, if I was unable to read a section, Tim would patiently go back to the page and help me re-read the section until I finally could read it. Never did Tim sigh or get agitated if I was ever struggling, instead, he showed me encouragement and a determined attitude to help me through the different stages of Shannon Trust. 

“With the help from Tim, I completed the Shannon Trust programme and then went on to successfully gain my English Level 1 and becoming the mentor for Social Enterprise. 

“Without any of the support from Tim, I don’t believe I would be where I am now with my reading and gaining my Level 1 in English. Just know Tim, that your time and patience has been an inspiration to not just me but to others you have helped. You have shown that anything is possible with a bit of time and hard work.”

"
Without any of the support from Tim, I don’t believe I would be where I am now with my reading.
- Jason, Shannon Trust learner
A close up of a Shannon Trust mentor pointing to a page in Turning Pages alongside his learner.

Our commitments

In this report you will read how, in 2024, we have continued to work towards the 3 key goals of our 2022 to 2024 organisational strategy.

1. Increase the number of people completing our reading programme in prisons

‍In 2022, we estimate that we are only reaching about 10% of people in prison who might benefit from our programmes. We want to drive up the number of people we reach. 

2. Grow availability of our programmes in the community

Most people in prison will be released, many in the near term, meaning learning is either interrupted or does not start. We want to build on our community pilots, and extend our offer so that prison leavers can continue or start Turning Pages, as well as supporting people in touch with the criminal justice system.  

3. Test new ideas to address other basic skills gaps, scaling what works

Reading is foundational, but part of a bigger picture. We want to test new approaches to address other basic skills gaps, such as numeracy and digital literacy.
‍

"
When I came into prison I could not read or write at all in English. I had to ask for help with everything such as writing a letter to my family or friends, putting in applications to see someone such as a doctor or OMU and getting a job while I am in prison. Then I would have to get help again reading the reply. But there is help available from the Shannon Trust. With the help of my mentor, I have learned how to read and write.
- Shannon Trust learner
A close up of a male mentor and learner working through a manual together in the prison library.

1. Increase the number of people completing our reading programme in prisons

Prison facilitators, employed by Shannon Trust, but based in their local prison, continue to be a key part of helping us to reach more mentors and learners. They provide support to our mentors to keep the programmes running, as well as offering creative and fun learning sessions.

By the end of 2024, we had 60 prison-based staff working across 58 prisons. These staff, funded by contracts with the prison service, are committed to our vision and making a difference to the lives of people in prison.

The increase in the number of facilitators we have been able to employ means we continue to see an increase in new learners and the number of mentors trained. We recognise how much value our facilitators make to our programmes, and we have been looking at how we can develop the prison roles further. We have secured contracts to deliver:

  1. reading pods, where programme sessions are run in small groups for learners who are not yet ready to work one to one with a mentor
  2. reading support specialists, who provide curated content with extra support for those who need it through non-traditional methods, such as introducing a therapy dog
  3. reading strategy leads, who lead on the whole prison-wide reading strategy

In 2024, we also secured our first prison library contract at HMP Ashfield. Shannon Trust’s library service will focus on providing opportunities to learn new skills, while giving the prison community a voice and space to develop their own networks of support and activities.
‍
One of our biggest challenges is the short-term nature of our prison contracts, most of which are only 12 months long. We face a cycle of renewals and are dependent on budgets that are not always locally set. The contracts have a wide geographic spread and are not in every prison, which means it can be challenging to have a full team ready to deploy when a new contract is awarded.

As we come to the end of our 3-year strategy, our focus is now shifting to how we can further improve the quality of our programmes, better demonstrate our impact, and prove the importance of investing in our programmes.

New reading learners

The number of new reading learners across Shannon Trust between 2022 and 2024. The figures for 2022 show: Q1 - 323, Q2 - 501, Q3 - 615 and Q4 - 731. The figures for 2023 show: Q1 - 690, Q2 - 979, Q3 - 1,323 and Q4 - 1,209. The figures for 2024 show: Q1 - 1,398, Q2 - 1,387, Q3 - 1,379 and Q4 - 1,468.

2. Grow availability of our programmes in the community

During 2024, we continued to take a number of steps to develop our work outside of prisons. Over the past year, we have been working with over 50 partner sites, engaging almost 200 learners. This has included schools, substance misuse services and various community-based groups.

We also began contracted work with a probation hub and within 3 CFO activity hubs. To support these projects, we have trained over 100 people to become reading coaches, who will support learners to read.

We successfully piloted our Count Me In numeracy programme within a small number of community sites, and we have seen positive results. We hope to see this grow even further into 2025.

In 2024, we also launched the digital version of our reading programme, Turning Pages Digital (TPD) with some existing community partners. Learners can access the programme through a digital device connected to the internet (phone, tablet or laptop), and can then use it either alongside, or instead of, our Turning Pages manuals. Learners also have the option to complete self-study and work through the programme’s activities in their own time.

We plan to expand the use of the tool during 2025 and are exploring how to make further improvements. For example, coaches will soon be able to communicate directly with their learners and set up their appointments in person or online via the tool. We will also be exploring the possible use of AI tools to enhance their experience.

In addition to TPD, we have been developing Count Me In Digital in collaboration with our digital development partner Yalla. During 2024, we worked with existing coaches and learners to understand their needs and how the tool would work best. We expect the first version of Count Me In Digital to be available for testing in early 2025.

In 2024, we started working with a number of secondary schools and plan to build on this in 2025. We have already seen a successful Turning Pages programme established at St Paul’s Catholic High School in Manchester, and over the year we have developed relationships with a number of schools to see how this might be replicated. For example, we recently helped set up a reading and mentoring programme at Babington Academy in Leicester that will be delivered by support staff, and another at Greatfields Academy in Barking, which will be delivered by their sixth form Health and Social Care students.
A close up of a male Shannon Trust mentor pointing to an open page of a Count Me In manual with a pencil.

3. Test new ideas to address other basic skills gaps, scaling what works

Recent data from the Ministry of Justice shows that almost three quarters of initial maths assessments taken by people in prison result in an entry level score or lower. From this, the need for numeracy support is clear.

In 2023, we developed our own numeracy programme, Count Me In, with the support of a grant from the Lightbulb Trust. We launched these resources in January 2024 and we have seen great success so far.

Count Me In follows a similar structure to Turning Pages, which we know works well:
  1. Each activity has full instructions and answers for the mentor.
  2. Learners work at their own pace, undertaking regular sessions of around 30 minutes.
  3. Manuals contain parking pages and progress checks, so learners can revisit anything they struggle with and track their skills development.
  4. Activities often incorporate previous topics, to help learners retrieve and build on prior learning.
  5. Activities focus on the practical skills learners need to progress in their daily lives.
Count Me In covers content from the Functional Skills Mathematics Entry Levels 1 to 3 qualifications, with some additional Level 1 skills likely to be of particular use to learners. It is able to be used in custodial settings, where access to equipment, including rulers and calculators can be problematic, so all a mentor and learner needs is the manual and a pencil.

"
For the first time I feel like I am really making progress with numeracy, it has always been so difficult for me before. Working one to one with my mentor using Count Me In it is starting to make sense. The instructions are really clear, and my mentor explains it in lots of different ways so that I understand.
- Shannon Trust learner
Since the launch of Count Me In, we have seen substantial growth in our numeracy programme. In 2024, we supported 1,697 new learners in 80 prisons, compared to 1,293 learners in 2023 prior to the release of our new numeracy manuals. We aim to see this growth continue throughout 2025.

Towards the end of 2024, we started work on edition 2 of Count Me In, based on feedback from learners, mentors and our prison-based facilitators, and plan to release this in 2025. This edition will feature clearer instructions for mentors, enhancing their ability to support and guide learners.

New numeracy learners

The number of new numeracy learners across Shannon Trust for 2023 and 2024. The figures for 2023 show: Q1 - 268, Q2 - 298, Q3 - 364 and Q4 - 363. The figures for 2024 show: Q1 - 413, Q2 - 436, Q3 - 433 and Q4 - 415.

How technology is supporting our development

Our use of technology has been key to helping us reach more learners, while making life easier for staff, volunteers, partners, mentors, and learners.

In early 2024, we recruited a Technology Manager and a Data Officer to increase our capacity. The development of a technology roadmap, laying out plans for the next 2 years, has allowed us to prioritise and plan our investments.

A key priority is cyber security. We want to assure the safety and integrity of our learners’ and mentors’ data, as well as strengthening our organisational resilience. In 2024, we launched a new suite of IT security policies, delivered cyber security training to all staff and volunteers, and implemented multi-factor authentication on all business-critical systems. All of our cyber security practices are underpinned by our Cyber Essentials accreditation, helping to provide our partners and stakeholders with more assurance.

Tracking the progress of our learners is key to helping us evaluate the effectiveness of our programmes and demonstrate our impact to funders and other key stakeholders. The continued growth of our numeracy programme, as well as the increasing number of prisons where we are delivering contract-funded programmes, led to a number of changes to our monitoring and evaluation systems and our Salesforce CRM system. Improvements to our processes mean we can now report on programme performance more quickly, and in more depth.

We also launched the Shannon Trust portal in 2024, allowing volunteers, staff and partners to more easily access Salesforce. Initially, this has streamlined the process of ordering learning resources. In time, we plan to expand the use of the portal to allow our teams more visibility into the performance of our programmes, and to further improve the way we collect programme data.

As a remote working organisation, with no permanent office location, we rely on Microsoft 365 to keep our staff in touch with each other. This includes the use of email, file storage and sharing, video conferencing and messaging, and other key business applications. During 2024, we reviewed our use of this platform, upgrading applications where needed, and launched a staff intranet, all designed to make life easier and more efficient for our staff.

Finally, we recognised the need to improve the way wesupport our large team of volunteers. Towards the endof the year, we launched a new volunteer managementsystem, Assemble. This platform brings together all ofour volunteering activities, messaging, news, documents,resources and more into a single platform for bothvolunteers and staff.
A black man pointing at something on the screen of a laptop, with a white woman leaning in to see what he is pointing to.

Improving our programmes

Improving the programmes we offer to our mentors and learners remains a priority at Shannon Trust. We want to provide them with skills and knowledge that they can use in their future. That’s why we continue to look at ways we can develop new opportunities for mentors and learners.

Write Now activity books

We launched our Write Now activity books in early 2024. The 5 books complement our Turning Pages manuals, helping learners to build on their reading and comprehension skills.

Each Write Now book contains a selection of original reading books, along with writing activities that range from forming letters in the alphabet to writing a note or email.

The activities are designed to be practical and useful to the learner, helping them to navigate everyday tasks such as form filling, job applications and writing greetings cards.

Just like Turning Pages, each learner is given a personal copy of their books, so they can continue to practise in their own time.

AQA accreditation for Shannon Trust mentors

In 2024, we completed a pilot mentor accreditation scheme at HMP Lancaster Farms, which helped us to explore ways in which we could provide a more meaningful experience for our mentors.

The pilot helped us to understand how Shannon Trust could be more involved in mentors’ time in prison, and how we could provide them with a formal accreditation, recognising the skills they had developed during their time with us, and providing them with skills that would help improve their employability after release.

We built a relationship with the AQA awarding body, writing a bespoke unit to accredit our mentors in the teaching of reading in prisons. This Level 1 accreditation is now available to all mentors and administered by us.

The first AQA accreditation was completed in November 2024 and we plan to offer more accredited modules in 2025.

"
The accreditation makes me feel as though we are valued by Shannon Trust.
- Shannon Trust mentor

Post release pathways

In 2024, we started to develop a closer partnership with our partner charity Read Easy, who use our programmes and resources to support adults in the community to learn to read.

Together we reviewed how we can continue to support our mentors and learners after they are released from prison, and create better post release pathways. This was so that learners who are released from prison before finishing our reading programme can partner with a Read Easy reading coach to continue their learning. We also want to create opportunities for Shannon Trust mentors to continue to mentor with Read Easy after their release.Although the project with Read Easy is still in its early stages, we are already seeing an encouraging response with a number of mentor and learner referrals already being received.

Work on this project will continue throughout 2025 as we work together to put in place the necessary systems and processes, build understanding across Shannon Trust and Read Easy staff and volunteers, and grow learner and mentor referral numbers.

Our people

Over the past year, our organisation has undergone a significant transformation highlighting our commitment to growth, development, and the continued support of both our workforce and learners. With our team now numbering almost 100 staff members, we have reached an important milestone in our journey. As we move forward, our focus has been on strengthening and supporting our growing workforce and volunteer network.

Learning and development

A key priority for this year has been the introduction of our learning and development framework. We have made considerable strides in engaging staff through regular compliance training, as well as providing additional role-specific development opportunities. Our aim is to ensure our team is not only upskilled, but also supported in their roles by creating a culture of continuous professional growth. Alongside this, we placed particular emphasis on developing our management team by reviewing and enhancing our people management processes. These efforts are laying the groundwork for more effective leadership and encouraging a supportive, empowered work environment.

Wellbeing

Recognising the importance of mental health and wellbeing, we have introduced resilience and wellness initiatives aimed at raising awareness and providing staff with essential resources and tools to support their mental and emotional health. Additionally, we launched a dedicated Care Team, made up of trained staff members who will offer listening services and mental health first aid. As a peer-led support system, the Care Team will play a crucial role in promoting a more compassionate and supportive workplace for both staff and volunteers.

Equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB)

We have continued to prioritise our commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (EDIB). To further strengthen our efforts, we recruited a volunteer EDIB lead to guide and advance our initiatives and existing focus group. Celebrating key cultural and diversity dates throughout the year has played a pivotal role in promoting inclusion, improving understanding, and educating our workforce on the importance of belonging.

Internal communications

We introduced a new intranet designed to streamline internal communications and better serve our workforce. We also launched monthly community groups to create dedicated spaces for staff and volunteers to connect and engage with one another. These platforms have improved the sharing of key information and cultivated common interest, helping staff to stay in touch with each other.
A female member of staff stand in front of a room of mentors smiling.

Volunteer network

Volunteers are at the heart of Shannon Trust, dedicating their time, skills, and creativity to power our programmes and help us reach more learners. Their contributions make a transformative difference, enabling us to achieve our mission.

This year, we have expanded our volunteer opportunities, creating a network that spans prisons, communities, and business support teams. Throughout the year, 43 new volunteers joined the team, bringing our active network to 133 volunteers.

Our prison-based volunteers deliver training and support to mentors, and have supported the growth of our programmes over the last 12 months. Our community-based reading coaches provide valuable one to one support to learners, using both our paper resources and the Turning Pages Digital tool. We have been delighted to grow our business support volunteer roles, with volunteers contributing their expertise to areas such as HR, EDIB, marketing and communications, and our volunteer hub, enhancing our organisational capacity.

This growing community made 2024 a year of development, collaboration, and celebration for volunteering at Shannon Trust.

In March, we were thrilled to receive a National Lottery Community Fund grant, which has supported the creation of our dedicated volunteer hub. This investment has helped us to grow our team who provide specialist guidance and improve the volunteer experience across the organisation.

Throughout 2024, we focused on enriching volunteer engagement. We introduced monthly online volunteer connect meetings and hosted 2 in-person connect events, which offered an opportunity for collaboration, idea sharing, and peer support. We also introduced volunteer champions who are preparing to lead new initiatives.

Finding more ways to celebrate and champion our volunteers was another key focus of 2024. During Volunteers’ Week, we held the annual Tom Shannon Award for Outstanding Contribution event and launched our ‘Cheers to Volunteers’ campaign, shining a spotlight on the incredible impact of our volunteer community.

Our annual volunteer survey highlighted the positive experience of volunteering at Shannon Trust:
‍
94%
of volunteers feel a sense of satisfaction from their role
94%
feel valued and appreciated
94%
believe their volunteering makes a difference to people’s lives

These results reflect an increase in overall satisfaction since 2023.

Looking ahead to 2025, we aim to grow our volunteer network further, exploring new community-based opportunities, and launch an online volunteer hub to streamline and enhance the volunteer experience. We are excited about what is to come and are grateful for the dedication, passion and commitment of all of our volunteers.

As we reflect on 2024, it is clear that this year has been one of considerable progress. Our workforce is more skilled, resilient and connected, and we remain committed to providing the support and resources needed for continued growth and success.

"
There have already been many highlights [volunteering for Shannon Trust]: the dedication of the staff (and volunteers); the warm reception from the mentors and learners; the keen response of the mentors and learners and, most importantly, of course, to see how working with Shannon Trust helps all those involved to blossom and bloom in confidence, not just in terms of reading/writing and numeracy, but also in the belief that they can leave prison with skills that can change their lives and will, if they so choose.
- Shannon Trust volunteer 

Telling our story

Reading fair at HMP Lewes

We continue to find different ways to engage learners and spread the word about Shannon Trust in prisons. As an example, we held a reading fair at HMP Lewes in April 2024.

It was a great opportunity to talk to the men in HMP Lewes about how they can develop their literacy skills while serving their sentence, as well as offer support and advice on how they could continue accessing this support upon release.

Several services across the prison were there to talk to those attending about the support on offer and the help they could receive with their reading. Many of the men spoke positively about Shannon Trust and were keen to gain support or sign up as a mentor.

This was a great opportunity to build relationships with staff across the prison as well as signpost to Shannon Trust.

Celebrating success

We had a lot to celebrate at Shannon Trust in 2024. Shannon Trust staff members held a number of celebration events for our mentors and learners throughout the year as a way to recognise their achievements and present them with certificates.

These events are always incredibly powerful, bringing people together from all across the prison. They are even more special when learners choose to talk about their experience. One learner at HMP Isle of Wight talked about the difference Shannon Trust has made to his life and how he is now able to read fluently. He said he had gone from just being able to pick up graphic novels to talking to his mum about how he has read To Kill a Mockingbird. Another at HMP Holme House was delighted to now be able to read books to his children and send cards.

What makes these event even more memorable for our mentors and learners is how our prison facilitators and volunteers create an environment that make them feel valued. Our facilitator at HMP Portland baked some very special Shannon Trust cupcakes in honour of their celebration event in June, while at HMP Lindholme the event included a performance from the prison choir, a raffle, games and a mentor also performed a song he had written about his own experiences.

These acts of kindness make a huge difference to mentors and learners who can see and feel that our staff team really care about their journey with Shannon Trust.

Partnership achievements

We were delighted to see one of our facilitators, Josh, receive a High Sheriff of Hampshire award in March 2024 for his role leading the Shannon Trust programme at HMP Winchester.

We are so proud of his achievement and this shows how committed Josh is in making Shannon Trust successful in his prison.

It was also wonderful to see the Senior Library and Information Assistant at HMP Holme House win an award for her commitment to championing Shannon Trust in the prison, as part of the North East Prison Group Awards 2024.These are fantastic examples of great partnership work taking place between Shannon Trust and prison staff. It shows how dedicated prison staff are in supporting our work and giving people in prison more opportunities.

We are so grateful to everyone working in prisons who have helped to develop the Shannon Trust programmes over the past12 months.
Josh, facilitator at HMP Winchester, holds his High Sheriff of Hampshire award and is pictured alongside his mum and the High Sheriff of Hampshire.

Working with the Prison Radio Association (PRA)

Our partnership with the PRA continues to go from strength to strength. Their support of our programmes means more people in prison can hear about our work and how they can get help with their reading or numeracy.

In May 2024, Free Flow, a weekly show broadcast across prison cells in England and Wales, was once again nominated for a number of awards at the UK ARIAS, and we were thrilled that the show won Gold for Best Specialist Music Show.

Free Flow inspires so many people in prison to be creative and powerful with words, and they have had a number of Shannon Trust mentors and learners sharing their experiences for more people to hear. We feel honoured to sponsor the show and to work with the Prison Radio Association and Lady Unchained.

"
I had National Prison Radio on they mentioned Shannon Trust. Then I met my mentor. He helped me achieve my goal of wanting to read and write. If all mentors are like him then they don’t need to improve. He found the best way to work with me and was very friendly, which helped me to feel comfortable and made it easier to learn. I now really enjoy reading books. I have just finished reading Killing Time. A 336-page book I never would of read before starting working with Shannon Trust and I’m so happy how confident it has made me now. Thank you so much.
- Shannon Trust learner

Engaging our mentors and learners

We continue to explore creative ways to engage our mentors and learners. In 2023, we ran a holiday card competition, which proved to be highly successful and showed how talented our mentors and learners are.

Building on this, and having received some amazing poems over the last couple of years, we decided to run a poetry competition to coincide with National Poetry Day in October.

We worked with the PRA to promote the competition across prison radio, as well as with our operational staff working in the prisons. We were delighted to receive more than 100 entries. All entrants showed incredible talent and shared some very raw and emotional stories.

Out of all the entries, 2 stood out to us most. One being a poem titled ‘A Lesson For Life’, and one rap that was submitted via prison radio titled ‘Mama I’d Do Anything To See You Smile.’ Both were beautifully written and were so honest and raw.

A Lesson for Life

When I was at school I just couldn’t learn
The teachers all told me that I just wouldn’t earn
In the dorms with the boarders, I hated them all
They all took the p*ss, tried to make me look small.

I was trouble it’s true but thought they were the fools
My fists did the talking my god given tools
I didn’t need knowledge or pencils or books
I was King of my tribe with pecks and good looks.

But I knew in my heart they were right all along
The words of the tune always seem to read wrong
My anger grew stronger, my life was in bits
My saviour was tabs, it was hit after hits.

Why didn’t they realise my brain was wired wrong?
That’s why I struggled with the words of my song
They call it DYSLEXIA not a word I could spell
Those teachers with knowledge can all go to hell.

I’m now 39 and my life has turned sour
My door is locked up now for hour after hour
The time passes slowly but what can I do
If you don’t get no learnin’ it can happen to you!

THEN

He offered his hand and gave me a look
If you give me some time I will show you a book
It won’t be a doddle it may seem quite tough
There’ll be times when you say that “Enough is enough.”

The world I will show you I’ll try to make fun
It will light up your life just as strong as the sun
I’m happy to show you but your help is a must
I’m your personal MENTOR from the great

SHANNON TRUST

Now for those that can read this I just want to say
Why not share in your fortune and make someone’s day?
We’re difficult and sometimes we can be hard to handle

BUT REMEMBER

A candle doesn’t lose its light when it lights another candle.


Finances and fundraising

We continued to grow our income in 2024, allowing us to scale our programmes and reach more learners.

Prison contracts remain our largest source of income, however, we continue to grow our other income streams. Grants from trusts and foundations continue to be an important source of income, allowing us to sustain our programmes in our non-contracted prisons and fund our work in the community.

We are proud to share our success

A table showing the income for 2022 (£1,110,000), the income for 2023 (£2,468,002), the income for 2024 (£3,580,597) and the projected income for 2025 (£3,915,596).


Sources of income through 2023 and 2024

A pie chart to show the sources of income for 2023. The sections are split up to indicate where funding came from, matching up with the figures in the table below.A pie chart to show the sources of income for 2023. The sections are split up to indicate where funding came from, matching up with the figures in the table below.
A table listing the sources of income for Shannon Trust throughout 2022, 2023 and 2024. For 2022, the sources are split up as: Trusts and foundations - £695,000, contract income - £117,000, individual giving - £97,000, Turning Pages sale - £75,000 and other - £67,000, totalling £1,110,000. For 2023, the sources are split up as: Trusts and foundations - £834,000, contract income - £1,440,000, individual giving - £103,000, Turning Pages sales - £76,000 and other - £14,000, totalling £2,468,000. For 2024, the sources are split up as: trusts and foundations - £1,131,628. Contract income - £2,258,445. Individual giving - £113,049. Turning Pages sales - £55,034. Other - £22,441. Totalling £3,580,597.

Looking back, looking forward

As I reflect on our 3-year strategy for 2022 to 2024, it is clear that Shannon Trust has been through a significant transformation, most obviously seen through our results.

The number of mentors we recruited and trained each year, and the number of learners accessing our programmes both grew significantly, the latter topping 11,000 in 2024. A fantastic achievement by all those involved. Our income grew five-fold during this period, and our staff numbers mushroomed. We became a more sophisticated organisation in terms of our business support systems and processes, our use of digital technologies, the way we told our story and the impact we had. I am proud of those achievements, but I think the real story is the cultural change, behind the scenes, which drove our success. There are of course many aspects that make up an organisational culture, but I can point to 3 that were critical in my view:
  1. organisational learning
  2. developing team accountability
  3. effective governance
Taking those in turn, I can offer some insights into what we sought to change and why. I hope this is helpful to other charities and their missions.

It is a truism that successful organisations learn, but what gets in the way of that? In my experience, the existence of a blame culture can kill ideation and innovation, this is because colleagues feel that any mistake will be frowned upon, ridiculed or punished. This misses the point about learning, as it is often the mistakes we make that eventually lead us to find better ways of working. Celebrating failure and nurturing new ideas is therefore something that must be championed, particularly by leaders, who must model this ‘from the front’.

Alongside this, accountability across the team is critical. I think this remains a work in progress at Shannon Trust, as my colleagues continue the move from being accountable to the leader (good), to being accountable to each other (better). When you have the latter, improved results usually follow, but this requires some courage and straight talking amongst peers, which sometimes is not easy or natural.

Lastly, led by our Chair Michael Wemms, our board worked diligently to establish good governance at Shannon Trust. The executive team are committed to transparency – to tell it how it is, if you will – and our board sought to nurture that through challenge, support and pragmatism in equal measure. I have worked in organisations where board meetings were merely formalities for rubber stamping decisions already made, but not so at Shannon Trust. I always felt that my proposals needed rigour to pass muster with our board, and that is the way it should be.

So, as we enter 2025, our thoughts turn to what comes next for Shannon Trust? This will include a focus on consolidating the impact of our programmes, continued expansion outside of prison through our growing Community Learning Network and, armed with a larger data set highlighting the curse of low literacy and numeracy, renewed attempts to advocate for our beneficiaries with decision makers at the highest level.

Ian Merrill, Chief Executive

Thank you

We could not reach as many learners and mentors as we do without the support of our volunteers, supporters, donors and grant funders.

Thank you to everyone who supported us over the past year. Your support and dedication means so much to us and has helped make all the progress we have made possible.

It is because of your generosity that we can continue to give thousands of people in prison and in the community the opportunity to change their lives by improving their literacy and numeracy skills.
A male Shannon Trust learner holds a Write Now activity book in the library.
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