Shannon Trust

16/10/2026

Meet our people! We recently hosted a staff day - a rare opportunity to bring our teams together to discuss strategic goals, upcoming plans and how we can provide the best support for the people we help: our learners 🌟 A brilliant day full of connection and important conversations!

14/10/2026

A letter to his daughter 💙

Michael, one of our digital mentors, recently put pen to paper and told us his story about helping others.

"As a mentor with Shannon Trust, I have had the privilege of seeing how small steps in literacy can lead to profound changes in confidence and hope."

He writes about a learner he helped and the journey they went on together to ensure he could write his very first letter to his daughter.

Read more about Michael's story here: https://ow.ly/IFs750ZWig9

Photo by Andy Aitchison Photographer

14/10/2026

Watch BBC Two tonight at 9pm

Tonight, Omar Mentesh shares how learning to read and discovering a love of books while in prison helped change his life. It's a powerful story about hope and the transformative power of literacy. The Book That Changed My Life is on BBC Two at 9pm.

At Shannon Trust, we believe everyone deserves the chance to read. We support people in prison and the community to build their confidence with words and numbers, opening the door to greater independence, connection and hope for the future.

Find out more about our work: 👉 https://www.shannontrust.org.uk

Support Shannon Trust: 👉 https://www.shannontrust.org.uk/donate

Please share this post and help us spread the word about the life-changing power of reading.

Shannon Trust offers free literacy and reading programmes in prisons across the UK, using peer mentoring to support rehabilitation.

12/10/2026

A look behind the scenes 👀

Our team at HMP Wandsworth managed to photograph some of our mentors in action recently! A great example of how our programmes are used in person 📚

10/10/2026

Stories to celebrate 25 years 💙

Learning can create positive change for so many people. We're very lucky to have some amazing people working behind the scenes to make this possible.

As part of our 25th anniversary celebrations, we're sharing the experiences of people who have been part of our journey, past and present.

This week, we hear from one of our former staff members, Ray, about the power of rehabilitation.

Read more stories from our 25th anniversary collection: https://ow.ly/lJv450ZWeRi

09/10/2026

It’s always great to see the impact of our programmes recognised 👏

The Independent Monitoring Board’s latest Annual Report for HMP Thameside highlights the “excellent service” provided by Shannon Trust, including the work of 22 peer mentors supporting 68 learners across reading and numeracy programmes.

During June alone, mentors delivered 132 learning sessions.

The report also highlights our monthly Book and Biscuit sessions on the induction wing, where new arrivals can choose a free book to encourage reading from the start of their time at Thameside.

Thank you to our mentors, staff and everyone at HMP Thameside who helps make this work possible. It’s brilliant to see their commitment and the difference peer-led learning is making.

📸 by Andy Aitchison Photographer

Read the full report here: https://ow.ly/L9r450ZVVm8

07/10/2026

As part of the National Year of Reading, HMP Pentonville recently hosted a Shannon Trust-led Reading Festival, bringing together prisoners, staff, volunteers and partner organisations to celebrate reading, creativity and learning.

During the festival, many activities were available including Blind Date with a Book, bookmark making, recipe writing, reading recommendations, reflection activities, and a Scrabble tournament.

The event was supported by a range of partners, including In House Records, who opened the festival with a performance and provided opportunities for participants to share music, poetry and creative work throughout the day. Liberty Kitchen delivered a recipe-writing workshop alongside providing excellent catering, while the education department showcased the Children's Book Project, highlighting ways for parents in prison to connect with their children through reading.

The festival was a fantastic example of how reading can bring people together, build confidence, encourage creativity and create opportunities for learning in a positive and engaging environment.

The team also managed to get a few lovely photos on the day 📸

02/10/2026

Stories to celebrate 25 years 💙

To celebrate our 25th anniversary, we're sharing stories from the people who have been part of Shannon Trust over the years, and the difference learning can make.

Keep an eye out in the comings weeks as you'll hear from learners, mentors, prison staff, volunteers and supporters as they share what difference learning has made to their life.

First up, one of our mentors shares how helping others learn has in turn helped them.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey over the past 25 years 📚

Read the rest of our stories here: https://ow.ly/vXvN50ZTXIv

30/09/2026

Amazing news…we've now reached 2000 AQA accreditations for our mentors!

Last year, we launched an accredited qualification scheme for mentors who are involved in our programmes. This meant that peer mentors who were keen were eligible to be accredited by AQA at level 1, to recognise and reward their contribution to helping others learn. This has been rolled out across prisons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we're looking forward to seeing that number increase.

A huge thank you to all of our mentors who have been involved, and a special thank you to the team from AQA for the ongoing support and for making this possible!

29/09/2026

We recently found these old mentor t-shirts in the archives, and they're such a good reminder of how far we've come. Some of you may remember "Toe by Toe" - the reading manual we used as part of our programmes before developing Turning Pages. What a throwback! 👕