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.

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One learner I worked with had very little confidence in his ability to read and write, but he had a strong desire to improve. His motivation was deeply personal: he wanted to write a letter to his daughter. Before putting pen to paper, we worked on his grammar and general literacy, building his skills gradually through Turning Pages.

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He chose the day and time that suited him best and would meet with me for around 30 minutes. Each session began by reciting and revisiting the work we had completed the previous week, before moving on with Turning Pages. Most importantly, each session gave us an opportunity to recognise and celebrate his progress.

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The most rewarding moment came when he finally wrote his letter to his daughter. He told her that he had received his release date and shared his excitement about all the things he wanted to do with her when he was free. One of his greatest wishes was to take her sightseeing around London — something he had wanted to do before going to prison.

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Reading that letter was a very special moment. It was more than an exercise in literacy; it was his voice, his hopes and his plans for the future, written in his own words.

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For me, this is what mentoring with Shannon Trust is about. It is not simply about learning to read and write. It is about helping someone find the confidence to express themselves, reconnect with the people who matter to them, and begin to look forward to what comes next.

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My experience as a mentor has also extended into numeracy through Count Me In. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing learners rediscover skills that they may once have felt were beyond them— working with multiplication, division and decimals, and gradually becoming more confident in applying those skills to everyday situations. One learner in particular worked on telling the time and relating it to different questions and situations. Where once these questions might have caused difficulty or hesitation, he began to respond with remarkable speed and some genuinely impressive quick-thinking skills. Seeing that transformation has been every bit as rewarding as witnessing progress in literacy.

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Perhaps one of the most important aspects of both Turning Pages and Count Me In is the opportunity for one-to-one learning. For some men and women, particularly those who are neurodivergent or those who have struggled with traditional educational settings, the classroom environment can present additional barriers— noise, distractions, interruptions and the pressures of formal learning canmake it difficult to concentrate and flourish. One-to-one mentoring offers something different: a quieter, more patient and individualised environment in which the learner can work at their own pace, without fear of embarrassment or judgement.

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As Shannon Trust celebrates 25 years, I hope its work will continue to shape the literacy and numeracy landscape for many years to come. There are people who are perfectly capable of learning, but who may simply need the right environment, the right encouragement and someone willing to believe in them. Shannon Trust provides that opportunity. With the right support, a person's starting point does not have to define their destination. They can find their voice, develop their skills, achieve their goals and begin to write the next chapter of their lives — quite literally, in some cases.

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May the next 25 years of Shannon Trust continue to open doors for those who have sometimes found the traditional doors of education closed to them, creating the right environment for every learner to discover their potential, find their confidence and achieve things they may once have believed were beyond their reach.

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