What SHINE Trust does

SHINE Trust is a UK education charity founded in 1999 and headquartered in Leeds, operating across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire & Humber. The organisation identifies, evaluates, and scales promising educational ideas to support disadvantaged children aged 0-19, addressing barriers in early years, reading and literacy, maths, science, verbal communication, parental engagement, school transitions, and wellbeing. Over the past 12 months, SHINE has reached more than 100,000 children across nearly 750 schools, while also supporting over 26,000 parents and 5,220 teachers.

SHINE does not build a technology product. Its core delivery is programme-based: it funds school-based projects, runs the Let Teachers SHINE annual innovation competition for teachers, and operates SHINE Sunderland — a 10-year £11 million regional fund for secondary schools across the City of Sunderland. The charity complements direct delivery with knowledge output through its Insight publications and impact measurement via the Our Impact channel, using evidence from its work to influence positive changes for children across the network.

The revenue model is entirely philanthropic. SHINE generates income through donations, philanthropy, fundraising, and legacy giving, connecting donors with teachers to fund innovative educational projects not covered by statutory provision. Governance is via trustees with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or venture capital backing. Operations are delivered with a 1-10 employee team, relying on a direct school network and community-led engagement (led by Cameron Ogden as Chairman) as its go-to-market motion.

Name

SHINE Trust

Legal name

SHINE Trust

Website

https://shinetrust.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SHINE Trust is a UK education charity, founded in 1999 and based in Leeds, that funds school-based projects to support disadvantaged children aged 0-19 across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire & Humber, reaching over 100,000 children and nearly 750 schools annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Charity Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Educational Support Services (611710), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

K–12 Support & School Improvement Nonprofits (BPAGADAB), Scholarships, Grants & Education Benefits Administration (Financing-adjacent) (FSAKAEAM)

Keywords

• Education charity
• School-based projects
• Teacher funding programs
• Disadvantaged children support
• Educational inequality programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Leeds

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropy and donations: SHINE generates revenue through charitable donations and philanthropy, connecting donors with teachers to fund innovative educational projects for disadvantaged children. The charity also offers legacy giving and fundraising options.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

SHINE Trust is a UK education charity that funds and runs school-based projects for disadvantaged children aged 0–19 across the North of England, covering reading, maths, science, verbal communication, parental engagement, school transitions, and wellbeing. It connects donors and philanthropists with teachers and schools through programmes such as the Let Teachers SHINE annual funding competition and the 10-year £11 million SHINE Sunderland secondary school fund.

Product overview

SHINE Trust is a UK education charity operating as a single unified offering focused on supporting disadvantaged children across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire & Humber. The organization identifies, evaluates, and scales up promising educational ideas through school-based projects (supporting children aged 0-19), annual teacher funding competitions (Let Teachers SHINE), and regional initiatives (SHINE Sunderland). Impact measurement and knowledge sharing (Insight) complement direct project delivery, creating a network of innovative practice across nearly 750 schools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Let Teachers SHINE: Annual funding competition that helps teachers to launch, develop and grow their innovative ideas
• SHINE Sunderland

Products and services

• SHINE Projects School-based projects supporting children aged 0–19 in areas such as reading, maths, science, verbal communication, parental engagement, school transitions, and wellbeing, delivered through hundreds of schools across the North of England for disadvantaged children and their families.
• Let Teachers SHINE Annual funding competition run by SHINE Trust that helps teachers to launch, develop, and grow their innovative educational ideas through charity-funded grants.
• SHINE Sunderland A 10-year £11 million fund from SHINE Trust providing sustained investment in secondary schools across the City of Sunderland.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over the past 12 months, helped more than 100,000 children across nearly 750 schools
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sutton Trust: UK education charity focused on improving social mobility through research, programmes and grantmaking for disadvantaged young people. Highly comparable in mission (educational inequality), funding model (philanthropy), and target demographic (disadvantaged children and youth).
• Teach First: Major UK education charity working with schools in low-income communities to address educational disadvantage. Directly comparable in target audience (disadvantaged pupils) and school-based intervention model, though larger in scale and more leadership/teacher-training focused.
• Education Endowment Foundation: UK charity that funds and evaluates interventions to improve educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Closely comparable to SHINE's evidence-based, school-focused grantmaking model for disadvantaged children.
• Impetus: UK charity that supports and funds organisations working to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children and young people. Comparable as a grantmaking/intermediary charity focused on educational disadvantage, though with a different delivery model (backing other charities).
• Achievement for All: UK education charity that works directly with schools to improve outcomes for vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Directly comparable in school-based delivery, focus on under-achieving pupils, and charity-funded programme model.

Broad incumbents

• Barnardo's: One of the UK's largest children's charities, providing services across education, child protection and family support. Comparable in serving disadvantaged children and operating UK-wide, but with significantly broader scope and substantially larger scale than SHINE.
• The Prince's Trust: Major UK youth-focused charity supporting disadvantaged young people through education, training and employment programmes. Comparable in serving young people and education-related outcomes, but with a national remit and broader youth-development scope.
• Catch22: UK social business working with disadvantaged children, young people and families across education and social services. Comparable in working with vulnerable children and schools, but with a much broader service portfolio and operating model.

Others

• Fair Education Alliance: Coalition of UK organisations working to close the educational attainment gap for disadvantaged young people. Related as an ecosystem/coalition player focused on the same educational inequality mission SHINE addresses.

Regional players

• Northern Powerhouse Partnership: Organisation focused on improving economic and social outcomes across the North of England, including educational outcomes. Comparable in geographic focus on the North of England and broader social-improvement mandate, though not exclusively an education charity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SHINE Trust