What Storybook Dads does

Storybook Dads is a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity No. 1101208), founded in 2002, that enables imprisoned parents to record bedtime stories for their children. The organization operates across approximately 102 UK prisons, including women's prisons, young offender institutions, secure training centres, and secure hospitals, and serves more than 3,700 prisoner-parents each year. Beyond its core audio and video story service, the charity offers add-on products such as Photo Frames, Height Charts, Challenge Charts, Swaps activity packs, and the 2024 "Me and You" resource card, with delivery via mailed DVDs/discs and a mobile app hosted on AWS.

The service is delivered through trained prison coordinators who facilitate recording sessions, assisted where necessary by reading technology that enables non-readers to participate by removing coordinator voices during editing. Stories are professionally edited using audio/video processing software that removes mistakes and background noise, adds music and sound effects, and for video stories combines the parent's reading with scanned book pages. The charity stores and streams finished stories to families through its mobile application for a 12-month access window.

Storybook Dads is funded primarily through individual donations, trust and foundation grants, legacy gifts (via a FreeWills.co.uk partnership), and EasyFundraising affiliate revenue, with the service provided free of charge to participating prisoners in most prisons. The organization has 9 employees, annual outgoings of approximately £270,000, and operates with The Brothers Trust as a sustained funding partner. It is led by CEO Sharon Hanoian and has received multi-year recognition including the Charity Awards 2024 (Children & Youth), the CSJ Award 2022, and inclusion in the UNESCO/UIl Collection of Inspiring Practices in 2024.

Name

Storybook Dads

Legal name

Storybook Dads

Website

https://storybookdads.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Storybook Dads is a UK charity that enables imprisoned parents across 102 UK prisons to record professionally edited audio and video bedtime stories for their children, serving over 3,700 families annually through a free, prison-coordinator-driven model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prison Family Support Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (624110)

akta.pro primary industry

Parent-Facing Home Learning & Family Engagement Apps (EDACANAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Children’s Audio Publishing (Audiobooks & Podcasts) (MPAJAFAI), Family & Parenting Education (Family Literacy, Parenting Skills) (EDAAAFAF)

Keywords

• Prison family support
• Charity rehabilitation services
• Bedtime story recording
• Family bonding programs
• Prison education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Princetown (formerly)

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Individual donations from the public, processed through the website. Donors can make one-time or recurring donations at various levels (£15, £20 suggested amounts).
2. Trust and Foundation Grants: Grants from trusts and charitable foundations who support rehabilitation and family support causes. The charity actively seeks grant funding to support operations.
3. Legacy Gifts: Bequests in wills. The organization has partnered with FreeWills.co.uk to encourage legacy giving.
4. EasyFundraising: Affiliate revenue from shopping schemes where supporters raise donations when making online purchases through the EasyFundraising platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Storybook Dads is a UK charity that enables imprisoned parents to record audio or video bedtime stories for their children. Stories are professionally edited using proprietary software that removes mistakes and background noise and adds music and sound effects, then delivered to families through a mobile app or physical DVD/disc. Complementary add-on products include personalized Photo Frames, Height Charts, Challenge Charts, Swaps activity packs, and Me and You resource cards, all designed to maintain and strengthen family bonds during incarceration. The service is offered free of charge to prisoners across approximately 102 UK prisons, with the charity operating under the Storybook Dads and Storybook Mums brands.

Product overview

Storybook Dads is a multi-award winning UK charity offering a portfolio of products and services that help imprisoned parents maintain meaningful contact with their children through the magic of storytelling. The core offering is Audio and Video Stories, where parents record bedtime stories that are professionally edited using audio/video processing software to remove mistakes, add music and sound effects, and enhance quality. This is complemented by several add-on products including Photo Frames, Height Charts, Challenge Charts, Swaps, and Me and You resource cards, all designed to strengthen family bonds during incarceration. The organization operates in approximately 100 UK prisons and serves over 3,700 prisoners annually with an annual budget of approximately £270,000.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Audio and Video Stories Core service enabling imprisoned parents to record audio or video bedtime stories for their children. Recordings are edited using proprietary software to remove mistakes and background noise, add music and sound effects, and (for video) combine the parent's reading with scanned book illustrations in a Cbeebies-style format. Available free of charge to prisoners in participating UK prisons.
• Photo Frames Personalized photo frame project allowing imprisoned parents to decorate and personalize a photo frame for their child, with photos of the parent included.
• Height Charts Personalized height charts that allow imprisoned parents to play an active part in their child's life at home, customized with stickers of favorite characters and letters.
• Challenge Charts Challenge charts that allow imprisoned parents to communicate with and encourage their children, with designs for under 5s and over 5s, printed on wipe-able A3 card.
• Swaps Activity sheet packs that prisoners and their children exchange to learn fun and interesting things about each other, maintaining connection especially during periods without face-to-face contact.
• Me and You An A3 sturdy card split into two halves: prisoners write fun facts about themselves and their childhood on one side, and warm messages for their child on the other. Designed to be sent home as a keepsake.
• Storybook Dads Mobile App Mobile application that allows families to receive and stream audio and video stories recorded by their imprisoned family member. Stories are securely hosted on AWS and accessible for a 12-month period.

Quantifiable outcome

• 97% of prisoners report improved confidence from participating
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• FreeWills.co.ukminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership to provide supporters with the opportunity to make a free comprehensive legally-binding will online. This supports the charity's legacy giving program by making it easy for supporters to include Storybook Dads in their wills.
• Shannon TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Shannon Trust specialists in teaching adult learners to read using peer-based mentoring. Partnership enables Storybook Dads to access non-readers or under-confident readers who can be signposted to Shannon Trust services or assisted through coordinated reading support.
• EasyFundraisingminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAffiliate shopping scheme where supporters can raise free donations for Storybook Dads when shopping online. Over 6,000 retailers participate. No cost to supporters.
• AmazonminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAmazon Wish List allows supporters to purchase and donate physical items needed by the charity.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Catch22: Large UK social business delivering services across justice, education, and family support including prison reintegration programmes. Comparable as a broader player operating in the same criminal-justice and family-engagement space, with wider scope but less specialisation in the parent-child storytelling niche.
• NSPCC: UK's leading children's charity protecting children from abuse and supporting family wellbeing. Operates in the same child-welfare mission space as Storybook Dads but with vastly broader scope, larger budget, and generalist rather than criminal-justice-specific specialisation.

Direct peers

• Pact (Prison Advice & Care Trust): UK charity providing advice, support, and family services to prisoners and their families across the UK prison estate. Comparable because it operates within the same prison-coordinator network model, serving families of imprisoned parents with relationship-preservation services.
• Prison Fellowship England & Wales: UK charity supporting prisoners and their families through mentoring, family engagement programmes, and resettlement support. Comparable because it works within UK prisons to maintain family bonds during incarceration, addressing a similar beneficiary group with overlapping objectives.
• Children Heard and Seen: UK charity dedicated to supporting children and families affected by parental imprisonment, providing direct advocacy, mentoring, and family engagement services. Operates in the same highly specific niche as Storybook Dads, serving an overlapping beneficiary population of children of prisoners.

Others

• Home-Start UK: UK family support charity helping parents with young children through volunteer-led home visiting and peer support. Thematically related through parent-child engagement and family wellbeing, but operates outside the prison context with a broader early-years parenting mission.

Emerging players

• Shannon Trust: UK charity focused on improving literacy among prisoners through peer-mentoring programmes. Already an active partner of Storybook Dads, sharing the same prison-based delivery model and overlapping beneficiary population, but with a distinct literacy rather than storytelling focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCKGwGRHsBbMMMHd3q22Zf2Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/StorybookDads
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/storybook-dads
• Instagraminstagram.com/storybookdads

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Storybook Dads