Timeline test

SHINE awards its first ever grants.

Some of the earliest SHINE projects include Community Links in Newham, East London – an education programme designed for 10- to 11-year-olds at high risk of exclusion – and Extended Study Support, which helps 11- to 14-year-old students and their parents navigate the transition from primary to secondary school.

SHINE launches its first website.

SHINE’s first Saturday school launches at Millfields Community School in Hackney.

SHINE becomes a founding sponsor of Teach First.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announces a $1 million grant to SHINE.

SHINE Manchester launches with support from Manchester City Council, plus Manchester United and Manchester City football clubs.

SHINE partners with the KPMG Foundation to help launch Every Child A Reader. 

David Beckham, the England captain, chooses SHINE to be the partner charity for his new football academy.

40 children and their teachers from six of SHINE’s projects are invited to No. 11 Downing Street to meet Gordon and Sarah Brown for a Christmas party the pair hosted on behalf of SHINE.

SHINE provides almost £500k to LIFT for Learning to help expand DigiSmart.

With help from Status Quo and Sir Alex Ferguson, a benefit dinner held to mark SHINE’s 10th anniversary raises an extraordinary £537,000.

SHINE becomes a founding sponsor of Action Tutoring.

The first Let Teachers SHINE competition is launched, with the inaugural winning cohort including Colin Hegarty’s HegartyMaths.

The SHINE on Saturday programme expands into Manchester as the result of a new £1 million partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation. The weekend sessions are to be delivered in partnership with The Hallé Orchestra.

SHINE becomes one of the first funders of The Tutor Trust, co-funding its second pilot in the City of Manchester, delivering tuition in primary and secondary schools.

SHINE first backs Times Tables Rockstars.

In partnership with The Ogden Trust and The Primary Science Teaching Trust, SHINELabs is launched. The programme is designed to improve primary science provision, for children in years 4-5, particularly those from lower income homes.

The London Teacher Innovation Award is launched, in conjunction with the Mayor of London. One of the winners is Jamie Frost for his website, Dr Frost Maths. He goes on to be named Covid Hero by the Global Teacher Prize, after the website helps millions of children during lockdown. 

SHINE relocates its headquarters from the South East to Leeds, pledging to invest at least £1 million per year into programmes that support children in the North.

SHINE launches three new funds aimed at supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds across the North of England. The “Ready for School” fund focuses on bridging the communication and language gap for 4-5-year-olds. The “Bridging the Gap” fund supports initiatives that assist children transitioning from primary to secondary school. Lastly, the “Flying High” fund is designed to help high-achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds as they move into secondary education.

SHINE and Voice 21 launch Voice Liverpool, a city-wide education programme to boost the spoken language skills and literacy of students in more than 96 schools across Liverpool.

SHINE partners with the Department for Education and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in the launch of a major £5 million fund to test projects that support parents to help improve their children’s early language and literacy skills at home before they start school.

SHINE closes its permanent Leeds office as Covid-19 guidance requires working from home. SHINE has operated a hybrid working model ever since.

SHINE responds swiftly to the pandemic, providing extensive support to existing projects to help them survive, transition to online teaching, and develop innovative alternative models. Over 90% of SHINE-supported projects will endure the challenges of Covid-19.

13-year-old Joshua Hoyle raises an extraordinary £28,000 for SHINE after an idea he dreamed up during lockdown captures the public imagination. Although school is closed, he decides to make the long walk to school and back again each day, carrying an extra schoolbook in his bag each day.

SHINE launches a refreshed strategy centred on our unique strength: directly funding teacher- and school-led initiatives, rather than channelling support through other charities. and organisations

The first projects to benefit from a £500,000 partnership between SHINE and Schools North East are announced. The projects are to be facilitated through the schools network’s Ednorth programme.

SHINE joins with the Steve Morgan Foundation to help launch Cradle to Career delivered by Right to Succeed in the Liverpool City Region.

SHINE backs Boromi’s Play Libraries scheme on a journey to scale with a £249,000 investment.

SHINE launches its biggest initiative to date, an £11m 10-year fund for Sunderland schools.

SHINE announces The Story Project Bradford, a £600,000 city-wide programme to boost wellbeing and literacy among primary school pupils.