SPCK wins £1,000 Movement for Good award

SPCK's Diffusion prison literacy project has won a £1,000 Movement for Good award thanks to nominations from the public.

SPCK is one of 500 winners in specialist insurer Ecclesiastical's Movement for Good awards, which is giving £1million to charities this summer.

As an established publisher, SPCK has access to authors and the ability to produce books and wants to be generous with these resources through its charitable programmes. With half of those in UK prisons functionally illiterate, unable to read a letter from home, choose meal options from a menu or fill in a benefits form, SPCKs prison literacy project Diffusion works to improve prison residents’ reading skills, increasing their chances of finding employment on release, which in turn reduces their likelihood of reoffending.

Diffusion books are different because they are written especially for adult learners with appropriate story lines and characters. Liaising with prison staff, Diffusion encourages group reading and discussion, giving learners a chance to practice their speaking and listening skills, boosting confidence and creating an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning.

Prison staff provide feedback showing that the books are used in a variety of settings including books clubs, peer tutoring sessions, literacy and communication classes, job clubs, creative writing activities, education induction sessions, English language courses and mental health support groups. During COVID-19 staff have changed their approach with some creating mobile libraries or adding the books to individual “in-cell” activity packs.

Members of the public were invited to nominate causes close to their hearts, with 500 gifts of £1,000 available for donation. 13,695 charities were nominated by an amazing 253,879 members of the public.

Fiona Daborn, Fundraising Manager at SPCK said: “We want to thank all of our members, supporters and customers who nominated SPCK for this award, we are so grateful for your support. Like most charities, we have been through a challenging time during COVID-19 but have continued our commitment to improving the lives of others, especially those in prison. During lockdown we had a six fold increase in the requests from prisons for our books and thanks to donations from supporters and awards such as this one we have been able to keep people reading. Thank You.

Mark Hews, group chief executive at Ecclesiastical, said: “We would like to thank every single person who took the time to nominate a good cause as part of our Movement for Good awards. Ecclesiastical is a unique financial services group. We are owned by a charity which means all available profits can be given to the good causes that are so important to our customers. As a company whose purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, charitable giving is at the heart of our business. We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will change lives for the better.”

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Notes for editors

Contact details: fdaborn@spck.org.uk

About SPCK
1. Our mission is to lead the way in creating books and resources that help everyone to make sense of faith and those who benefit from our work include parents, teachers and students using our free Assemblies website, prison staff and those in their care sharing our Diffusion literacy books and church groups learning and developing through our free homegroup resources. For more information go to: https://spckpublishing.co.uk/spck-programmes

About Ecclesiastical
1. Owned by a registered charity, Allchurches Trust, Ecclesiastical is a specialist insurer of the faith, heritage, fine art, charities, education and private client sectors
2. Ecclesiastical is one of the UK’s top five company givers to charity according to the 2017-18 UK Guide to Company Giving. After donating £50m to charity in three years, Ecclesiastical launched a bold vision in 2016 to raise £100m for good causes by the end of 2020. In March 2020, the Group announced it had already raised £96million towards its target. Find out more at www.ecclesiastical.com/ourstory

About the Movement for Good awards
1. Ecclesiastical’s £1million giving programme, the Movement for Good awards, will help charities change lives for the better. Phase one will see 500 charities receive £1,000 while the other £500,000 will be given away later this summer
2. The £1,000 awards launch on Wednesday 6 May and is open to all UK-registered charities. From 6 May to 24 May anyone can nominate a registered charity for the chance to receive one of 500 £1,000 awards. The winners will be announced between 1 June and 12 June. For more information visit www.ecclesiastical.com/movementforgood