About Shaw Trust
Shaw Trust is a leading national charity that was registered in 1982. Shaw Trust originated in the village of Shaw, Wiltshire, specifically to meet the known needs of a small group of individuals. All were severely disabled, but each one had valuable skills and abilities. By focusing on what they could do, rather than what they could not, real jobs were found with employers. This not only meant employment and income, but independence, a sense of self worth and the chance to live their lives as integrated members of society.
Today Shaw Trust is the UK’s largest charity in the field of disability, disadvantage and employment. Nearly 1000 staff now support over 20,000 people across England, Scotland and Wales through job preparation, job finding, job support, job retention and job creation. Our Young People’s Services help 250 young people, with disabilities or difficult social circumstances, each year.
Shaw Trust is working in partnership with over 4,000 companies to support people with disabilities in employment, ranging from large retail banks to corner shops. We run 120 projects designed to develop skills in key areas of employment, including: horticulture, retail, IT, catering, business administration and arts and crafts.
Case Study
A teenager, expelled from school at just 14, is on a winning streak as a trainee mechanic with Superbike champions Honda Racing. Lincoln lad Thomas Harrison, shunned by society because of behavioural problems, has turned his life around, with the help of Shaw Trust and Lincolnshire County Council’s innovative last chance education project Solutions 4. Now 17 year-old Thomas has raced from a bleak history of fighting and criminal damage to a new life of work, wages and the glamour of the British Superbike Championships.
Honda Racing has given him a paid trainee mechanic position after his successful work placement. Thomas will assist the mechanics on the exciting 2004-launched Red Bull Rookies Honda (RBRH) youth development programme, which is fuelling the stars of tomorrow. "It’s fitting that Thomas is getting the chance to shine as part of the RBRH programme, which is all about developing young people," says Race Team Co-ordinator Havier Beltran.
"The project certainly opens doors," says Shaw Trust Officer, Janet Freebury. It took months for Janet to capitalise on Thomas’s love of motorbikes by securing the Honda placement, because the team is obviously so busy winning races. "But they pulled out all the stops to help, and Thomas was ecstatic when they said yes," she says.
"The changes in him have been unbelievable. To be excluded from school is a big knock-back for any youngster, who is suddenly on the scrap heap, and their self-confidence is non- existent. The project nurtures and educates them, and they develop a work ethic. Where would teenagers like Thomas be now, if it wasn't for the project?"
Our history
Shaw Trust is a leading national charity, which was founded in 1981 during the International Year for Disabled Persons.
Shaw Trust originated in the village of Shaw, specifically to meet the known needs of a small group of individuals. All were severely disabled, but each one had valuable skills and abilities.
By focusing on what they could do, rather than what they could not, real jobs were found with employers. This not only meant employment and income, but independence, a sense of self worth and the chance to live their lives as integrated members of society.