'RUNNING UP THAT HILL': What our scholar Tim Kerr discovered on one of our travelling scholarships READ NOW

How The Longford Trust Changes Lives

Our annual Longford Lecture promotes fresh thinking about prison and associated social reform. The Longford Prize highlights organisations and individuals putting fresh thinking into practice. Our most measurable outcomes, or contribution to changing lives, comes when our Longford Scholars graduate and build successful careers – like Lee Cutter, pictured above with Sally Taylor of the Koestler Trust, at an exhibition of his recent work at Christie’s in London in November 2017.


83.3% Success Rate 

In the 19 years of our scholarship programme, over 80% of those we support graduate, get degree-level jobs, and get on with their lives – including Kieron, pictured right with 2024 Lecturer Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe. Fewer than 5% return to prison, against a national rate for prisoners of more than 50%.


Positive Feedback

Each year, we commission an independent evaluation of our scholarship and mentoring programme, where those involved are interviewed – including former scholar and trustee Imran (right) with Jon Snow – and share their observations anonymously. The most recent exercise in December 2023, reported that 100 per cent of scholars found our mentoring provision “helpful” or “very helpful”.


“The Longford Trust has provided me with the added support I needed in order to unlock my true potential.” Imran, current Longford Scholar (pictured above)

What We Do