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Meet our team of 20 staff members, based in London and Cardiff – all of them dedicated to transforming lives through learning.

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Jon Collins portrait

Jon Collins

Chief Executive

Jon Collins

Chief Executive

Jon joined Prisoners’ Education Trust as Chief Executive in April 2021, having previously been chief executive of the Magistrates Association. Prior to that, Jon was chief executive of the Restorative Justice Council and he has previously worked at the Police Foundation, the Criminal Justice Alliance, the Fawcett Society and Nacro. Jon is a member of the Victims’ Commissioner Advisory Group and the Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling. He is also a governor of a London primary school.

Which course?

"I would choose Deaf Awareness and Sign Language as I would love to be able to sign. It’s such an amazing skill and it would be fascinating to learn how to do it."

Delivery team

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Clare Lloyd

Head of Service Delivery

Clare Lloyd

Head of Service Delivery

Clare joined Prisoners’ Education Trust in December 2015 after working as a senior manager at CGL for the previous 10 years. Initially Clare worked as Head of the Welsh Prison Project, heading up a pilot project looking into practical ways to improve the experience of distance learners in Welsh prisons. Clare was appointed Head of Service Delivery in January 2018, using her experience and evidence gathered from the Welsh project to take a key role in the delivery of PET’s strategy for 2018-20. Clare takes the lead for volunteering and safeguarding at PET.

Which course?

"Principles of Plant Growth, Health and Applied Propagation. I am a very enthusiastic but not always successful gardener so this course would help me understand how to nurture my garden and hopefully produce some beautiful plants."

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Suzan Nabbanja

Grant Programme Manager

Suzan Nabbanja

Grant Programme Manager

Suzan is our longest-serving staff member, beginning as a volunteer when there were just six members of staff. As Grant Programme Manager she oversees the 400 plus applications that PET receives every month. She regularly visits prisons to encourage people in prison to study and advise them on course choices.  

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Siobhan Jackson

Grant Programme Administrator

Siobhan Jackson

Grant Programme Administrator

Siobhan has worked for PET previously, working on the Grant Programme for over nine years. In September 2022, she returned as Grant Programme Administrator to work alongside her colleague in the day-to-day running of the Grants Programme and the preparation of the many applications that are submitted for funding every month.

Which course?

"My course choice would be Mental Health Awareness because I think there’s such a huge focus on this at the moment and it’s very important to be aware of your own mental health issues as well as those around you."

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John Lister

Advice Manager

John Lister

Advice Manager

John has worked as PET’s Advice Manager for nearly a decade, following a long career as an education and careers adviser in the community. At PET, he leads on the delivery of information, advice, guidance to people in prison, including the Advice Line, which every month takes hundreds of calls from prisoners seeking advice on course choice and career progression. John also assesses the courses that PET offer and helps put together the PET prospectus.

Which course?

"I have to say that I’m intrigued by the CACHE Level 2 Prevention and Control of Infection course. In a post-pandemic world, it’s something that we all might need to understand better."

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Rebecca Page

Engagement and Development Manager

Rebecca Page

Engagement and Development Manager

Rebecca joined PET in 2019 as the Implementation Manager, responsible for developing and digitising the charity’s grant funding, advice and monitoring. Rebecca has a passion for people management and frontline engagement in prisons, and brings to the role her background in the financial and charitable sectors, as well as her own lived experience.

Previously she worked as the Senior Operations Manager at the criminal justice charity User Voice, fostering dialogue between service providers and service users to bring change to the system.

Which course?

"Probably Deaf Awareness and Sign Language as what an amazing, inclusive skill to learn!"

Iva Gray

Iva Gray

Engagement and Development Officer

Iva Gray

Engagement and Development Officer

Iva is PET’s Engagement and Development Officer. In her role, she provides information, advice, guidance (IAG) and support for potential and current distance learners and prison staff who support distance learners. She works in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders in order to extend PET’s reach and support.

Iva has previously provided IAG and support at PET as part of the Welsh Prison Project. She has extensive experience of teaching in the prison setting as well as in the HE sector.

Which course?

"I would choose Agile Project Management, this is a flexible approach to project management with a focus on review and reflection. I’d learn how to split a project into smaller chunks to deliver goals and objectives which I'd like to learn more about."

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Pwyll ap Stifin

Digital Officer

Pwyll ap Stifin

Digital Officer

Cameron Smith

Digital Content Officer

Cameron Smith

Digital Content Officer

I joined PET in March 2024 to work on the new Digital Innovation Project in collaboration with HMPPS. I’ve worked in the prison charity sector for the last year and really enjoy being part of and seeing the impactful work organisations like PET continue to deliver.

Which course?

I would love to do the Learning to Draw course. I like the idea of following a structured course to help develop my very basic drawing skills.

Osaze Tebong

Digital Content Officer

Osaze Tebong

Digital Content Officer

Osaze joined PET in 2024 with a rich background in education, fashion and textiles. Passionate about innovative learning and digital technology, she enjoys working with diverse groups. With her expertise in education and instructional design, Osaze is committed to helping others succeed.

Which course?

I love travelling and exploring different cultures, so I'd choose to learn Japanese. I’m fascinated by Japan’s culture, traditions, history, and cuisine, and it's high on my list of places to visit.

Finance team

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Andrew Smardon

Head of Finance

Andrew Smardon

Head of Finance

Andrew joined PET in 2018. He is a chartered accountant with over 15 years’ experience in the charity and not-for-profit sector. Andrew is also a trustee of a national arts and literature charity.

Which course?

"I am interested in languages and translation, so would do one of the wide variety of Linguaphone courses."

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Nalani Sriskantharajah

Financial Controller

Nalani Sriskantharajah

Financial Controller

Nalani joined PET in July 2017.  Prior to that she worked in various third sector organisations in the membership to charity sector.

Which course?

“I always wanted to do a social science degree, if I could choose a distance learning course I would do something like that”.

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Thanga Sathi

Finance Officer

Thanga Sathi

Finance Officer

Which course?

"If I could choose a distance learning course, I would choose an accounting course. I recently started an online course for Level 7 Diploma Accounting and Finance.”

Fundraising and External Affairs team

PET_team_Cassie_Edmiston

Cassie Edmiston

Head of Fundraising and External Affairs

Cassie Edmiston

Head of Fundraising and External Affairs

Cassie has led the PET fundraising team since 2011, joining from a senior management role at a regional cancer charity. Cassie is a trustee for the charity Equalities Work, which works in The Foundry (PET’s office building), putting on events with the local community that promote tolerance and understanding. She also sits on the advisory group for LJ Flanders’ Cell Workout initiative, bringing sports and education into prisons.

In 2016, Cassie was named one of Fundraising Magazine’s ’25 under 35′ best professional charity fundraisers in the UK.

Which course?

“If I could pick any distance learning course, I would study Deaf Awareness and Sign Language. Good communication of all types is essential to my role and I would love to be able to sign well.”

Hannah Richards

Trusts Fundraising Manager

Hannah Richards

Trusts Fundraising Manager

Hannah has worked at PET since 2014 and been in her current role as the Trusts Fundraising Manager since 2015. Her favourite part of the job is reading the testimonies of people who have successfully finished their courses.

Which course?

"If I had the chance to study again I would choose something to do with horticulture or conservation."

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Alex Hitchcock

Trusts Fundraising Officer

Alex Hitchcock

Trusts Fundraising Officer

Alex joined PET in 2021, and works in the Fundraising team to maintain PET’s important relationship with its network of Trust funders. He is also a professional saxophonist, and enjoys travelling to play and collaborating with musicians from around the world.

Which course?

"Teaching English as a Foreign Language would be a really interesting one – I really enjoy teaching and find the process of learning languages fascinating so it would be a good combination of the two."

Freya running the Royal Parks Half Marathon

Freya Clarke

Individual Giving Manager

Freya Clarke

Individual Giving Manager

Freya joined the PET fundraising team in 2022, with experience working in individual and legacy giving at LGBTQ+ homelessness, healthcare and education charities. Freya is on the development committee for Clean Break and is a mentor for the Longford Trust.

Which course?

I'd choose to study Arabic. I learned a few languages growing up in Luxembourg and I think Arabic would be great as my next challenge!

Chloe Buchanan

Fundraising Officer

Chloe Buchanan

Fundraising Officer

Chloe joined PET in 2024. She has a varied background, with experience fundraising for a local youth charity, as well as working in higher education and the yachting industry. She is really pleased to be making a difference for learners in prison as part of PET’s fundraising team.

Which course?

I would choose to learn Dutch, not only because I love to travel and learn languages, but half of my family are Dutch and live in The Netherlands! I have been rather spoilt by their dedication to communicating in English, so I’d like to honour their kindness and make an effort to learn.

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Calum Walker

Media and Communications Manager

Calum Walker

Media and Communications Manager

Calum joined PET in 2018, after a year working in the communications team at the anti-poverty charity Turn2us. Prior to that he spent three years in the television industry, working in drama production.

Which course?

I'd pick Learning to Draw. I love art but I've never been any good at making it myself. I'd like to see if taking this course could help me improve!

PET Alumni Advisory Group

PET are committed to ensuring our ways of working and our policy priorities are guided by people with lived experience of prison education.

In order to achieve this, we began our Alumni Advisory Group in 2014. Currently the group has 11 members who meet quarterly and recruits new members once a year.

Members contribute to the ongoing development of PET’s work in various ways, including sitting on PET’s Quality Assurance Panel, which oversees our application process, and our Strategy Focus Group, which guides the implementation of our organisational strategy. Some members are employed by PET as Lived Experience Consultants.

Group members also join the staff team on awaydays and at other celebration events.

© Prisoners' Education Trust 2024

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