35 years of empowering people with learning disabilities

Our story

Founded in 1989, the Books Beyond Words series of picture stories grew out of the personal family experience of the Hollins family and even today several family members remain involved in one way or another. Nigel’s learning and communication disabilities had sometimes led to him being excluded from ordinary opportunities in life. Nigel’s parents, Sheila and Martin Hollins found innovative ways to help him join in. This included creating visual cartoon like stories. Sheila adapted what she had learnt at home in her professional work at St George’s University of London to create When Dad Died, the first book in the series, assisted by artist and storyteller Beth Webb and bereavement expert Dr Lester Sireling. Nigel and his sisters were our first readers to check the story worked.

Over the next 22 years, the creative storytelling process and way of reading the books was developed and thoroughly evaluated under the joint guidance of Sheila as Editor with Managing Editor, Dorothea Duncan. Nigel and other volunteers with learning disabilities were deeply involved throughout. For some of this time, the series was co-published with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the books’ use was professionally led, being used mainly within the NHS as well as in psychotherapy. 

Sheila wanted people who are often excluded from ordinary life to benefit from having direct access to the books in their local library - just like Nigel was doing in his Book Club.

This first Beyond Words Book Club was co-facilitated by Nigel and his wonderful support worker, Sonya, and then Sue Carmichael began to develop Book Clubs throughout Kent and to train people in other areas who wanted to learn from her experience. Sue remains in Kent to this day, developing and maintaining a large network of Beyond Words Book Clubs.

In 2011 with the support of the University, Sheila launched a new charity in which she hoped Nigel’s leadership potential would be able to develop. Since its launch in the community, Beyond Words has evolved in unexpected ways, always seeking to find ways to empower people in their own lives - including in schools. Beyond Words is now an award-winning small charity with a growing impact, even finding new ways to reach people during the pandemic.

Co-production remains a key principle. Several people with learning disabilities, including Nigel, are long term volunteers with the charity and involved in many aspects of its work including training people to start new Book Clubs.

In 2022, Nigel was awarded a Learning Disability National Leadership Award,  as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from Beyond Words. Beyond Words was awarded a National Learning Disability Award for its work on stories for Covid-19 and won the Patient Information Award from the British Medical Association for our book Having a Baby.

Sheila became a Life Peer in 2010 in recognition of her leadership in mental health and learning disability. Baroness Hollins is Chair of the Board of Trustees and editorial content is still overseen by her, together with a wider team of expert authors, artists and readers who find pictures easier than words. The number of titles continues to grow, with over 80 stories published since 1989. 

As well as books and ebooks, we also offer:

Our team is based in Leatherhead in Surrey but we also provide training at City Lit Institute in London. We are proud of our roots as a 'spin out' social enterprise from St. George’s, University of London and maintain links with both the St George's Hospital Charity and the University.

Books Beyond Words CIO became a charity in 2019 (Registered Number 1183942).