Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor (born 4 November 1981) is an English criminologist, philanthropist and prison reformer. She is a founder and a trustee of the charity The Clink, and founder of the charity One Small Thing. She is the sister of Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.

Lady Edwina Grosvenor
BornLady Edwina Louise Grosvenor
(1981-11-04) 4 November 1981 (age 42)
Eaton Hall, Cheshire, England
Noble familyGrosvenor
Spouse(s)
(m. 2010)
Issue3
FatherGerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
MotherNatalia Phillips
Occupation
  • criminologist[1]
  • philanthropist
  • prison reformer

Early life and education

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Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor was born at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, on 4 November 1981.[2] She is the daughter of the 6th Duke of Westminster and Natalia Ayesha Phillips.[3] Through her mother, she is descended from the Romanov imperial family of Russia and the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin, as well as from the latter's great-grandfather – African tribal chief turned Russian nobleman Abram Petrovich Hannibal.[4] Grosvenor's godmother was Diana, Princess of Wales.[5] She went to a co-educational school in Shropshire.[2][6] At the age of 12, she was taken to a Liverpool rehabilitation centre, where she was introduced to heroin addicts and became interested in helping society's unseen people.[7] At age 15, she volunteered at a homeless shelter run by the charity Save the Family.[8] She spent her gap year working in a prison in Kathmandu before studying criminology at Northumbria University.[2] She studied criminal behaviour at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.[9] In August 2021, Grosvenor graduated from Solent University with a master’s degree in criminology and crime scene management, achieving a distinction.[10]

Career

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Prison reform

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During her time in Nepal, Grosvenor worked for The Esther Benjamins Trust, a charity which works to have innocent children removed from prison.[11] She also worked at the Central Jail in Kathmandu.[7] Lady Edwina commissioned research by the Corston Coalition into the needs of women offenders,[10][12] spent a year as a support worker at Cheshire's HM Prison Styal,[13] then worked in HM Prison Garth in Lancashire, helping with the restorative justice program.[13] She sits on the Advisory Board for Female Offenders under the Secretary of State for Justice[11][14] and, from 2007 to 2010, was an advisor to James Jones, then Bishop of Liverpool and Bishop to Her Majesty's Prisons.[2][10][15] In 2009, Grosvenor became the founding investor of The Clink, a British charity that identifies the training and support needed for prisoners to find jobs following release.[10][16] The Clink restaurant, a fine-dining training restaurant, opened in HM Prison High Down in 2009.[6] She became a trustee of the charity in 2011, before stepping down as a trustee in 2018. She now serves as one of The Clink ambassadors.[17] She also works with Pathways, a London-based community regeneration program that helps to create sustainable businesses run by former offenders.[2]

In 2014, Grosvenor presented the BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal for the Prisoners' Advice Service.[18][19] In 2015, she visited Ellesmere College and delivered a speech about prison reform and rehabilitation.[6] She founded One Small Thing, a charity that seeks to understand the trauma within the prison system and raise awareness of how compassion and respect can prevent women from re-offending.[10][20] One Small Thing trains prison staff about trauma, helps them change their behaviour to protect women inmates, and develops trauma services within prisons.[21] Edwina founded the Becoming Trauma Informed program across the Female Prison Estate in England and Wales.[21] In September 2017, One Small Thing collaborated with the Rumi Foundation to research women's prisons around the country.[20] In 2018, One Small Thing was awarded the Howard League for Penal Reform's Criminal Justice Champion Award.[22]

Grosvenor became a member of the advisory board to the Centre for Criminology in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford,[10] and, in 2020, donated £90,000 to the University of Oxford to fund the Death Penalty Research Unit.[23]

Lady Edwina works on a project called Hope Street, a healing residential community alternative for women who were in custody prior to sentencing or already served their sentences alongside their children.[8][24] The programme was monitored by the University of Southampton, The Prison Reform Trust and EP:IC.[25]

In March 2022, she became the High Sheriff of Hampshire.[26]

Recognition

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In July 2018, Grosvenor was awarded an honorary fellowship of Liverpool John Moores University for her contribution to public life.[27]

Personal life

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Grosvenor married British television presenter Dan Snow on 27 November 2010 at Bishop's Lodge in Woolton, Liverpool in an Anglican ceremony performed by James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool. They have three children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hunt, Julia (7 June 2019). "'Highbrow heart-throb' Dan Snow honoured for services to history". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Levin, Angela (1 October 2013). "Lady Edwina Grosvenor: 'I see my wealth as a gift that I should put to good use'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor – Latest news, opinion, advice, pictures, video – Cheshire Live". cheshire-live.co.uk. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Descendant Of Pushkin And The Romanovs Becomes World's Youngest Billionaire". rbth.com. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. ^ "BBC News | UK | Diana's godchildren remembered". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Lady Edwina Grosvenor inspires sixth formers at former school | Ellesmere College | A 7–18 Co-educational School – Shropshire & North Wales School/College". ellesmere.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  7. ^ a b "The Duke's daughter: I went into my first prison at 18. It's been a love affair ever since". The Times. 20 May 2013. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Philanthropy: Lady Edwina Grosvenor on prison reform". Lux. 7 May 2021. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor | Centre for Mental Health". centreformentalhealth.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Edwina Grosvenor". One Small Thing. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Year Here – Lady Edwina Grosvenor". Year Here. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  12. ^ House of Commons Justice Committee (2013). Women offenders : after the Corston Report : second report of session 2013–14. Stationery Office. ISBN 9780215060075. OCLC 857281085.
  13. ^ a b James, Erwin (25 September 2012). "Edwina Grosvenor: the lady who can't leave jail". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Advisory Board on Female Offenders". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor". Liverpool John Moores University. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  16. ^ "THE CLINK — OUR STORY". The Clink Charity. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  17. ^ "THE CLINK CHARITY APPOINTS NEW TRUSTEES AND AMBASSADOR". The Clink Charity. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  18. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Radio 4 Appeal, Prisoners' Advice Service". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Prisoners' Advice Service". Prisoners’ Advice Service. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Prisons reform with Lady Edwina Grosvenor". The Rumi Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  21. ^ a b "About". One Small Thing. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  22. ^ "The Howard League | 2018 Community Awards Winners". The Howard League. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor donates three years of funding for the 'Death Penalty Research Unit'". Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. 6 May 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  24. ^ Patel, Jaanki (1 December 2021). "Police and Crime Commissioner Visit to Hope Street". One Small Thing. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  25. ^ Henni, Janine (27 June 2023). "Kate Middleton Opens New Community for Women in the Justice System — and Leaves a Handwritten Note!". People. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  26. ^ Aitken, Catriona (31 March 2022). "New High Sheriff of Hampshire sworn in at Winchester Crown Court". Basingstoke Gazette. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  27. ^ "LJMU announces Honorary Fellowships for July Graduation". ljmu.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.