Lady Edwina Grosvenor Champions University Scholarships for Prisoners' Children
Philanthropist and criminologist Lady Edwina Grosvenor has launched a pioneering university scholarship programme aimed at supporting young people whose lives have been impacted by the criminal justice system. The initiative, developed in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, seeks to challenge the stigma and secrecy facing children of prisoners and young offenders themselves.
A Lifelong Commitment to Justice Reform
Despite being born into considerable wealth and privilege as the daughter of the sixth Duke of Westminster, Lady Edwina's commitment to criminal justice reform began early. Her transformative experiences included working with mothers at risk of losing their children during a charity placement in north Wales as a teenager, and visiting a drug treatment centre in Liverpool with her father.
These experiences, combined with later work at Central Jail in Kathmandu during travels in Nepal, sparked what she describes as being "bitten by the prison bug." After completing an undergraduate degree in criminology and sociology, she embarked on a career dedicated to prison reform and philanthropy, becoming a vocal critic of successive governments' neglect of the justice sector.
The 'Forgotten' Victims of the Justice System
"The children of prisoners are usually forgotten more than any other group I can think of in this country, and it's a complete scandal," Lady Edwina told The Independent. She emphasised the particular challenges facing young people living with the shame of having a parent, sibling or other family member in prison.
"I think it's difficult to find your tribe when you're a young person," she continued. "Imagine living with the shame of a parent being in prison, or a brother or a sister. How do you find the other people who've been through a similar thing?"
No official data exists on how many children's lives are affected by parental imprisonment, but research indicates they experience some of the worst educational outcomes of any social group in Britain. Government figures reveal that only 13 percent of pupils who were continuously looked after in care for twelve months or more enter higher education, compared to 43 percent of all other pupils.
Groundbreaking Scholarship Programme
The Lady Edwina Grosvenor Scholarships represent a first-of-its-kind initiative that will provide financial support for nine students alongside dedicated staff assistance to ensure recipients and other students impacted by the justice system receive comprehensive support during their studies.
"I feel like those children and young people have been constantly failed by adults," Lady Edwina explained. "Once they've served their time, is it not the duty of educational institutions, and for us adults who care, to do everything within our power to make sure that they go on to lead a better life?"
The programme aims to offer participants "just a chance to learn, a chance to be educated, a chance to be able to walk into an educational institution without feeling like they have to hide something."
Personal Testimonies Highlight Programme's Potential
'Emma', a current Manchester Metropolitan University student who grew up in care and struggled with a criminal record, described how education transformed her life. "I had no idea how life changing that would be for me," she said of her university experience.
She highlighted how desistance theory - the process by which individuals reduce offending and maintain non-criminal lifestyles - became personally relevant through her studies. "I found all of those things during my degree at Manchester Met, where I was surrounded by experts who were able to see beyond my past, and offered unwavering support throughout that transformative experience."
Addressing Systemic Failures
Lady Edwina criticised what she described as an "expensive failure" of a prison system suffering from decades of underinvestment. She expressed particular concern about government plans to slash frontline spending on education courses in some prisons by up to fifty percent, calling this a "real backwards step."
"Justice is an unprotected department," she noted. "If the treasury are looking to cut anything anywhere, it's always going to be the unprotected departments. And who is fighting for the justice department in the way that you'd fight for education, in the way that you'd fight for health?"
She emphasised that prison stability directly impacts public safety, noting that aside from approximately seventy prisoners serving whole life orders, everyone else will eventually be released. "So actually, it is really important that our prisons work and that people are stable in there, because they will come out onto the streets to a place near you."
Academic Support and Future Impact
Professor Julie Scott Jones, deputy pro-vice-chancellor for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Manchester Metropolitan University, described the scholarships as "an exciting way to improve access to higher education for people whose lives have been impacted by the criminal justice system."
"Not only will these scholarships provide access to higher education," she added, "they have the potential to influence UK-wide policy by creating a pipeline of change-makers who actually understand how the system affects young people like them."
The partnership continues the Grosvenor family's longstanding connection with Manchester Metropolitan University, where Lady Edwina's late father, Gerald Grosvenor, served as chancellor from 1992 to 2005.
Current vice-chancellor Professor Malcolm Press stated: "The experiences young people have had should be no barrier to their future success in life, and the Lady Edwina Grosvenor Scholarships will provide the opportunity and support to ensure the talents of these young people can reach their full potential."
The first recipients of the Lady Edwina Grosvenor Scholarships will begin their studies in September 2026, marking a significant step toward addressing what their founder describes as one of Britain's most overlooked social justice issues.
