Lady Edwina Grosvenor

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
Born	Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor (1981-11-04) 4 November 1981 (age 41) Eaton Hall, Cheshire, England
Noble family	Grosvenor
Spouse(s)	Daniel Snow ​ (m. 2010)​
Issue	3
Father	Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
Mother	Natalia Phillips
Occupation	criminologist^[1] philanthropist prison reformer

Early life and education

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 the Wirral.^[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 the age of 15, she volunteered in a homeless shelter organised by Save the Family charity.^[8] She spent her gap year working in a prison in Kathmandu before studying criminology at Northumbria University.^[2] In Nepal she worked to help innocent children get out of prison.^[9] She studied criminal behaviour at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.^[10] In August 2021, Grosvenor graduated from Solent University with a master’s degree in criminology and crime scene management achieving a distinction.^[11]

Career

Prison reform

During her time in Nepal, she worked for The Esther Benjamin's Trust, a charity which were trying to get innocent children removed from prison.^[9] She also spent her time working at the Central Jail in Kathmandu.^[7] Lady Edwina commissioned research by Corston Coalition into the needs of women offenders.^[11][12] She spent a year as a support worker for the HM Prison Styal.^[13] After spent time in Styal, she worked in HM Prison Garth and helping with the restorative justice programme.^[13] She sits on the Advisory Board for Female Offenders under the Secretary of State for Justice.^[9][14] From 2007 until 2010, Grosvenor became an adviser for James Jones, when he was Bishop of Liverpool and Bishop for Prisoners in the House of Lords.^[2][11][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.^[11][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. After stepping down, she serves as one of The Clink ambassadors.^[17] She presented the BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal for the Prisoners' Advice Service in 2014.^[18][19]

In 2015, Grosvenor 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 to raise awareness of how compassion and respect can prevent women from reoffending.^[11][20] One Small Things 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 programme across smaller women's 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] Grosvenor is a trustee of the Centre for Mental Health, and has established trauma informed mental health workshops in women's prisons.^[10][22] She is an ambassador of the No Way Trust which educates school students to the realities of prison life, crime and consequence.^[23] Grosvenor hosts the podcast named Justice, where she discusses the environment of British prisons.^[24] Grosvenor became a member on the advisory board to the Centre for Criminology in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford.^[11] She also donated £90,000 to the University of Oxford to fund the Death Penalty Research Unit in 2020.^[25] She is a member of the Vice Chancellor's Circle of Benefactors of the University of Oxford's Faculty of Law.^[26] Lady Edwina works on a project called Hope Street, a healing community alternative for women who were in custody prior to sentencing or already served their sentences alongside their children.^[8][27] She also works with Pathways, a London-based community regeneration programme to create sustainable businesses run by former offenders.^[2]

Other ventures and advocacy

She is a founding member of the Global Philanthropic Advisory Board in January 2022.^[11] She is a patron of Paladin, a non-profit stalking advocacy service.^[11][28]

In March 2022, Grosvenor became the High Sheriff of Hampshire.^[29]

Recognition

One Small Thing were awarded the Howard League for Penal Reform's Criminal Justice Champion Award in 2018.^[30] In July 2018, Edwina was awarded an honorary fellowship of Liverpool John Moores University for her contribution to public life.^[23]

Personal life

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]

• Zia Snow (b. 13 October 2011)
• Wolf Robert Snow (b. 9 September 2014)
• Orla Snow (b. December 2015)

In June 2013, Edwina miscarried six months into her pregnancy.^[2]

References

1. Hunt, Julia (7 June 2019). "'Highbrow heart-throb' Dan Snow honoured for services to history". Irish Independent. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
2. 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. 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. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
4. "Descendant Of Pushkin And The Romanovs Becomes World's Youngest Billionaire". rbth.com. 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. "Lady Edwina Grosvenor inspires sixth formers at former school | Ellesmere College | A 7–18 Co-educational School – Shropshire & North Wales School/College". ellesmere.com. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
7. "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 30 August 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
8. "Philanthropy: Lady Edwina Grosvenor on prison reform". Lux. from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
9. "Year Here – Lady Edwina Grosvenor". Year Here. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
10. "Lady Edwina Grosvenor | Centre for Mental Health". centreformentalhealth.org.uk. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
11. "Edwina Grosvenor". One Small Thing. 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. James, Erwin (25 September 2012). "Edwina Grosvenor: the lady who can't leave jail". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
14. "Advisory Board on Female Offenders". GOV.UK. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
15. "Lady Edwina Grosvenor". Liverpool John Moores University. from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
16. "THE CLINK — OUR STORY". The Clink Charity. 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. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
18. "BBC Radio 4 – Radio 4 Appeal, Prisoners' Advice Service". BBC. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
19. "Prisoners' Advice Service". Prisoners’ Advice Service. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
20. "Prisons reform with Lady Edwina Grosvenor". The Rumi Foundation. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
21. "About". One Small Thing. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
22. Donovan, Maria. "Conference visit – "Best Practice in Mental Health" | Unlocked". from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
23. "LJMU announces Honorary Fellowships for July Graduation". ljmu.ac.uk. from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
24. "JUSTICE • A podcast on Anchor". Anchor. from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
25. "Lady Edwina Grosvenor donates three years of funding for the 'Death Penalty Research Unit'". Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. 6 May 2020. from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
26. "Our benefactors". University of Oxford. from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
27. Patel, Jaanki (1 December 2021). "Police and Crime Commissioner Visit to Hope Street". One Small Thing. from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
28. "Home". Paladin Service. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
29. Aitken, Catriona (31 March 2022). "New High Sheriff of Hampshire sworn in at Winchester Crown Court". Basingstoke Gazette. from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
30. "The Howard League | 2018 Community Awards Winners". The Howard League. from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.