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Philanthropist who has spent over 12 years working in prisons around the world, helping to further prison reform and combat the levels of crime in the UK
Lady Edwina Grosvenor is a philanthropist who has spent over twelve years working in prisons around the world, helping to further prison reform and combat the levels of crime in the UK.
Edwina first got involved in prison reform following a gap year spent working in Kathmandu Central prison in Nepal, where she helped innocent children who were caught-up serving time alongside their parents, get out of the prison. On returning to the UK, Edwina studied Criminology and Sociology at Northumbria University before then continuing her studies in Criminal Behaviour at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.
From there, the passion for prison reform grew and has taken her into more than 50 prisons in the UK and abroad. Working for reform both inside and out of prison, Edwina has sat on prisoner adjudications, been involved in restorative justice sessions and spent a year as a support worker in the notorious Styal women's prison in Cheshire. Edwina is also a member of a number of Government commissions that use her expertise and advice to help further prison reform in the UK.
In recent years, Edwina has also been heavily involved in a number of charitable organizations, including Prison! Me! No Way!, which aims to help British children avoid anti-social and criminal behaviour by educating them on the realities of crime and justice in the UK. Using innovative teaching techniques to encourage children to learn in a new way, the charity has been successful in dramatically reducing youth crime in areas of the country where it has run programmes.
Edwina has also been the driving force behind The Clink, a fine dining eatery at High Down prison in Surrey, which as well as serving the public, provides high-level catering training for prisoners. This project was later expanded to include the launch of another Clink restaurant in HMP Cardiff. If all goes to plan, the concept will be rolled out in up to a dozen prisons across the country.