Edwina Grosvenor (St Oswald's 1998-2000)

Since graduating in 2005 from Northumbria University where she studied Criminology and Sociology, Edwina has developed a career in prison reform. Her work has taken her all over the UK and around the world, visiting different models of criminal justice and witnessing first hand examples of best and worst prison practice. From the children residing in Nepalese prisons to the death row residents in the United States high security institutions, Edwina has made it her mission to act as a witness to prisons wherever she may be.

Between 2007-2011 Edwina supported and advised The Right Reverend The Bishop of Liverpool and Bishop of prisons, James Jones. She was on the Corston Coalition of Independent Funders, driving implementation of the report for Female offenders in 2007. Edwina sits on the advisory board to the Centre for Criminology in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford.

For the last five years, Edwina has sat on the Women's Advisory Board for Female Offenders under The Secretary of State for Justice, to advise the Government and oversee the reforms to the female prison estate. During this time, a progressive female offender strategy was published which emphasized the need to reduce the number of women in prison, to understand trauma in a gender specific sense and it also moved towards a recognition that the vast majority of women in prison should and could be better cared for in the community.

Edwina is the founder and Chair of One Small Thing, an organisation that works with prisoners and staff in both male and female prisons and in the community. One Small Thing was set up to encourage a better understanding of trauma within the prison system and how to deal most effectively with those who have experienced it. It is now reaching beyond the prison walls and Edwina is currently working on redesigning the Justice system for women in England and Wales.

She is a founding investor and Ambassador of the Clink Restaurant chain, which trains prisoners for work in the catering industry. The four large fine dining restaurants, which are open to the general public, are built in prisons and staffed by men and women who are still serving time in order to train them in the necessary skills to secure a job in the catering industry upon release. The Clink has a 90% success rate with its graduates. She is a trustee to the Centre for Mental Health and Patron of Paladin, which is the country's only national stalking advocacy service.

20th March 2020  Back to Where are they now?