Duke backs plan to ban mobile phones in all Cheshire schools with £250,000 donation
The county could become the first to lock away phones at all mainstream state high schools
(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
The Duke of Westminster has personally donated £250,000 in support of an ambitious plan to make high schools in Cheshire phone-free. Hugh Grosvenor has given his financial backing to the initiative by Cheshire police and crime commissioner Dan Price, which could see his county become the first where all mainstream state high schools lock pupils' mobiles away.
Mr Price said: "The duke's generous personal donation means that more young people in Cheshire will grow up with less online bullying, less access to potentially harmful or violent content, less distractions and less exclusions. With the duke's help, Cheshire is leading the way on this campaign. I know other counties are watching and also putting plans in place to follow. Together we can transform young people's lives to make their school days positive, productive and safe."
In 2020, the billionaire aristocrat – whose family home Eaton Hall is in Cheshire – donated £12.5 million to the UK's Covid-19 relief effort, including funds for NHS Charities Together and for medical research and development. Last year, nine of Cheshire's 71 mainstream high schools introduced lockable phone pouches, with most others having an "out of sight" policy, where students are asked to keep their phones in a pocket or schoolbag.
Mr Price launched his idea to make all Cheshire schools phone-free in November after seeing the positive results where schools used phone pouches and offered £150,000 of funding, from the proceeds of crime, to buy more phone storage for students on free school meals, if their schools could find a way to fund the remaining amount.
(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
Two months on, more than 50% (37) of Cheshire's schools have taken up the offer and have plans in place to provide pouches for all pupils in the next 12 months. The Department for Education's national behaviour survey for 2024/25, published in November, found fewer than one in 10 (9%) secondary school leaders said their students have to hand in mobile phones or leave them somewhere they cannot access them.
There has also been increasing calls from campaigners for stronger policies to stop phone use in schools. The Duke of Westminster's donation will support all participating schools, lowering the overall funding requirement and make it easier for every school, including those signed up, to implement a phone-free approach.
The duke, who recently visited one the first Cheshire schools to introduce phone pouches to hear about their impact, said: "This is something I feel strongly about, both personally and because the evidence is now clear. When you speak to young people, parents and teachers and look at the data from schools using lockable phone pouches, the benefits are undeniable. We're seeing real, measurable improvements in wellbeing, focus and crucially, safety.
"It isn't just about avoiding harmful content, important though that is. It's also about giving young people a break from constant notifications and the anxiety that comes with always being contactable during the school day."
The duke, who celebrated his 35th birthday on Thursday, is one of the UK's biggest landowners and is a close friend of both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, and godfather to Prince George and also reportedly to Prince Archie.