Longford Trust

£45,000 | Funding from 2017 to 2019

The Longford Trust offers scholarships of up to £5,000 per year to serving and ex-prisoners to take degree courses. It has three programmes:

• An annual lecture to raise the profile of prison reform, with speakers including Desmond Tutu and Michael Palin.
• An annual prize awarded to an organisation doing outstanding but often unsung work in prisoner rehabilitation.
• The Longford Scholarship scheme, currently working with 50 ex-prisoners taking university degrees throughout the UK in subjects from animal management to law. In the 12 years of the scheme, some 85% of award-holders have completed their degrees—and fewer than 5% have returned to prison.

The Foundation has been supporting the Longford Trust since 2014.