The Duke of Westminster is to make a personal donation of £250,000 to help Cheshire’s state high schools buy lockable phone pouches.
The donation means Cheshire is likely to become the first county in the UK where all mainstream state high schools adopt effective phone-free education.
In 2025, nine of Cheshire’s 71 mainstream high schools had 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.
Last November, the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Dan Price launched an ambition to make all Cheshire schools phone-free.
He offered £150k of funding from proceeds of crime to buy phone pouches for students on free school meals, if their schools could find a way to fund the remaining amount.
Two months on, more than 50% (37) of Cheshire’s schools have taken up the offer and have plans in place to implement in the next 12 months.
The Duke of Westminster’s donation will make it easier for every school, including those already signed up, to implement a phone-free approach.
The campaign is driven by growing concerns around young people’s mental health, wellbeing and online safety.
It has been driven by Esther Ghey, mother of murdered teenager Brianna, who met staff and students at Birchwood Community High School in Warrington where her daughter attended.
While many schools operate ‘out of sight’ phone bans, these are often difficult to enforce without lockable pouches.
The Duke of Westminster 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.
“Through my work with the Westminster Foundation, I’ve seen how practical, evidence-based interventions can make a lasting difference to young people’s lives and this is one of them.
“I’m proud to support the Police and Crime Commissioner with this campaign in making Cheshire the first county to take this step.”
Dan Price, Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner added: “The Duke’s generous personal donation means 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.”
Schools with lockable pouches are seeing positive results in wellbeing and a dramatic reduction in online safeguarding incidents, as high as 81% reduction.
Going from an ‘out of sight’ policy to adoption of phone pouches saw Birchwood Community High School:
– Achieve its best ever GCSE results
– Increase its attainment 8 score for disadvantaged students from 24.7 to 40.1
– Improve persistence absences by 8.1%
– Reduce its exclusions to zero
Esther Ghey said: “I’m incredibly proud that Cheshire is leading the way with the Phone Free Education campaign.
“We know becoming phone-free has a powerful positive impact, from improvements in GCSE outcomes and significant reductions in safeguarding incidents, to better behaviour and improved teacher wellbeing.
“For many schools, the main barrier has been funding, and the generosity shown by the Duke of Westminster and Dan Price is removing that barrier here in Cheshire.”
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