Family's £100,000 Pledge Funds Grenada Students
Students in Grenada can apply for bursaries and scholarships from a fund set up as an apology for colonial slavery.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Scholarships
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Former BBC correspondent Laura Trevelyan pledged £100,000 ($134,000) towards education in Grenada as an apology for her family's role in colonial slavery, a pledge she first made when she travelled to the island in 2023. The fund has helped more than 50 students through bursaries and scholarships.
Why it matters
The fund shows how a private apology can be paired with direct funding for students, a model the wider debate over reparatory justice is now weighing as Commonwealth leaders meet. For students in Grenada, the fund is a concrete source of bursaries and scholarships tied to the island's schooling.
The Trevelyan pledge is £100,000 ($134,000), with the source using an exchange rate of $1 = 0.7468 pounds. The fund has supported more than 50 students in Grenada through bursaries and scholarships since it was established.
The players
Laura Trevelyan
Former BBC correspondent whose family owned plantations in Grenada and who established the education fund there.
Andy Burnham
British Prime Minister due to attend the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda.
The details
Trevelyan's family members researched their involvement in slavery, then worked with Grenadian historians and reparations advocates before travelling to the island to apologise publicly and set up the fund. The Trevelyan fund provides bursaries and scholarships to students in Grenada, and more than 50 have received support so far. The pledge is framed as an apology for a family history that included plantation ownership on the island.
Timeline
1400s-1800s: European traders sold millions of Africans into slavery.
2023: Trevelyan travelled to Grenada to apologise and pledge the funds.
Early November 2026: Commonwealth summit held in Antigua and Barbuda, with debate over slavery and reparatory justice expected to dominate.
Education Landscape
The fund reflects a longer debate over how colonial-era wealth connects to present-day investment in schooling in former colonies. The Commonwealth summit now underway places that question in front of heads of government.
Students in Grenada who are awarded bursaries or scholarships from the Trevelyan fund are the population most directly affected, and any student in the program should confirm award terms with the fund's administrators. Students considering scholarship funding more broadly can ask scholarship providers how awards are disbursed and renewed.
The takeaway
A private apology paired with scholarship funding is one concrete form that redress can take, and the wider reparations debate may shape how similar pledges are structured. Students who rely on bursaries should ask the awarding body how funds are paid and renewed.
What happens next
Commonwealth leaders meet in Antigua and Barbuda this week, and King Charles is expected to make a speech on Tuesday.
Further reading
For more on how bursaries and scholarships work for students, see our Scholarships coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by U.S. News & World Report.
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