The Clink programme is already running in eight prisons including HMP Bristol, Downsview and Styal. The programme trains offenders in professionally-run prison kitchens for up to 35 hours a week. Prisoners prepare and cook meals daily while simultaneously working towards professional qualifications to enable them to find employment when they are released for jail.
Over the last decade The Clink has already helped over 2,500 offenders into employment and the expansion of the scheme is expected to help a further 2,000 achieve this.
Prisons Minister Alex Chalk said: “As we continue to build back safer from the pandemic, it is absolutely vital that we continue to address the root causes of crime by supporting offenders to turn their lives around – and this scheme will do precisely that for thousands of ex-prisoners.”
Research shows that ex-offenders in work are more likely to turn their backs on crime for good, with prisoners who have taken part in The Clink’s training scheme almost a third less likely to go on to commit further offences – reducing the £18bn a year cost of reoffending and keeping communities safe.
Christopher Moore, chief executive of The Clink, added: “The roll-out of The Clink Kitchens project over the next three years to 70 prisons in England and Wales, will enable us to continue to repair society and support the hospitality industry that has a major skills shortage.
“Social mobility is at the heart of many companies’ recruitment agenda and employing a highly trained Clink graduate not only is a benefit to their business but increases the diversity of their workforce.”