A new restaurant is getting ready to open at Styal Prison which will be a joint venture between Her Majesty's Prison Service and The Clink Charity.
The Clink Charity will open its fourth prisoner training restaurant to the public on Thursday 30th April. It will be the charity's first restaurant to operate within a women's prison and train up to 30 prisoners at a time in both cooking and front of house service, working in a true-to-life environment. They will work under the guidance of experienced trainers to achieve nationally recognised City & Guilds NVQs.
The Clink Restaurant at HMP Styal will offer diners a similar experience to The Clink Restaurant at HMP Cardiff as the restaurant is situated within the prison grounds but outside the prison walls - meaning it will open to the public for lunch Monday to Friday, with evening and weekend opening times to be introduced later in the year. The restaurant will seat 120 guests and include two private dining rooms.
John Hewitson, Governor of HMP Styal commented on the opening, "We are delighted to welcome this exciting partnership with The Clink Charity which I am certain will help us get more women into employment and, in turn, help reduce the risk of reoffending. When the restaurant opens, it will give the public an opportunity to see first-hand how we're helping to prepare the women for release. All of the women in Styal will be returning to their communities at some point and it is vital that when they do they are better prepared to lead a law-abiding life than when they came into custody."
Chris Moore, chief executive of The Clink Charity, added, "The launch of The Clink Restaurant at HMP Styal is testament to the ongoing success of the charity and its positive influence on the national rehabilitation of prisoners. This is the first restaurant we will operate in a women's prison and through the use of The Clink's Five Step Model of recruitment, training, support, employment and mentoring, we are contributing to the reduction in prisoner reoffending in the UK by training up to 30 prisoners at a time in the restaurant and kitchen. Each year we hope to release at least 50 trained and qualified women into employment within the hospitality industry."
With the sole aim of reducing prisoner reoffending, The Clink Charity mentors each graduate weekly for a further six to 12 months, once training is completed and prisoners are released, supporting them in finding full time employment.
To find out more about The Clink Charity and to book a table at The Clink Restaurant at HMP Styal visit www.theclinkcharity.org.
Comments
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Great to see a proper rehabilitation program being put in place.
"Usually a job applicant has no legal obligation to reveal spent convictions. If an applicant has a conviction that has become spent, the employer must treat the applicant as if the conviction has not happened. A refusal to employ a rehabilitated person on the grounds of a spent conviction is unlawful under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA)1974."
On that basis it would seem that DBS checks at least should not prevent future employment.
IIRC WTC did try to obtain assurances that any grant awarded would be allocated to the Styal project and not just subsumed into the national Clink Charity accounts. I estimate your personal C Tax contribution to the Clink Styal project at less than 50p.
It is right we hold each level of Govt accountable for their expenditure, with Town/Parish Councils, this can be achieved by public participation Q's at rel meeting or motions at the annual town/parish meeting.
Styal was initially proposed to be part of WTC, along with Handforth, until the electorate voted otherwise.
Anybody can apply for a Grant from eligible source.
NB your 2015-16 C Tax will be increased by at least 50p/pa by the allowable increase in Fire/Police service precept.
It may well be that, having had the opportunity to take part in a creative project like this, some of the inmates can be inspired to make something positive of their lives after release.