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Bread behind bars
The Clink Charity’s Simon Reeves explains how their bakery students are crafting new lives for themselves.
Founded in 2010, The Clink Charity runs hospitality training programmes in around a third of UK prisons. Our mission is to reduce reoffending, which we do through training and intensively supporting people in - and leaving - prisons for careers in hospitality, food production, baking and horticulture. As well as helping people to gain City & Guilds qualifications, we offer our graduates post-release help, guidance and rehabilitation support for as long as they require it.
The charity remains unique in UK prisons, operating two restaurants that are open to the public. We train in approximately 31 prison kitchens and two Clink Gardens. We also run Clink Events, a prestigious operation based at Downview women’s prison in Surrey, which serves the City of London.
Why Real Bread?
One of our projects is The Clink Bakery at HMP Brixton, south London, which we launched in 2022 to effectively run as a social enterprise in its own right. In much the same way as our other projects, the bakery supports students to train, qualify, find accommodation and secure employment opportunities once they are released from prison. The bakery enjoyed a brilliant year in 2023, supplying fantastic baked goods to Clink sites and many Clink Events clients.
Abbie Mallinson, The Clink Bakery’s Head Chef Trainer, said: “Making Real Bread is important, especially when training so the learners can see how it is made traditionally, and not in a factory environment. It is not supermarket style ‘bread’ we make. We use no additives in any of our doughs.” She added: “It's traditional as it gets. We even have our own sourdough starter that has been around since we opened and is still going strong. It’s named after our first ever learner in the bakery.”
We start with the basics, with new learners kneading by hand to get a feel for the dough. Abbie explains: “It makes a massive difference to be able to see the process from start to finish. Students love seeing (and tasting!) the end result.” One of the bakery’s students agreed: "The process is enjoyable - you have to be patient - if you don't wait long enough your buns don't rise."
Decision making
Abbie went on to talk about what Clink students learn and how they decide what to bake: “We make a lot of varieties of Real Bread with the learners. A lot of the time it is up to them what variety they would like to make. We have a variety of baking books for them to look through and choose from. Firm favourites include doughnuts and cinnamon buns - the staff and the learners love them.”
One of our current trainees commented: "I enjoy being creative and able to learn new skills and make the most of my time. I've particularly enjoyed making focaccia.”
Abbie added: “We have the opportunity here to be experimental and try new things. Quite often we get requests to make a certain type of bread which I've never made before, which is fun. Most of all, we gain a sense of pride that we are passing on skills and changing lives at the same time.”
Proven success
Our approach, which includes supporting our students into paid work via our network of employers, is proven to reduce reoffending and help people rebuild their lives. Over the last two years, we supported approximately 60% of our students into employment, which is roughly double that of the average prison population average. When compared on a like-for-like basis with the broader population of prison leavers, a 2022 Ministry of Justice report found that the reoffence rate by Clink graduates was as much as 50% lower.
The reason our approach works is simple: we give our students a sense of purpose during some of the darkest times of their lives. By proving they can succeed in the hospitality industry, we help them believe in themselves, instilling a sense of achievement they may not have felt before. This sets in motion a chain of events that helps them to develop self-confidence, belief and resilience. Coupled with our through-the-gate support and mentoring service, our approach helps people achieve success, rebuild their lives and, ultimately, not re-enter the justice system.
Achievements
In 2023, we trained approximately 830 people in prison and delivered around 550 NVQ qualifications. They included 20 students in The Clink Bakery, who between them achieved eight qualifications: four in Level 2 Patisserie and a further four in Level 2 Nutrition. We were also thrilled when The Clink Bakery received its first award, being named Best Social Enterprise Bakery in the 2023 National Bakery Awards. With the clear challenges the prison estate is facing, we are extremely proud of these achievements by the whole Clink team.
The bakery team attended a number of markets across London last year, which helped to raise awareness of our work, while also supplying some delicious baked goods to customers. Perhaps most impressively, during the festive period, the bakery’s students prepared over 200 Christmas hampers, 5,000 mince pies and 150 Christmas puddings.
Lifelong change
Our students constantly surprise us and often we see baking is the spark that can ignite lifelong change, that sense that creating something as simple as fresh bread can instil personal pride and set in place the confidence and resilience they need to succeed on the outside.
Abbie summarises: “Since joining The Clink Bakery it's been a real eye opener and learning experience. It's given me the opportunity to pass on my skills and knowledge over to the learners. No day is the same - I am always kept on my toes - it's good fun.”
Originally published in True Loaf magazine issue 59, April 2024.
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Published Monday 25 November 2024
Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.
