Labour of love: five social enterprises getting prisoners into specialised careers
Written by Lucy Hart, Dee Norval and Guilherme Pretti.
Prisons are not easy places to deliver training, let alone run a business. Yet these five organisations have chosen to do just that, recreating working conditions inside prison walls to prepare prisoners for jobs outside them. And for what? To grow the number of prison leavers – now just 16% – in employment 12 months after release, who are half as likely to reoffend as their unemployed peers.
Redemption Roasters
Founded: 2015, Max Dubiel and Ted Rosner, London
Max and Ted had no experience of the prison system before entering into partnership with the Ministry of Justice in 2016, but they were experts where they needed to be: in the coffee business. Redemption Roasters produces coffee for wholesale and for its ten (and counting) London-based coffee shops. But unlike other specialty coffee brands, Redemption roasts their beans inside the walls of HMP The Mount, providing employment for up to five prisoners in each cohort.
Despite the struggles of running a roastery without Wi-Fi and inspections in and out of the prison, the Redemption team sees the benefits of hands-on training that’s more specialised than the “mundane work” typically offered to prison residents. They run barista academies in four UK prisons, where they focus on building up the practical experience – and count of coffees made – needed to nurture excellent coffee makers ready for employment either in Redemption’s shops or with other coffee providers.
What they say: “The message we try to convey is that hiring ex-offenders… works both ways. You have a loyal workforce made of people who soak up knowledge like a sponge. They work so much harder because they have to.” – Max Dubiel in Matter of Form
Key stat: a 22% reoffending rate – half the national average.
The Prison Optician Trust
Founded: 2015, Tanjit Dosanjh OBE, Maidstone
Optometrist Tanjit Dosanjh OBE first approached the prison service over a decade ago, after seeing the lack of vocational training in the prison where his father was serving a long sentence. Despite huge obstacles, he’s achieved the aims he set out: to train prison residents in optics and to provide low cost glasses for prisoners and the wider population.
The Prison Optician Trust started with an optical training lab in Maidstone, and has grown to become the largest provider of optometry services into prisons throughout England and Wales. Between 2016 and 2019, they were able to train 60 prisoners, of whom 45 are now in paid work with opticians. And the organisation is creating a new brand, Liberty Glasses, to sell prison-made spectacles to the public and increase awareness of their work.
What they say: "A lot of my trainees are bright young people but they are surrounded by gang culture... When I meet these people, I don't know them… but telling them that I care and that I want to help them makes a huge difference." – founder Tanjit Dosanjh OBE in interview with Kent Online
Key stat: 50,000 pairs of spectacles made
Fine Cell Work
Founded: 1997, Lady Anne Tree, London
What started as a one-off charity exercise – auctioning carpets created in Holloway prison – became a lifelong mission for Lady Anne Tree. The experience proved to her the value of purposeful craft in prison, and she campaigned for two decades to ensure that prisoners were paid for their work. After achieving that change in the law, she set up Fine Cell Work.
The social enterprise teaches needlework skills, following designs by prestigious artists, to create products targeting the luxury market. Small ‘cell groups’ are taught by volunteers, while prisoners are employed in workshops to put together stitching kits and transform needlework pieces into finished products. Prisoners can also stitch alone – a lifeline for many moved between prisons, and during lockdown. Since its foundation, the organisation has engaged with more than 8,000 prisoners, and started a movement that’s been joined by the founders on this list and many more.
What they say: “They appreciate being treated like human beings… They’re always amazed to learn that we’re here voluntarily, especially when no one seemed to bother with them before they were in jail.” – Fiona Lees-Millais in i News
Key stat: 2% of post-release apprentices reoffend against a national average of 46%
The Clink
Founded: 2009, Alberto Crisci MBE, London
In his role as a prison catering manager, Alberto Crisci recognised the potential held by prisoners working in his kitchen. He introduced NVQ training to create a path to post-prison employment, and achieved a nationwide first by opening a public restaurant within prison walls. That restaurant is now one of four, open to the public and decorated with art from Fine Cell Work and Koestler Arts. In addition, The Clink charity has expanded to operate two prison gardens, a catering company and 32 kitchens, all providing training and employment.
Unlike some prison jobs, The Clink requires prisoners to train for forty hours a week, simulating a real world environment. And it works. Upon release, graduates receive placements with hotel groups and restaurant favourites like Hilton, Wahaca and Hawksmoor. Prisoners are 50% less likely to reoffend after entering this programme – likely in large part thanks to the minimum 12 months of support they provide after graduation.
What they say: “For most prisoners, their identity is rooted in their past, their crime, how many times they’ve been in prison… They begin to focus on how many more units of their NVG they need to do, on who they’ve served, on the fact they can now fillet a fish. It gives them pride; a feeling of self-worth.” – Chris Moore in Saucy Dressings blog
Key stat: 441 graduates prisoners trained in 2019
Breakthrough
Founded: 2019, Dee Norval, London
You’ll forgive us for including ourselves – especially as we’re not technically running a business inside prison – but the threads running through these stories appear once again in ours. When Breakthrough founder Dee Norval first entered HMP Wandsworth, she was struck by the resourcefulness, creativity and ambition of those she met, but also by the lack of employment routes that weren’t in manual labour. She saw the opportunity to connect those prisoners’ skills with roles in a very different field: tech.
Breakthrough recruits directly from prisons, delivering pre-apprenticeship programmes inside and in the community for prison leavers and those at risk of entering the criminal justice system. The roles we train for are in demand, with high earning potential – another piece of the puzzle for reducing reoffending. To clinch the deal with nervous employers, we reduce the perceived risks (and cost) by focusing on apprenticeships and starter roles. But we don’t say goodbye at the point of employment; we continue to support our associates for the two years after graduation. And we’re starting to see the fruits: none of our associates have reoffended.
What they say: “Breakthrough will be defined by our alumni… Through their success, they will be well-positioned to demonstrate the huge benefits companies can gain from people who have experienced prison.” – Dee Norval in TechRound
Key stat: 92% of employers find diverse recruitment, including prison leavers, has helped their performance.
The way we see it, these five organisations have a shared set of principles. They offer specialised career routes; start inside prison walls; combine vocational training with support in the rest of life; form solid relationships with employers; and commit to a long timeline of support after release. It’s no easy journey, but it works: these organisations have proven that the approach lowers reoffending rates, and delivers a net positive impact on society.