About us
The Clink Charity trains prisoners in the last 6-18 months of their sentence to obtain accredited qualifications in catering to improve their employability upon release. This takes place in The Clink restaurants and training kitchens in HMP High Down, HMP Brixton, HMP Cardiff and HMP Styal. The restaurants are open to the public and designed to simulate a professional working environment. By inviting the public to dine inside the prisons it breaks down barriers and changes attitudes towards prisoners.
The Clink's 5 Step training programme helps offenders break the cycle of crime, by nurturing self-belief through learning workplace skills and offering nationally recognised qualifications. The 5 Steps: Recruit, Train, Support, Employ and Mentor dramatically reduces the rate of re-offending of those who have completed the programme.
Re-offending costs the economy up to £13bn a year. 46% of adult prisoners are re convicted within one year of release. The Clink's aim is to reduce this and have succeeded with Clink graduates being 41% less likely to re-offend. Other Clink initiatives include: The Clink Gardens at HMP Send for training towards an NVQ Level 2 in Horticulture and Clink Events, anexternal catering service offering NVQ Level 1 in Hospitality.
