Clink Charity expands to offer event catering service
The Clink Charity, which runs training restaurants in prisons, has expanded its operations to include corporate event catering.
As it prepares to open its third training restaurant, at HMP Brixton in February 2014, the Clink will launch Clink Events to make external catering part of its expansion.
It has already catered for the Longford Lecture every November for the past four years, held at Church House in London, where canapés prepared by prisoners in training were served by young homeless people being helped by Centre Point. Now the event catering will be expanded to work in collaboration with other like-minded enterprises.
Clink chief executive Chris Moore said: "We have engaged with Centre Point, who will continue to provide us with suitable candidates for training, and we will also work with other similar charities, in response to future corporate catering requests. This will enable us to provide the food required in one of the prisons and then deliver the food to the venue.
"We will provide intense training to those serving food and drink to equip them with the skills and ability to efficiently and professionally serve guests. Not only will it be a huge confidence booster for vulnerable young adults involved, it will also allow us to expand our training excellence by taking it outside the prison walls and encouraging people to pursue a career in hospitality and change their lives."
As training centres, each of the Clink's restaurants offer prisoners real work experience while they undertake City & Guilds qualifications. It then helps find them employment within the hospitality industry.
