A prison reform charity is bidding for a government contract to continue operating its final restaurant, after recent closures to its other food outlets staffed by prisoners and redundancies made last year.
The Clink Charity, which trains prisoners in catering, has already closed three of its four restaurants in prisons across England and Wales, most recently at HMP Styal, which closed its doors in July.
It cited “a number of factors including costs and participant numbers” in the Styal restaurant’s closure, explaining that the factors rendered the restaurant “no longer viable at this time, in its current contractual delivery format”.
The Clink, which had annual income of around £6.8m according to its most recently filed accounts, is now participating in a procurement process to continue running its remaining restaurant at HMP Brixton.
Income generated from government contracts has declined for the charity in recent years, standing at just over £519,000 for the financial year ending 31 December 2024, a decrease from £593,000 in 2023 and £612,000 the year before.
At its peak, the Clink provided culinary training in 38 prisons. However, a significant proportion of that was under the charity’s Clink Kitchens training programme, which concluded last year on its planned end date.
The charity now offers training in five prisons as well as coaching prisoners in fields such as events catering, gardening and baking.
Redundancies in past year
The Times reported that about a third of the Clink’s staff have been made redundant in the past year, which the charity told Civil Society was due to planned project closures.
Meanwhile, the Clink’s 2024 accounts referenced several redundancies, including the removal of two director posts in the charity leadership.
Economic conditions, including “food cost and wage cost inflation, reduced availability of funding from the public sector and delayed and cancelled procurements from the Ministry of Justice” were all cited as reasons behind the cutbacks.
The average number of employees in the year declined to 81, down from 92 in 2023, while employee redundancy and non-contractual termination payments increased to £84,339 from a total of £58,779 in 2023.
A spokesperson for the charity told Civil Society: “The Clink Charity is undertaking a standard procurement process through the Ministry of Justice for our restaurant at HMP Brixton.
“The Clink Restaurant at HMP Brixton is focusing on what it has done best for the past 11 years – delivering outstanding dining experiences and life-changing training to people in prison.
“Other areas of the Clink Charity – our Clink Gardens, Clink Events, Clink Bakery, Clink Café, catering, training, support and mentoring services continue to thrive and make a real difference to the lives of people in prison, as well as vulnerable young people.”
The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.
In 2017, the Clink won the Overall Award for Excellence at that year’s Charity Awards.
