I recently visited HMP Brixton with some hospitality colleagues, Katie Young Gerald of Bespoke Textiles, and Sebastian Dabrowski and Lorraine Dale from the UK Housekeepers Association. One of the unique qualities of some of Her Majesty’s Prison Services located around the country is that they have The Clink Restaurant. HMP Brixton serve up a treat at The Clink Restaurant as the prisoners are being trained up in hospitality skills. They get to practice these skills at the restaurant to paying customers. It is an ideal training ground not only for them to learn new skills, but also to help to integrate the inmates back in to society.

Whilst we were at the prison we were served by several of the inmates and they were happy to share their stories. They were all very polite, and friendly and grateful for the second chance they had been given. One particular inmate, Vince is due to be released in the coming days and he was excited at the prospect of being able to see his grandmother who had celebrated her 100th birthday back in July.

The food at The Clink Restaurant is of a very high standard, on par with what you would expect in a fine dining restaurant. Many of the inmates go on to be placed in some very high end hospitality establishments after their release with support from The Clink. Their CEO Chris Moore, explains more in this video:

Chris Moore – Star Quality Talent from Monica Or on Vimeo.

To find out more about inspiring hospitality careers, you can read all about this in my latest book ‘Star Quality Talent’. Available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle. For every Amazon Review I am also donating £1 to Hospitality Action. Katie from Bespoke Textiles is also featured as she shares her hospitality story from working as a Waitress to becoming a uniform designer for a Royal Household. Sebastian Dabrowski shares his story of studying Economics to becoming an Executive Housekeeper and Lorraine Dale explains about the UK Housekeeper’s Association. All the career stories and organisational information and advice have been videoed and links to the videos are in the book.