Brixton prison’s Clink training restaurant delivery service has launched its winter menu with an extended delivery area and is now partnering a community fridge on the Albrighton estate in East Dulwich.
The fridge provides food and other essentials for people who are struggling to feed themselves and their families.
For £10 donors can buy a two-course meal for the community fridge – a main dish and a dessert prepared by The Clink’s trainees and delivered by the Clink@Home team.
The service, launched last week, has already seen 35 meals donated to the community fridge.
Due to its success, the Clink@Home service, launched in July, has extended its delivery zone to homes within a ten-mile radius of the prison.
Customers heat up and serve the freshly prepared dishes at home.
Orders can be placed online for deliveries on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 10am and 5pm with two-hour delivery slots confirmed on the day.
Regular Clink@Home meals have starters from £3.95 and mains from £9.75. They include popular Clink dishes like sun-dried tomato and parmesan arancini with rocket pesto; Thai sea bream en papillote; potato, leek and Cornish Yarg pie with roast root vegetables; sweet potato katsu curry with steamed rice; and sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce.
The menu includes vegetarian and vegan dishes and all allergen information is listed.
The new winter menu has been designed by chef trainers at Brixton prison, including Ellie Shaw, this year’s winner of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs young chef of the year competition.
The Clink charity operates restaurants in four prisons, including Brixton. Due to restrictions across the whole prison service, The Clink is unable at present to open its restaurants to the public.
But, by operating Clink@Home, the charity is able to continue its training programme.
Supporting Brixton’s key workers during the first lockdown provided the basis to launch the home delivery service.
Paul Griffiths Photography
During lockdown, the team has also provided takeaway meals for prison staff on duty and a take-home facility for them.
Clink students train for City and Guilds level 2 National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in food preparation and cookery in a real-life working environment, getting them ready gain full-time employment when they are released.
All the food prepared in Clink kitchens, where possible, is British, fresh, local and seasonal. The Clink only uses the finest ingredients, and everything is made from scratch.
Vegetables, salad and eggs come from The Clink Gardens at HMP Sendwomen’s prison in Surrey where trainees work towards an NVQ in horticulture.
Charity chief executive Chris Moore said: “By ordering from Clink@Home, customers are helping us deliver important training within prisons as we continue to change attitudes, transform lives, and create second chances which ultimately reduces reoffending.”
The charity has invested more than £5m of philanthropic grants and donations to build its training restaurants and gardens in prisons over the past 10 years.
It estimates that it has saved taxpayers £38m through its targeted programme to reduce reoffending.
Twitter: @TheClinkCharity
Instagram: @theclinkrestaurant
