Baking with prisoners: The Clink in HM Prison Highdown

One of the four charitable activities in which Virtuousbread.com is involved is baking with prisoners.  This was one of our original aims and the reasons for this were many.

Baking bread builds self esteem.  It is calming.  It is practical.  It is a skill that enables you to be self sustaining.  It is a skill that you can use to earn money.  People appreciate you for baking bread.  They acknowledge and thank you.  You can make a contribution.

These are all good things - especially if you are in prison or about to be released from prison.  Plus, prisoners should eat good bread too.

It was nigh on impossible to even get meetings with prison wardens.  The prison service is large, bureaucratic, and terrified of publicity of any kind.  Although many prisons used to bake their own bread (and make their own cheese, run their own farms, and grow their own fruit and veg) the reality now is that most prisons are no longer self sustaining.  From the early 1990s, the prison service started selling off their land.  Prisons today rely on huge catering companies to provide their food and many prisoners are in their cells for up to 23 hours a day.

Don't get me wrong.  Most prisons do their absolute best with limited resources in stressful circumstances.

At Highdown Prison in Sutton, Surrey, a restaurant called The Clink opened 18 months ago.  It is the culmination of a ten year campaign by Alberto Crisci who felt much the same way we do:  provide an opportunity, training, support, and enable people to contribute and achieve and maybe, just maybe, their chances of succeeding when the leave prison will be higher.  The Clink has had amazing results.  Please see their website to find out what they are.

Yeast, however, is something that is not allowed in prisons and so The Clink has not made its own bread - until now.  Virtuousbread.com is going to work with The Clink to help the staff their learn to bake sourdough bread.  They have already started their rye sourdough. The Master of the Dough is looking after it and will be responsible for keeping it alive and well.  Virtuousbread.com will contribute our wheat sourdough from 1857.  Between the two and with a little help from flour and water, we can do anything.  We will update on our progress through the blog.  Please follow us.