Located on Chepstow Street in Grade II-listed Canada House, The Clink Café will be the first venue for the group that is not inside prison grounds.
The Clink currently runs restaurants at four prisons, and helps to cut re-offending rates by giving inmates cookery and front-of-house skills that will help them start a career in hospitality after their release.
Opening in mid-April, The Clink Café will train previous ‘graduates of The Clink and homeless clients from Centrepoint Charity to achieve the City and Guilds NVQ level 2 in Food and Beverage service as well as barista qualifications.
“Our Clink restaurants have proved incredibly successful and the café will give us the opportunity to continue the training and provide our graduates with the chance to achieve their full potential,” says Chris Moore, chief executive of The Clink Charity
“Working with Centrepoint, as we do with Clink Events, allows us to expand the great work both charities do to help those who need a second chance.”
Three out of the four of The Clink’s charity-run restaurants are rated as number 1 in their area on the travel review website Tripadvisor.
Since opening in 2009 more than 800 prisoners have graduated from The Clink’s training projects, some of whom have gone on to work with high-end establishments like Aqua Shard and The Cavendish in Marylebone, as well as chains including Carluccio’s and Wahaca.
The charity has also found that the innovative scheme has reduced re-offending rates among male ex-offenders by 41 per cent.
In June, the charity teamed up with Massimo Bottura’s Refettorio Felix to serve the homeless and vulnerable using recycled food.