Our Story
- Half of adults are reconvicted within one year of release
- The average cost per person each year of imprisonment alone is £36,259
- Approximately 50% of adults reoffend within a year, costing the taxpayer £13 billion
- Providing employment upon release is known to cut the chance of reoffending
Liberty Kitchen was designed by Janet Boston who was an Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) volunteer at Europe’s largest female prison, Holloway, for 15 years. Here she saw the difference that purposeful activity rather than lock up made. Recognising how much food mattered to women in prison and as a passionate food lover she got a group of people together to develop a street food concept that could work in a prison environment. When Holloway prison was closed, we found the Governor and men of Pentonville keen to be involved. And Liberty Kitchen took off!
Liberty Kitchen helps to prepare the men for life on the outside and provide them with choices when they leave prison. It combines developing classic culinary skills and tapping into the imagination of the men to develop their own recipes with qualifications and experience in how to set up and run an enterprise. Liberty Kitchen works with two teams – those inside prison making the food and those outside selling. Interaction with the public is an important way to breakdown stereotypes about people who are/have been in prison. And street foods are a brilliant way for people to engage with others. Come to our stall and see our associates in action!
Two years down the line the efforts of men, stakeholders and supporters were recognised by winning the 2019 BBC Food and Farming Awards, Best Street Food in the UK category.
Liberty Kitchen helps to prepare the men for life on the outside and provide them with choices when they leave prison. It combines developing classic culinary skills and tapping into the imagination of the men to develop their own recipes with qualifications and experience in how to set up and run an enterprise. Liberty Kitchen works with two teams – those inside prison making the food and those outside selling. Interaction with the public is an important way to breakdown stereotypes about people who are/have been in prison. And street foods are a brilliant way for people to engage with others. Come to our stall and see our associates in action!
Two years down the line the efforts of men, stakeholders and supporters were recognised by winning the 2019 BBC Food and Farming Awards, Best Street Food in the UK category.
The Mission
To supply delicious London street foods at competitive prices as part of a social enterprise working with prisoners and ex prisoners to provide professional and personal life skills with the ultimate goal of cutting reoffending.
The Goals
- To work with prisoners and ex-prisoners to produce a range of London-inspired street foods;
- To build the confidence and life skills of prisoners and ex prisoners by providing catering and business skills to improve their chance of a job;
- To find employment for Liberty Kitchen associates upon release;
- To create a social enterprise model with the potential to scale and get transferred across the prison estate and capitals across the UK.
NOT JUST COOKING!
While cooking is at the heart of Liberty Kitchen, we run master classes that include introducing other skills linked to personal development. For example, one contributor Paul Jamieson has worked with politicians, the media and businesses to help them develop as teams and individually.
A weekly afternoon session related to business skills has been delivered by NWES/Enterprise for London. For most men gaining an NVQ in Enterprise is important; particularly as many have left school without any qualifications. The sessions help the men think about pros and cons of self-employment and the kind of enterprise they may, or may not, want to develop.
A weekly afternoon session related to business skills has been delivered by NWES/Enterprise for London. For most men gaining an NVQ in Enterprise is important; particularly as many have left school without any qualifications. The sessions help the men think about pros and cons of self-employment and the kind of enterprise they may, or may not, want to develop.