Giving ex-offender a second chance
Lee Wakeham, an ex-offender supports others like him through his business HM Pasties, based in Oldham, Lancashire. Lee’s pies, pasties and sausage rolls are sold throughout northwest England. He also provides catering services to Liverpool Football Club, and supplies 79 Co-op stores in Manchester. “HM Pasties was built on my belief that employment changes lives,” says Lee. “I’ve lived it myself and when you combine commercial success with social impact, you give people a genuine second chance and create strong businesses and communities.”
Currently HM Pasties employs 13 people including five prison leavers, although this number may change depending on future expansion.
The HM Pasties Foundation
Through its HM Pasties Foundation, the social enterprise provides one-to-one mentoring and workplace training in the bakery for ex-offenders, covering topics such as food hygiene and health and safety, while supporting them with practical life skills such as confidence and communication. Lee says “We help trainees build the skills and confidence to move into long-term work, with the focus on helping people adapt to the routine, teamwork and mindset of sustained employment – not just technical baking skills. Many participants are on licence towards the end of their sentence or have recently left prison and are struggling to gain employment. They don’t need prior experience in catering, motivation and commitment matter more. Providing jobs with dignity and clear progression reduces re-offending and boosts community outcomes.”
If a business is hesitant to take on an ex-offender, Lee suggests starting with work trials or part-time roles. “Partner with specialist services who can help manage risk. Concentrate on transferable skills – many prison leavers are highly motivated and can be loyal employees.”
Supporting ex-offenders to switch-gear
In London, ex-offenders are being trained at The Dusty Knuckle bakery in Dalston, northeast London. It works with Switchback, a prison leaver rehabilitation charity. Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, a patron of the charity, visited the bakery to speak to Switchback trainees. He told The Sunday Times “It’s a reminder that the whole hospitality industry – catering, bakeries, can be very non-judgemental places to work. The Dusty Knuckle is exceptional – the whole thing is founded on the basis of providing opportunities to people who might otherwise not get them.” During the 12-week programme, participants receive training on a section, whether it’s front of house in the cafe, food preparation, mixing, shaping or baking bread. If, at the end of the programme, the trainee doesn’t remain with The Dusty Knuckle, Switchback will continue to support them.
Switchback assigns a mentor to each of the 18 to 30 year-old trainees it works with. Amy Davidson from the charity says “Our model is centred on a meaningful one-to-one relationship between mentor and trainee. This begins in prison and lasts as long as it takes after release. In stark contrast to the national average (which sees nearly half of prison leavers back inside within a year) only 9% of Switchback trainees reoffend, while over half move into long-term work.”
The mentor meets regularly with the trainee to support their goals. “We encourage trainees to be open-minded and give things a try,” she says. “We never force a trainee to work somewhere that doesn’t feel right. Some don’t want to work in a bakery, but after visiting and seeing the buzzy atmosphere, they may change their minds.”
Catering and food is a popular choice among Switchback trainees. Restaurateur Sina Faily, 24, is one of the charity’s success stories. After finishing the bakery training programme, he worked as a chef at several restaurants before opening a restaurant in London’s Battersea Power Station. Last November, he launched Bundem, a new £7m burger restaurant in Enfield, where he grew up.
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