Friends House Hospitality, the company that runs the catering and events side of business for British Quakers at Friends House in London, has announced that they are starting a new scheme to train ex-offenders in catering skills, which will also give successful participants a qualification that can help them when looking for a job.
The scheme, “Bake the Difference” will be managed by a new Training and Development Chef. Participants on the scheme will be directed to it by the London Pathways Partnership, formed of four mental health trusts with extensive experience of working with ‘complex high-risk offenders’.
Food produced by the participants will be served in the Friends House Hospitality catering services.
According to a parliamentary report published in December 2016 just over a quarter of ex-offenders have a job to go to when they leave prison.
The Friends House Hospitality company has a long list of commitments published on their website, including in their community section that they are ambassadors of Quakerism and that they “offer employment opportunities to local people including disenfranchised groups”.
The London Pathways Partnership works with offenders at Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution, Belmarsh Prison, Swaleside Prison and with the organisations Women in Prison, First Step Trust and SOVA Support Link.

Story sources:
Parliamentary report: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmworpen/58/58.pdf
London Pathways Partnership: http://www.lpp-pd.co.uk/
Friends House Hospitality: https://www.friendshouse.co.uk/news/partnering-london-pathways-partnership-help-ex-offenders