Cafe serving up second chances says it curbs reoffending

A charity cafe that gives jobs to people leaving prison - and which turned five at the weekend - says being given employment can reduce the chance of criminals reoffending.

Cafe 16, based in Newcastle Cathedral and run by Morpeth-based charity The Oswin Project, has helped 64 prison leavers into work since it opened in 2021.

About 37% of people sentenced to prison or a court order in England and Wales reoffend, with the highest rates of reoffending in the North East, according to government statistics.

But charity founder Fiona Sample said only 3% of the prisoners they had supported had reoffended, adding: "They are grateful, they are focused, and they are determined to prove themselves".

All of the food sold in the cafe is baked by prisoners in kitchens at HMP Northumberland, as part of a partnership between the category C men's prison and the charity.

"Coming out and being homeless, having no purpose, and having no hope - what would you do? You'd end up going back to prison," she said.

"There are some crimes that are completely unacceptable, and I understand with every crime, there's a victim.

"But we want to build safer communities and ensure fewer victims of crime by stopping reoffending - or reducing it greatly."

Cafe 16 assistant manager Fraser, a former prisoner himself, said he had struggled after being released.

"It's building trust with people, getting released to the public again, and building bridges with normal, civilian life - rather than that jail life," he said.

For him, he said the first steps were rebuilding relationships with family members and getting into work while living in a hostel.

The cafe initially helped him "build some new skills", he said, and he has never left working there.

However, catering operations manager Clare Guiney said many prisoners would not choose to work at the cafe long-term, but it would "give them that oomph" to find other work or build their confidence.

"It's just amazing watching them grow," she said.

The BBC has approached the minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending for comment.

The government recently said it was to create more cells in existing prisons in England and Wales - as part of its plans to tackle overcrowding, as prisons reach about 97% capacity.

An investment of £110m, which will come from existing budgets, will be used to convert unused office space, laundry rooms and storage space into cells, the Ministry of Justice previously said.

A new early release scheme is also scheduled to start from October to release some prisoners before the end of their sentence, with about 4,500 spaces expected to be created.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced at the weekend that those convicted of certain crimes would be excluded, such as unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, as well as rape, serious child sex offences, and grooming.

Both previous Labour and Conservative governments have used early release schemes in the past to ease overcrowding, with more than 70,000 prisoners released under the government's last scheme in 2024.

But those prisoners are returning to jail at a rapid rate, prison governors previously told the BBC.

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