Cafe to be run by ex-prisoners sets opening date

A new cafe that will create employment opportunities for recently released prisoners has announced its opening date.

The Key Cafe is set to open in a disused Ministry of Justice (MoJ) building on Gloucester Road, in front of HMP Bristol, in April 2025.

The not-for-profit initiative says it will act as a bridge between prison, rehabilitation and employment in a bid to reduce reoffending rates by providing practical skills.

Chief executive of the Restore Trust, Suzanne Thompson, says she hopes the venture will be an opportunity to break the stigma around ex-offenders and benefit society as a whole.

The Restore Trust - an organisation dedicated to ex-prisoner rehabilitation and community integration - says it hopes to serve as a lifeline for those seeking a fresh start.

It says employees can learn to adjust to life outside of prison during a three to six-month period and "have confidence in their own abilities".

"It's too simplistic to think that if someone is leaving prison, immediately offering them a job is going to turn their life around," Ms Thompson said.

"Unless they've had that additional wraparound support and addressed those negative self-beliefs, it can end up having unintentional consequences.

"If they then lose that job, it feeds into that self-fulfilling prophecy of 'what's the point?'

"They buy into the stigma they feel society has against them, which can then lead to reoffending."

The latest figures from the MoJ reveal those who remain unemployed six weeks after leaving prison had a reoffending rate of more than double those in work, of 35.3% compared to 16.8%.

Ms Thompson said unless things were done differently, "we are writing off a huge proportion of the population that have potential with the right support".

The cafe is set to employ about four ex-offenders at a time, determined by "stringent risk-assessment processes", depending on the seriousness of their offences.

They will also be supervised by experienced hospitality staff with a background in criminal justice and rehabilitation.

"I really hope the community can get behind this venture and support the cafe," Ms Thompson said.

"Even if they don't come in, just by being a bit less judgemental and reading beyond what they see in the media."

She added ex-offenders "want the same as everyone else".

"They want a family, a stable job and a good income, they just don't quite know how to get there.

"This is going to be one of the first commercial businesses that will help people with that transition."

Lord James Timpson, minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending, said: "We know schemes like the Key Cafe are absolutely vital in keeping offenders on the straight and narrow once they leave prison – ultimately helping to cut crime and keep the public safe.

"That is why we're linking up more prison governors with business leaders to get more offenders into work."

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