New cafe opening at Bristol prison to be staffed by ex-offenders

Planning permission has been granted for a new cafe at HMP Bristol which will be staffed by ex-offenders.

The not-for-profit Key Café will open in a disused Ministry of Justice building in front of the prison in Horfield.

The cafe is the idea of Bristol charity The Key: Unlock Potential, which will work with The Restore Trust, a social enterprise which helps prison leavers. The café will help rehabilitate prison leavers back into society.

The Key: Unlock Potential acts as a bridge between prison, employment and rehabilitation to reduce reoffending.

Last year, a fundraising campaign for café raised more than the £150,000 target.

The café and retail space will sell speciality coffees and cakes and bespoke handmade products, including upcycled goods and art produced in prisons and by independent craftspeople.

It will stock sustainable and ethically sourced products and will provide employment for people released on temporary licence or who have recently left prison for six months or more.

The food side of the cafe will be overseen by Bristol chefs Simon and Tom Green, who will act as partners, consultants and project managers, working with the Board of Trustees, HMPs Bristol, Leyhill and Eastwood Park, the Ministry of Justice and The Restore Trust.

The Key Café plans to open by early 2024.