15 The Clink prison-based restaurant: Brixton, London, UK
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Dan Rusu
Abstract
Clink Charity works alongside Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to reduce prison recidivism by ‘changing attitudes, transforming lives, and creating second chances’ for those who are in prison or in the process of re-entering society. The charity and HMPPS run four prison-based restaurants together, which are open to the public. These are: The Clink Restaurant at HMP High Down, which was the first to open in May 2009; The Clink at HMP Cardiff, open since 2012; The Clink at HMP Brixton, 2014; and The Clink HMP Styal, since January 2020. Each of these are registered catering colleges and help serving prisoners to gain their City and Guild National Vocational Qualifications in hospitality and horticulture; the idea behind it is that this will help them with employment post-release. Considering that the hospitality sector as of 2019 dealt with a major skills deficit (Harkinson and Moore, 2019) the Clink went some way in alleviating the pressure. Nevertheless, consumer spending as of May 2021 is at less than 70% of the pre-pandemic levels, remaining at a one quarter lower than 2019 (Office for National Statistics, 2021).
While ‘prison fine-dining’ may come across as oxymoronic to some readers, a short study of TripAdvisor customer reviews of the Clink Restaurants will show that customers rate these as some of the best restaurants in their cities of residence (Gebbels et al, 2021). For example, Brixton ranked 20th out of 16,740 restaurants in London; Cardiff – 9th of 118; Styal 1st of 71 restaurants in Wilmslow; and High Down ranked 1st of 126 restaurants in Sutton.
Abstract
Clink Charity works alongside Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to reduce prison recidivism by ‘changing attitudes, transforming lives, and creating second chances’ for those who are in prison or in the process of re-entering society. The charity and HMPPS run four prison-based restaurants together, which are open to the public. These are: The Clink Restaurant at HMP High Down, which was the first to open in May 2009; The Clink at HMP Cardiff, open since 2012; The Clink at HMP Brixton, 2014; and The Clink HMP Styal, since January 2020. Each of these are registered catering colleges and help serving prisoners to gain their City and Guild National Vocational Qualifications in hospitality and horticulture; the idea behind it is that this will help them with employment post-release. Considering that the hospitality sector as of 2019 dealt with a major skills deficit (Harkinson and Moore, 2019) the Clink went some way in alleviating the pressure. Nevertheless, consumer spending as of May 2021 is at less than 70% of the pre-pandemic levels, remaining at a one quarter lower than 2019 (Office for National Statistics, 2021).
While ‘prison fine-dining’ may come across as oxymoronic to some readers, a short study of TripAdvisor customer reviews of the Clink Restaurants will show that customers rate these as some of the best restaurants in their cities of residence (Gebbels et al, 2021). For example, Brixton ranked 20th out of 16,740 restaurants in London; Cardiff – 9th of 118; Styal 1st of 71 restaurants in Wilmslow; and High Down ranked 1st of 126 restaurants in Sutton.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures x
- About the editors xi
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
- Cocaine Bear: Fun Mall, Lexington, Kentucky, USA 9
- Whitney Plantation: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 14
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Washington, DC, USA 24
- From Newgate Prison to Tyburn Tree: the Old Bailey, London, UK 29
- Jack the Ripper tour: Whitechapel, London, UK 35
- The Alcatraz East Crime Museum: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA 41
- The Museum of Death: Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA 50
- The Royal Armouries Museum: Leeds, UK 55
- The Black Dahlia tour: Los Angeles, California, USA 59
- The ‘Execution Dock’: Wapping, East London, UK 65
- Auschwitz: Oświęcim, Poland 71
- Jeju 4:3 memorial: Jeju Island, South Korea 80
- Museum Dr. Guislain: Ghent, Belgium 88
- Karosta Prison Hotel: Liepāja, Latvia 92
- The Clink prison-based restaurant: Brixton, London, UK 98
- The 9/11 memorial and museum: New York, New York, USA 104
- The Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 107
- Choeung Ek killing field: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 116
- Blue lights in the Red Light District: Amsterdam, the Netherlands 122
- Trophy hunting: sub-Saharan Africa 128
- ‘The ugly side to the beautiful game’: Qatar 135
- Burning Man festival: Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA 140
- Magaluf: Majorca 147
- ‘Holiday Hooters’: Hong Kong 153
- Scilla: Calabria, Italy 159
- The Kray twins tours: London, UK 165
- Backpacking in the outback: Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia 171
- The hippie trail: Nepal, South Asia 177
- The Museum of Confiscated Art: Brest, Belarus 182
- Steroid holidays: Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt 187
- The souks: Tunis, Tunisia 194
- Mezhyhirya Residence Museum: Novi Petrivtsi, Ukraine 200
- The great British seaside: various locations, UK 207
- The Biggie mural: Brooklyn, New York, USA 213
- The Rebus guided tour: Edinburgh, UK 217
- Volunteer tourism – ‘doing it for the ’gram’: Cambodia, Southeast Asia 223
- The staycation: home 230
- The ‘suicide forest’: Aokigahara, Japan 235
- Pitcairn Island: Pitcairn Islands, Pacific Ocean 245
- Favela tours: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 251
- Skid Row walking tours: Los Angeles, California, USA 258
- The 2019–20 anti-extradition protests: Hong Kong 264
- The Maldives: Republic of Maldives, Indian Ocean 271
- Death Road: La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia 276
- Vulture brains and muthi markets: Johannesburg, South Africa 282
- Dark tourism, ecocide and Alpine ski resorts: the Alps, Europe 288
- Boho Zone: Middlesbrough, UK 293
- One Hyde Park: London, UK 299
- Amazon warehouse tours: Rugeley, UK or virtual tour 305
- Disney World: Orlando, Florida, USA 315
- Conclusion 322
- References 325
- Index 394
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures x
- About the editors xi
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
- Cocaine Bear: Fun Mall, Lexington, Kentucky, USA 9
- Whitney Plantation: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 14
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Washington, DC, USA 24
- From Newgate Prison to Tyburn Tree: the Old Bailey, London, UK 29
- Jack the Ripper tour: Whitechapel, London, UK 35
- The Alcatraz East Crime Museum: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA 41
- The Museum of Death: Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA 50
- The Royal Armouries Museum: Leeds, UK 55
- The Black Dahlia tour: Los Angeles, California, USA 59
- The ‘Execution Dock’: Wapping, East London, UK 65
- Auschwitz: Oświęcim, Poland 71
- Jeju 4:3 memorial: Jeju Island, South Korea 80
- Museum Dr. Guislain: Ghent, Belgium 88
- Karosta Prison Hotel: Liepāja, Latvia 92
- The Clink prison-based restaurant: Brixton, London, UK 98
- The 9/11 memorial and museum: New York, New York, USA 104
- The Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 107
- Choeung Ek killing field: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 116
- Blue lights in the Red Light District: Amsterdam, the Netherlands 122
- Trophy hunting: sub-Saharan Africa 128
- ‘The ugly side to the beautiful game’: Qatar 135
- Burning Man festival: Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA 140
- Magaluf: Majorca 147
- ‘Holiday Hooters’: Hong Kong 153
- Scilla: Calabria, Italy 159
- The Kray twins tours: London, UK 165
- Backpacking in the outback: Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia 171
- The hippie trail: Nepal, South Asia 177
- The Museum of Confiscated Art: Brest, Belarus 182
- Steroid holidays: Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt 187
- The souks: Tunis, Tunisia 194
- Mezhyhirya Residence Museum: Novi Petrivtsi, Ukraine 200
- The great British seaside: various locations, UK 207
- The Biggie mural: Brooklyn, New York, USA 213
- The Rebus guided tour: Edinburgh, UK 217
- Volunteer tourism – ‘doing it for the ’gram’: Cambodia, Southeast Asia 223
- The staycation: home 230
- The ‘suicide forest’: Aokigahara, Japan 235
- Pitcairn Island: Pitcairn Islands, Pacific Ocean 245
- Favela tours: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 251
- Skid Row walking tours: Los Angeles, California, USA 258
- The 2019–20 anti-extradition protests: Hong Kong 264
- The Maldives: Republic of Maldives, Indian Ocean 271
- Death Road: La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia 276
- Vulture brains and muthi markets: Johannesburg, South Africa 282
- Dark tourism, ecocide and Alpine ski resorts: the Alps, Europe 288
- Boho Zone: Middlesbrough, UK 293
- One Hyde Park: London, UK 299
- Amazon warehouse tours: Rugeley, UK or virtual tour 305
- Disney World: Orlando, Florida, USA 315
- Conclusion 322
- References 325
- Index 394