Q&A with Kai Taylor of Redemption Roasters

WE ARE THE UK’S FIRST PRISON-BASED COFFEE ROASTERY. We were approached by the Ministry of Justice to help address the state of reoffending through coffee, so we set up a roastery at HMP The Mount (in Hemel Hempstead). We train young offenders in barista, coffee production and roasting skills — as well as roasting incredible coffee for our five London coffee shops and our network of over 100 wholesale clients like the W. We also run barista academies at nine other prisons, such as HMP Wormwood Scrubs and Spring Hill (down the road from the W at Grendon Underwood in Aylesbury). We then help our graduates, on release, to find jobs in either our cafes or with our wholesale partners.

OUR PROJECT RAISES THE BAR. The UK’s reoffending rates are amongst the highest in the western world, and it’s costly on both a national and personal level. Some 46% of prisoners in England and Wales go on to commit another crime within one year of being released. Reoffending costs the Treasury an estimated £4.5 billion every year (£131,000 for every re-offender). Only 36% of prisoners manage to find work within two years of being released. If prisoners do find employment, they are 50% less likely to return to prison. And that’s where we can help rebuild lives and make a difference.

YOUR LATTE IS LITERALLY LIFE-CHANGING. Our apprenticeships are highly over-subscribed and we see first-hand every day the difference we make. Offenders tell us our roastery is a real chance to forget their surroundings, find some hope and improve both their prospects and their mental health. Over the weeks of training, they have the opportunity to learn key skills that can set them up for a whole new lifetime.

WE’RE ALWAYS BREWING UP FRESH IDEAS. Over the next few years, we’re aiming to increase the amount of coffee we roast so we can keep the project at HMP The Mount brewing. Our mission remains to enrol as many offenders as possible to our apprenticeships and eventually we dream of opening a chain of speciality coffee shops staffed by a high percentage of ex-offenders. That coffee you’re drinking can genuinely help those people we’re trying to help.