Prison pizza and ice cream - new pictures reveal how Staffordshire's HMP Oakwood has its own Iceland supermarket, coffee shop and sweet shop
At HMP Oakwood, prisoners can visit the sweet shop, order a latte from the café, and buy pizza from the Cherry Blossom marketplace.
Iceland has begun its new vocational training at the privately-owned HMP Oakwood in Featherstone where prisoners get the chance to 'gain work experience' and 'adjust to the outside world'.
The newly built Iceland store at the prison is part of its Cherry Blossom marketplace, which also houses a café, a health foods shop, a home furnishings shop, and a sportswear store.
The category C training prison holds more than 2,100 men, and at least 20 of them will work in the marketplace in a number of roles - these include baristas, industrial cleaners, kitchen porters at the café ‘Hopeful Grounds’, and in customer services, warehousing and packing roles at the Iceland store.
Under the initiative, prisoners who earn currency for good behaviour can swap 'Monopoly-style cash' for some of Iceland's most popular goods which are not available on the prison wings, according to The Times.
Only the best behaved prisoners on the highest incentives will be able to work at or visit the market, and can purchase vouchers from the kiosk on their wing using their prison earnings to spend in the market up to a maximum value of £25 per week. Vouchers are available in denominations of 50p.
The inmates will complete all the relevant vocational qualifications that are available to them through the education team in the prison alongside their work experience to 'give them the best possible opportunity for a new start'.
Sean Oliver, Director of HMP Oakwood said: “Cherry Blossom is intended to help rehabilitate prisoners by creating an employment and educational pathway that incorporates work experience in the prison for both long and short-term prisoners in various different sectors to help lead to employment on release.
“'The aim of Cherry Blossom is to encourage positive behaviour which in turn will support stability and safety. It will also provide purposeful activity through employment and will give prisoners a chance to practice core resettlement and life skills such as budgeting.”
Paul Cowley MBE, Director of Rehabilitation at Iceland Foods said: “Helping prisoners gain work experience and develop essential skills is the right thing to do, and we’re proud to support HMP Oakwood with the introduction of the marketplace. Meaningful opportunities like this help prepare individuals for life after release, reduce reoffending, and benefit society as a whole.
“The Iceland training academy within Cherry Blossom will provide prisoners with valuable retail experience, equipping them with the skills and confidence to rebuild their lives. This initiative also reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting ex-offenders through our Second Chance scheme, which has helped more than 680 individuals find employment since its launch.”
Both G4S and Iceland Foods have invested in the project, with the food retailer donating shelving, baskets, signage, three chest freezers and branded uniforms for the men working in the supermarket.
The range offered by Iceland has also been curated specifically for Cherry Blossom, with 69 frozen and 380 grocery products supplied.