A Sutton charity which trains High Down prison inmates in catering and horticulture has been given a cash boost to help support its careers programme.

The Clink restaurant trains prisoners who are in the last six to 18 months of their sentence with the aim of getting them their NVQ Level 2 in professional cookery, food and beverage service or horticulture.

And during their time at The Clink, trainees work with dedicated support workers on a range of things – such as CV advice, interview preparation and help with housing and employment.

They are now expanding their work, training up to 160 prisoners a day across six sites, while each person on their scheme works 40 hours per week.

Now the charity which is based at the category B men’s prison in High Down Lane has been awarded £105,000 by the City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable fundraiser.

Funding will help cover the salary of a support worker and the programme’s running costs.

Mark Sillery, director of support and mentoring at The Clink, said: “We are very proud that we now have over 280 companies who are interested in employing our graduates, subject to a satisfactory interview, upon release.

“The generosity of City Bridge Trust will go a long way in helping many people by breaking the cycle of offending.”

It’s said the charity slashes reoffending rates among prisoners through the skill-building and training that they do.

City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of the City of London Corporation’s charity Bridge House estates, makes grants of £20 million a year to “help tackle disadvantage” across London.

More than 7,900 grants, totalling £380 million, have been given out since it first began in 1995.

Alison Gowan, chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust Committee, said: “The Clink has a strong track record of providing successful training and mentoring services to prisoners.

“Its work is giving ex-offenders a second chance and the opportunity to have an exciting new career the moment they leave prison.

“Their work is changing lives and putting people back on the right path to have a brighter future.”