Trade School Kitchen Launch

Project 2018-05-03 17:59:22 +1200

It’s time to build more creative solutions to incarceration.

Let’s build communities not prisons!

THE SHORT VERSION

After graduating over 20 women from our barista training at Arohata Prison, Trade School Industries is raising funds for a cafe in Naenae, Lower Hutt where we will continue our mission to help formerly incarcerated women successfully rebuild their lives, their whanau and their community. The cafe will employ up to 2 graduates a year and alongside our other social support measures, we will ensure they get the best chance at success. We aim to then assist the graduates in finding further employment within the hospitality industry, in TSI, or in their future endeavours. We’ve proven we can do it, we need your help to get to the next step.

Why hospitality? The right cafe's can be a place of togetherness and belonging. It can be a community in itself and we believe this is a great place to combine healthy employment and support. 

- Architectural Render of Trade School Kitchen // Big thanks to Ben Lamason of Matter Architectural Visualisation for image.

RECIDIVISM AND EMPLOYMENT: TWO BIG PROBLEMS WE CAN ADDRESS

“Jobs not jails” is our mantra and by reducing recidivism we target one of the most unsupported and most expensive areas of society. Each inmate costs the taxpayer $100,000 per annum. If the right support is in place we can help that person become a productive member of society. If we can help 6 women per annum that’s a saving of at least $600,000 to the NZ taxpayer.

Our prison population is rising and prisons are becoming over-populated. New Zealand has not been able to lower the recidivism rate, we have a higher proportion of inmates per capita than Australia or the UK, and we aren't doing enough to address this.

The Government has admitted this is an issue which needs new creative ideas to solve. Our model has been proven overseas and while we have some support from the Dept of Corrections we need your help to bring it to life.

"One of the biggest stumbling blocks to successful reintegration is having steady employment upon release. If there is no employer that will take us, where can we go?" - Arohata trainee

INSIGHT

http://pantograph-punch.com/post/growing-female-prison-population

https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/104345354/Everyone-can-be-rehabilitated-says-former-prisoner-they-just-need-a-chance

OUR SOLUTION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi9Jz8mJGZE&feature=youtu.be

Check out the work we are doing in Arohata at the link above

• We provide barista training ‘behind the wire’ at Arohata Prison, training 30 women per annum
• We then plan to employ up to 2 of our graduates at our cafe in Naenae every year
• The cafe will run as a sustainable social enterprise
• Our graduates will be assessed after 6 months in the cafe and we will assist in finding them work at another cafe, within TSI, or in education. We believe in building leaders from within
• For every graduate that doesn’t return to prison (the recidivism rate is at 48% after 4 years) we save the NZ taxpayer $100,000 per annum

WHERE YOUR PLEDGE WILL GO

Building costs - the total refit has been costed at $130,000, this money will go towards that cost.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please give what you can but just as importantly, share this page and our message. The people that we help are trying to turn their lives around but face many barriers just when they need support the most.

Please spread the word on social media, and donate as much as you can, to help create a sustainable model that could change so many lives - the person, their families and their communities.

OUR TEAM

Matt Lamason
Matt is the founding chair of Trade School Industries Trust.

He is the founder and owner of Peoples Coffee, a fair trade organic coffee roasting, retail and wholesale business supporting and championing small coffee producers around the globe. After 12 years in the coffee industry, Matt has passed on the management of Peoples Coffee and is enjoying putting his energy into new projects.

Lauren Tennent
Lauren is the Training and Reintegration Manager of Trade School. She has a degree in criminology and psychology, as well as 9 years experience in the hospitality industry. Lauren started working at Peoples Coffee in 2013, and launched the Arohata Project soon after. Lauren developed the program over two years while working as head trainer in Arohata prison.

Martin Bosley
Martin Bosley is one of New Zealand’s finest chefs. He has worked in and owned a number of award-winning restaurants and now has his own range of food products called Bosley's Pantry.

Martin’s involvement in the Trust stems from his long-term work with inmates from Rimutaka prison. Martin has proved that the right interventions behind the wire can provide employment pathways after prison.

Alison Robinson
Alison is a chaplain at Rimutaka Prison and a community worker in Naenae.

She has spent most of her adult life supporting a myriad of marginalized people, from the migrant and refugee communities of Wellington to recently released and paroled men coming out of prison. Alison’s experience working with traumatized people has given her a deep understanding of the complex challenges people with difficult backgrounds face.

Paul Soong
Paul brings digital marketing and business experience to the Trust.

In 2000 he started the world's first design agency that bridged the gap between education and employment, called The Church. The company helped over 40 young creatives find or start their first job. In 2014 The Church was acquired by Designworks NZ Ltd, part of the STW Group (an ASX listed public company). Paul now works at Careers New Zealand where he runs marketing, resource development and content teams.

Shaun Anderson

Shaun is the general manager for Peoples Coffee and has provided a range of support and expertise to Trade School. He brings a range of skills to the Trust such as financial and strategic expertise as well as hospitality industry knowledge and contacts.

Shaun’s experience within the industry allows us to plan and strategize for the future and longevity of Trade School as a social enterprise.

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