Charity to improve prison food with £300,000 grant

A charity that works to improve prison food has been given a £300,000 grant to deliver a project at HMP Spring Hill.

Food Behind Bars said it would use the funding from the Rothschild Foundation to teach the men at the prison in Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire, how to cook and grow food.

It would also run other projects at the site over a three-year period, such as educating catering teams to improve menus and restoring the prison garden to provide fresh produce.

Lucy Vincent, the chief executive and founder of the charity, said it was their "most ambitious project to date" and "shows what's possible when food is taken seriously in prison".

Fresh seasonal produce grown in the prison's walled garden would eventually be used in the site's kitchen, with prisoners working alongside staff to restore the space.

The charity said this would help prisoners build skills while boosting biodiversity.

A training kitchen would also be built to teach prisoners skills to help them with rehabilitation and access employment when they were released.

Staff from different prisons would also use the site to share learning, the charity added.

Vincent said: "We have a real opportunity to make food a key driver of rehabilitation and better health and wellbeing in prison, as well as improving the landscape and the local food system for years to come. I can't wait get started."

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.