A unique u3a visit to The Clink

Denise, leader of Bushey & District u3a's What The Papers Say group talks about a unique outing the group took to Brixton Prison.

Bushey & District u3a's What the Papers Say interest group has been going since 2018. We are a current affairs group and discuss whatever is currently in the news, often bringing newspaper articles and try to find the more obscure items rather than the headlines.

We recently had a fascinating visit to The Clink restaurant inside Brixton Prison. We were interested to go to experience a unique restaurant and to interact with a group in society we would not normally have the opportunity to meet. We were not disappointed.

Nine of us set off having to observe the dress code of no cropped tops or mini skirts, (so the ladies had to rethink our planned outfits). We had lots of instructions regarding security and what we couldn’t take in such as smart watches, hats, scarfs, no mobiles or even tissues.

The restaurant is a charity where the prisoners work in the kitchens and front of house supervised by professionals. They are usually just one month or so away from release and they are taught skills and qualifications for their future. Our waiter loved working there as the food was so much better than he usually has.

We had a very nice meal, beautifully presented and our waiter was friendly, courteous, helpful and happy to chat. The one question we weren’t allowed to ask was why he was in. They served delicious non-alcoholic cocktails, and the cutlery was plastic.

As we were leaving there was a bit of drama. An inmate had climbed on to the roof of a van and about 10 prison officers were trying to persuade him to come down. We thought we might be subject to a lock down and have to stay the night! Luckily it was resolved quite quickly.

It certainly was a fun and very original outing.