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A Little 'Gyoza' Long Way — Wagamama Teams Up With Prison Service To Train Up Offenders

Thomas Wakelin (c)

A team of top Wagamama chefs visited HMP Hatfield, serving up cooking classes to inspire the chefs of tomorrow.

In partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Wagamama trained 15 prisoners in how to prepare some of the restaurant’s classic dishes.

The Wagamama team was headed by global executive chef Steve Manglesot and supported by Jamie Henderson, Jaymi Lincoln and Sean Lockwood, who fed hundreds of inmates’ food prepared by their peers.

The chefs were joined by 15 men interested in a job in hospitality upon release and took over the prison kitchen for the day.


Thomas Wakelin (c)

Together they created about 250 portions of mouth-watering dishes including chicken katsu curry, yasai katsu and bang bang cauliflower.

All of these dishes were made completely from scratch with fresh produce.

A Wagamama spokesperson said:

“This year we have visited multiple prisons across the UK where we talked to men and women close to release about Wagamama.


A Wagamama chef. Credit: Thomas Wakelin.

“We believe that everyone deserves a chance but we also strongly believe in second chances. We all need to remove the blindfolds of judgement and give everyone an equal opportunity to meaningful work.

"Our past should never define our future.”

More than 70,000 people are released from prison each year and it is well evidenced that jobs cut reoffending and steer individuals away from a life of crime.

The visit forms part of the Ministry of Justice’s wider commitment to boost the number of prison leavers gaining jobs once out of the prison gates.

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