By engaging with our services or products, you are helping to provide work experience, training and a sense of purpose for serving prisoners and prison leavers, helping to break the cycle of reoffending while supporting second chances in the North East.
We are proud of the diverse enterprises our Oswinners have developed across the region. Although each project aims to provide rehabilitation opportunities, there are no compromises. The standard of work is exceptionally high and we deliver top quality products and services. Explore our work below.
Baking Out
Our newly launched range of handcrafted pies and quiches are made by serving prisoners at HMP Northumberland who receive onsite training and qualifications, using locally-sourced ingredients. Every purchase supports rehabilitation while delivering exceptional flavour.
Cafe 16 in
HMP Northumberland
Training 10 prisoners in essential catering skills, our prison café and bakery serves staff and visitors while producing goods for our other enterprises, creating valuable work experience and qualifications.
Cafe 16 in
Newcastle Cathedral
Opened in August 2021 as a joint enterprise with Newcastle Cathedral, our café serves fresh sandwiches, soups, salads and sweet treats made in our prison bakery.
Changing the Cycle
Prison leavers gain employment and qualifications at our bike shop, offering servicing, repairs, and affordable refurbished bikes. Each repair represents both environmental sustainability and personal transformation.
Growing Out Farm Shop
Opened in 2023, it is staffed by volunteers and is managed by an Oswin Project employee with lived experience. The shop sells seasonal produce, plants and baked goods grown and made by prisoners. Any surplus is donated to Amble food bank, ensuring zero waste while supporting rehabilitation.
Inside & Out
Our team of prison leavers, supervised by a skilled manger, provides landscaping, gardening, stonework, and maintenance across Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham at competitive rates.
Market Garden at HMP Northumberland
The prison gardens provide therapeutic outdoor work and skills training while growing plants and vegetables for our other enterprises. The gardens adjacent workshop creates garden furniture from reclaimed materials, developing woodworking talents while supporting environmental sustainability.
Mentoring
Underpinning all of the work that the Oswin Project does is mentoring people. This commitment to personal guidance forms the foundation of our approach, creating pathways to change through consistent, compassionate support and building lasting relationships that foster genuine transformation.
Past Projects & Initiatives
Farming Out
Our ‘Farming Out’ campaign, in collaboration with the New Futures Network, aims to increase the number of people with criminal records employed in horticulture and agriculture. Our first event in 2021 was at HMP North Sea Camp, and our second in 2022 was held at HMP Kirkham.
Employment Conference
We run an Employment Conference every 18 months in Newcastle. Our last event was in March 2022 and featured Kim McGuinness, John McCabe, Kamel Kahn, Lindsay Blackmore, Darren Burns and Lance Harris as Speakers.
Prison Art Exhibition
In March 2022 we hosted a prison art exhibition inside Cafe 16 in Newcastle Cathedral. Artworks were supplied by Koestler Arts, and The Burnbake Trust, a specialist charity that supplies art kits to prisoners.
R-Affordables
R-Affordables was established to create an ethical socially driven company, rolling out a new housing initiative based in Scotland. The company’s mission was to build houses whilst tackling inequality and lack of opportunity.
Pitch Perfect
Some Oswinners worked with Northumberland Football Association to gain skills in ground maintenance. ‘Pitch Perfect’ was a social enterprise initiative to support football pitch maintenance across the County, with the help of associates and a pilot group of partner clubs.
The Pilot Project
In June 2016, 3 Oswin Project clients carried out a substantial renovation of the Doctor’s House in Pegswood. It is an interesting building; as its name suggests, it was the colliery doctor’s home and surgery.