Lunch at The Secret Diner @ Sudbury Prison

We always get great feedback from our visits to Sudbury so here’s another opportunity to enjoy a meal at an unconventional location! Sudbury Prison’s Secret Diner is a training restaurant for prisoners. There have been a few raised eyebrows when dining groups and day trippers have turned up at the doors of HMP Sudbury.

After all it’s not the first place you would expect to be taken to for a slap-up three-course meal. But I understand that very few visitors go away unhappy, and Trip Adviser seems to bear this out! You won’t be surprised to hear it is not exactly fine dining but we do get waiter service and food is plentiful, with lots of choice and all extremely reasonably priced. The Secret Diner is situated just outside the main gates and acts as the staff mess for prison officers, but it’s also open to the public and, without ever advertising, it has built up a big customer base. But the Diner has a more important role, in preparing prisoners for a return to the outside world, giving them skills that will help them secure work in a competitive job market.

The focus is very much on reducing re-offending by giving them the skills they need to get a job in the hospitality industry. Not just a qualification but also the experience that goes with that by working here. That can be in front of house or cooking.

Sudbury Prison: Sudbury was set up as an American Air Force hospital in 1944, part of the preparations for the D-Day Landings. It was turned into a category D prison in 1948 and has been ever since. As a resettlement prison, giving prisoners new skills is very important and it has links with Milton Keynes College.