I became involved in crime when I was young. I disengaged from school and left without any GCSEs. I lost people who mattered to me before I had any direction. I used drugs to escape the banality of life and built a living around them. Eventually, I went to prison. Prison forced me to look properly at where I was heading. I began thinking further ahead than I had before, and education gave me a direction.

I started studying while I was inside and set myself a target: complete an Access course when I came home and reach university. I was released on 5 May 2020 and went on to study Sociology at the London School of Economics with support from the Longford Trust. I completed and passed the course with a 2:1. It still feels odd writing that down when I think about where I started. My experience after LSE covered research, communication, business development and operations.

The support I received from the community around me opened doors I had never expected to reach. I became involved in research, public speaking and work connected to criminal justice.

 

I travelled to Uganda and volunteered with Justice Defenders. That time in Uganda gave me a different perspective on what education can achieve inside prison. I met people studying law, supporting one another and helping others understand the justice system affecting their lives. Their commitment and sense of purpose stayed with me. The experience made the value of knowledge, responsibility and opportunity very clear.

 

Cooking was already a big part of my life. There was a long-running joke at home that the food was the main reason to keep me around. I count that as early customer feedback. It has been left out of the financial forecast.

Moving between locations made me look more closely at the kitchens that made the work possible. I like that a job would start in one place and finish somewhere else. I liked arriving somewhere new, learning the rhythm of the site and helping turn an empty space into a working kitchen.

Mobile catering connects me beyond the practical side of the work. Prison changes your relationship with the seasons. For long periods, the outside world was something I saw through a fence or on a television screen.

In prison, the doors, routines and places you can go are strictly limited. When I came home, I felt the privilege of ordinary freedom, being outside, choosing where to go and meeting people along the way. That sense of freedom provides much of the energy behind Open Hatch and Kitchen Foundry.

For me, the dream is a working life outdoors, meeting people and building something around food that nourishes the communities it reaches.

I wanted to build around something that could move with opportunity and give people more control over where and how they worked. As I work through what the business can become, I also think about other people who might need somewhere to start. Kitchen Foundry is being developed to provide practical experience, mentoring and supported routes into food enterprise for people with ability and ambition who need somewhere to begin. 

I have sat in rooms with prisoners, academics, charity leaders, business owners and caterers, and I have learned something from all of them. Moving between those different worlds has made me curious about people and comfortable speaking with people whose lives and experiences may be very different from mine. Reaching LSE from prison meant keeping a promise to myself for years before anyone else could see the result. It taught me how to follow through when progress is slow.

And cooking has always been one of the ways I care for people and bring them together. Open Hatch gives me the chance to build something of my own around that part of who I am. I want it to create space for other people to start something of their own as well.  Open Hatch means a great deal to me, and I want the people who back me to feel proud that they did. I have also had a great deal of help reaching this point.


Acknowledgements
The Longford Trust has been part of my life since university. Belinda Matthews was my mentor throughout my studies and supported me during an important period of change. Cathy McGuinness is my current mentor. Peter Stanford, Sara Boxer and Clare Lewis have also given me continued support, encouragement and friendship over the years.

Project ReMAKE has supported this social enterprise during its early development and helped me continue working through the idea.

Fulham Reach Boat Club has also played an important part in my life. Through Boats Not Bars, the club takes rowing into prisons and continues supporting people as they return to the community.

Imogen Walsh’s support and encouragement have meant a great deal to me. I also want to thank Adam Freeman-Pask, Steve O’Connor and Andrew Doughty for the friendship and continued support they have given me.

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Siobhan Down has supported me since soon after my release from prison, when she attended an online event where I spoke about the routes that can lead people into crime. Through Yellow Brick Road Projects, she gave me a platform to speak to young people at risk and use my experiences and bad decisions for something good. She sponsored the registration of Open Hatch Ltd and continues to back what I am building. Siobhan is also beginning a master’s degree in Strategic Leadership. After everything she has put into supporting other people, I am glad to see her taking this step for herself and wish her the very best of luck.

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My sister, Sarah Johnson, has backed me for longer than anyone else mentioned on this page. She supported me through school when I was younger and later sent books into prison that helped me become curious about education again. She was with me in hospital after a substance was thrown in my face and temporarily blinded me. She was also there when I came home from prison, encouraging me to keep going, aim higher and take my ambitions seriously. She has listened to more conversations about kitchen trailers than any sibling should reasonably have to.

 

There are other mentors, friends and supporters who have given their time, shared advice or made an introduction when I needed one. I am grateful to all of them.

Their support has helped me reach this point. I am now looking for people who connect with what I am building and want to help me take it further through investment, expertise, introductions or partnership.

If that sounds like you, I would like to hear from you.

Thank you for reading,
Warren

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