Cafe 16 at Newcastle Cathedral

25/09/2026

Planning an event in Newcastle? Café 16 can cater it.
Buffets, working lunches, canapés for a reception, afternoon tea for a celebration. Everything from a meeting of twelve to a full event.

The food is prepared fresh our team. The bread and the pastries come from our bakery inside HMP Northumberland.

Here is what makes booking us different. Café 16 is a social enterprise run by The Oswin Project. The kitchen is staffed by people who have left prison and are being trained and mentored into long-term hospitality work. Every buffet you order pays for that training, and gives someone the experience and the reference they need to get a job.
Good food for your guests. A fresh start for someone who needs one.

To talk about dates, numbers or menus, email [email protected]

15/09/2026

Fancy winning the new iPhone?

The Northumberland Lottery Autumn Super Draw prize is 2026's new iPhone, and every ticket bought through our page supports the Oswin Project.

Tickets are £1 a week. 60p of every pound stays in Northumberland, and 50p of that comes directly to us. It goes into the work that gets people out of prison and into a job.

There is a draw every Saturday night with a £25,000 jackpot and a 1 in 50 chance of winning something each week. Buy a ticket before Saturday 31 October and you are in the Super Draw too.

Play here: https://www.northumberlandlottery.co.uk/support/oswin-projects?utm_campaign=marketing-hub-super-draw-panel&utm_source=manual&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=Hyperlink

Players must be 18 or over. Please play responsibly.

07/09/2026

Regional Pride In the Northeast, a good pie is more than just food, it's part of our cultural identity. Whether enjoyed at football matches, family gatherings, or as comfort food on cold days, pies hold a special place in Northeast hearts. That's why we're so proud that Baking Out creates authentic, locally-sourced pies made right here in Northumberland. Each handcrafted pie supports rehabilitation while honoring our region's culinary traditions.

you can find out more at bakingout.co.uk

04/09/2026

It's National Eat an Extra Dessert Day, and we can't think of a better excuse.
Café 16 sits inside Newcastle Cathedral, and our counter is fully stocked: cakes, traybakes and a few things that won't last the afternoon. Pull up a chair under one of the most beautiful ceilings in the city and have the second slice. Today it's practically compulsory.

Every coffee and every cake here does something. Café 16 is run by The Oswin Project, creating paid work and real training for people leaving prison. So the extra dessert is a good deed, technically.

Pop in today. We'll be waiting with the cake stand.

03/09/2026

The Oswin Project is delighted to announce that our "Baking Out" enterprise is expanding.

Baking Out is already producing exceptional savoury pies and quiches that have received tremendous feedback from our customers. Now, with this significant funding, we're refurbishing a disused kitchen within HMP Northumberland that will dramatically increase our production capacity.

This expanded facility will enable us to train more serving prisoners in professional culinary skills while meeting growing demand for our products. Using locally-sourced ingredients with minimal food miles, our pies and quiches are available at our Farm Shop, Café 16 in Newcastle Cathedral, and through select local retailers including Another Spud in Morpeth and Lesbury Village shop.

The enterprise represents another milestone in our mission to break the cycle of reoffending through meaningful employment opportunities. With proper training, mentoring, and support, we've consistently achieved reoffending rates under 4% compared to the regional average of 67%.

We extend our sincere gratitude to Scottish Power, the Convey Fund, to SSAFA for their invaluable advice and support and to Sodexo our partners at HMP Northumberland. Their combined commitment enables us to scale a sustainable enterprise that combines quality products with life-changing impact.

To learn more about Baking Out, visit bakingout.co.uk

31/08/2026

Café 16 has turned five.
Based inside Newcastle Cathedral and run in partnership with the Oswin Project, the café offers training and employment to people with experience of the criminal justice system. Five years of it now.

BBC Radio Newcastle's Michael Poulter called in to talk to Assistant Manager Fraser, Catering Operations Manager Clare Guiney, and Fiona Sample, CEO of the Oswin Project, about why Café 16 was set up and what it has done since.

Listen on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0p6z93k

21/08/2026

We're delighted to be featured in the Church Times this week!
The article celebrates the fifth birthday of Café 16 at Newcastle Cathedral, and tells the story of what these five years have meant.

Since opening in the cathedral in 2021, Café 16 has helped 64 prison leavers into employment. The piece features Jack, the first team member to join on Release on Temporary Licence back in 2022.

It also captures just how much this little café means to the community. As the Dean of Newcastle, the Very Revd Lee Batson, put it, Café 16 has become "a much loved part of life at the cathedral," bringing warmth and welcome to the space.

And our founder Fiona Sample reflects on what makes it possible: "It shows what can happen when organisations work together to help people fulfil their potential."

With 250,000 items served across 125,000 visits, most of it made in the prison kitchens at HMP Northumberland it's a story of great food, genuine community, and lives being transformed.

Read the full article in the Church Times 👇
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2026/21-august/news/uk/prisoners-rehabilitation-celebrated-as-newcastle-cathedral-caf%C3%A9-marks-five-years?fbclid=IwY2xjawT1Yw9wZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMGJzUk81bjAxT2ZEbkx2WEFzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEer1okj3L_JawNaxwJvml31MZXME-KkakXtBZCRMT3kuxUbNc91VYX9oLfpvw_aem_BMh3o1pt1hV8I4SeS512Ig

17/08/2026

Afternoon Tea Week has been and gone. We're a little late to mention it, which is fitting, because a good afternoon tea is not something to be rushed.

Here's the thing worth knowing anyway: Café 16 at Newcastle Cathedral does a proper afternoon tea, and you don't need a designated week to enjoy one. Finger sandwiches, warm scones with jam and cream, and cakes and pastries from our own kitchens, served under the vaulted ceilings of one of the finest rooms in the city.

One ask. It must be booked in advance. he tea is prepared fresh and to order, so we need a little notice to do it properly.

And when you book, you're doing more than treating yourself. Café 16 is a social enterprise staffed by people with convictions who are building skills, references and a route back into work. Every stand of sandwiches is a shift's worth of that. A grand setting, a genuine spread, and custom that goes somewhere it matters.
Book ahead. Bring someone you like. We'll do the rest.

15/08/2026

🎬 Press play — this one's special. 🎬

Café 16 wouldn't exist without the support of some brilliant partners, and LNER is right at the heart of that story. As one of the funders who helped make Café 16 possible, they've been part of our journey from the very beginning.

We're so grateful to share this wonderful film, produced by LNER, taking you behind the scenes of what Café 16 is all about — the people, the purpose, and the little corner of Newcastle Cathedral we're proud to call home. ☕💛
Grab a cuppa, hit play, and have a watch. We think you'll love it as much as we do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE4XZcNajj8

Café 16 at is one of the many projects LNER sup...

14/08/2026

Jack was our first ROTL starting from Kirklevington Grange. After Jacks first day at Café 16 in the Cathedral he said

‘This is like a dream, I can’t believe I am here’.

Jack has followed the pathway developed from Café 16 in HMPN, where he first worked in 2021. After starting in Café 16 in HMPN he said ‘my spark has come back’, the fire in my belly is lit again, I want to return to this industry, despite a gap of many years’.

Since leaving HMPN Jack said “their support has been brilliant, since working at the Oswin Project in HMP Northumberland they have kept in monthly contact with me asking how I was and offering continued support throughout”

When Jack arrived at HMP Kirklevington Grange we were delighted he was eligible for ROTL. Working with HMP Kirklevington Grange along with Jacks drive and determination he was keen to follow the route to work at our café at Newcastle Cathedral on ROTL.

Jack has kept to his word and in August he started work in Café 16 in the Cathedral. On completing his first two weeks volunteering, he has just received his first pay for many years and is learning how to use internet banking. He has bought experience and joy to Café 16.

“ROTL has helped me integrate back into society by working while in prison” This also allowed me to access additional help that the Oswin Project has given me such as housing referrals and information that I was not aware of while in prison – “every day life stuff!”

“Caroline and Chris have gone way beyond any help I thought someone would offer; Chris even picked me up on my release day! Without their help, support, speaking up for me, having my back and even caring for me I don’t think I would have got my parole! They supplied references for me and supported me with probation throughout my hearing! Oswin is like a family not employers!

Jack is now released from prison and is in full time employment with The Oswin Project working at our café 16 in Newcastle cathedral.