Freedom Bakery

Freedom Bakery is a wholesale sourdough and pastry bakery operating from a production unit on Charles Street in north Glasgow. Set up in 2015, it began as a training scheme for prisoners at HMP Low Moss and continues to take apprentices on day release from HMP Barlinnie, training them in bread and pastry production alongside a professional head baker. The bakery supplies sourdough loaves, pastries and other baked goods to cafes, restaurants, delis and shops across Glasgow and the west of Scotland; it does not run a retail shop counter of its own. As a community interest company, Freedom Bakery has never taken public funding, relying instead on private investment and loans since it began wholesaling to the trade in 2017. The aim is straightforward: teach a trade that offers routine, purpose and employable skills to people leaving custody.