Social enterprise's 'most ambitious venue to date'

Founders of a social enterprise who work with former prisoners have described the opening of their latest venue as "the culmination" of its work over the last decade.

Tap Social Movement based in Oxford has Day Release at a new £14m social and retail space at Milton Park, a science and technology business hub, near Didcot.

The café and bar brings together Tap Social's bakery, pizza kitchen, café, bar, brewing school and events under one roof for the first time.

The social enterprise said it continued its mission to "create meaningful employment opportunities for people with lived experience of the criminal justice system, while creating a welcoming place for everyone".

Tap Social has been distributing beer from its craft brewery since 2016 and has a taproom in Botley. It also has an artisan bakery in Kennington - while Day Release in Milton Park will employ around 16 staff.

It said that since its foundation it had created "more than 115,000 hours of paid employment for people in prison and prison leavers".

Co-founder and director Tess Taylor said it was their "most ambitious venue to date".

"Day Release is the culmination of everything that Tap Social has built over the last decade.

"Every coffee served, every meal shared, and every shift worked helps create opportunities for people rebuilding their lives after contact with the criminal justice system."

Clare Fleet, asset manager for Milton Park, said Day Release "perfectly embodies" the vision that Signal Yard had been designed with.

"From the very beginning, our ambition was to create somewhere with character and purpose, championing independent businesses that bring something genuinely different to Milton Park and the wider community.

"Tap Social is an exceptional organisation. Not only do they produce outstanding food, coffee and craft beer, they also transform lives by creating meaningful employment opportunities for people with convictions."