University Place vendor nominated for National Lottery award
02 Apr 2019
HMPasties Kitchen, a bakery employing ex-offenders in Manchester, sell a range of meat and vegetarian pasties from University Place every Tuesday
HMPasties Kitchen has been nominated for a National Lottery's The People's Choice Award, a scheme that has awarded around £42 million to 960 good causes across the UK since it started in 2005.
Lee Wakeham spent his youth in care and, because of the trauma he suffered during his early life, turned to crime in his teens. But after two spells in prison he turned his life around, eventually founding HMPasties Kitchen. His story featured on BBC's The One Show last month.
Talking about providing employment opportunities to people with criminal convictions, Lee said it's about giving people “not a second chance, often only the first and only chance they have ever been given”.
About The People's Projects
Since 2005, the partnership between The National Lottery Community Fund, The National Lottery, ITV and STV has given the public a say in how funding should be put to good use in their local area.
More information:
How to vote
Every vote counts and your support for HMPasties Kitchen could help them develop further! The three projects that receive the most votes in each UK region will receive up to £50,000. The runners up will be offered a discretionary award of up to £5,000.