London-based charity, Training for Life, has launched an innovative new restaurant in the heart of Hoxton.

Situated in a renovated school building in Shoreditch’s Hoxton Square, Hoxton Apprentice will be staffed and catered by a team of 12 students – who had no catering experience until four months ago – with a menu designed by restaurateur and chef, Prue Leith.

All the trainees were long-term unemployed before joining the scheme and all profits generated will be returned to the charity.

The restaurant’s training scheme lasts for six months and begins with a six-week induction involving programmes in personal development, work orientation, basic floor and kitchen skills, health and safety and food hygiene.

The apprentices will then spend four and a half months in the restaurant spending time in the kitchens, on the floor and in the bar.

After the practical experience they can go on to advanced training in their preferred area.

Outside professionals will also come in to run masterclasses and students will have one to one support through a buddy system with other members of staff.

The restaurant, which offers 100 covers and is expected to work with 48 apprentices a year, is the centrepiece of Prospect Centre, a new business and community development designed by Training for Life in partnership with the local New Deal Community programme, Shoreditch Our Way (ShOW), and the Corporation of London.

The centre also includes a training resource facility, a computer suite, a suite of business incubator units, a crèche, a martial arts academy and a fitness centre and has been supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London Development Agency and the private sector – including Compass Group and Whitbread.

A spokesperson for Training for Life said that the scheme was not simply a copy of celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, 15, which turned 15 unemployed people into restaurant staff.

“The Hoxton Apprentice is not a stand-alone venture, it is part of a bigger initiative, a Prospect Centre, to enable unemployed and disadvantaged people to improve their lives and to find and sustain work,” they said.

“We aim to offer general employability skills that will equip people for any working environment and specific vocational skills from experience both as chefs and front of house staff.”

They added: “The emphasis is on simple, delicious food at affordable prices – not haute cuisine.”

Speaking at the launch, Training for Life chief executive, Gordon D’Silva, said: “This is a staggering achievement. Four months ago, these trainees had no jobs, some had no home and yet today they are opening a vibrant, high quality commercial restaurant.

“This project is partly the product of a unique partnership between the public, private and charity sectors, but primarily it is a testament to the courage and commitment of 12 Londoners who were prepared to grasp this opportunity to turn their lives around.”

The organisation plans to establish further Prospect centres across London, some of which will also include restaurants.