IT is an indistinguishable old bakery that used to be a skeletal ruin and now houses refurbished antiques and finely re-upholstered chairs.

It has been restored mainly by men who committed murder a long time ago. There is no fence, no barbed wire, no security guard.

These men are still serving life sentences, but as part of their reintegration into the community they are working here unsupervised for five days a week for 12 months before being considered for open prison and release.

The new "national top end" system for life prisoners in ­Barlinnie means they work on a voluntary basis in and around Glasgow in order to prepare for their release into the community.

The new Open Gates project in Glasgow, visited earlier this week by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, has refurbished the previously derelict White House in Maryhill and this former bakery. It has taken men others would not: men whose names have been plastered across the front pages of the tabloids; men who have changed. The aim is to help them turn their lives around.

Brian has been working at the Open Gates project for eight months but has not yet finished his prison sentence. He has already spent 15 years inside. He works here five days a week.

"Within four years of the punishment part ending we can move to national top end," he says. "For the first 12 months of that we are just in the hall, and then we start to go out every three months on special escorted leave with our personal officer or two prison guards.

"What I did was a one-off. The feelings of guilt don't go away. This project is great. We can talk about what we're going through. I've been working with joiners and electricians on the renovation of the White House. I know it won't be easy to go back out into the world with no skills."

Scott is also on national top end. He says his aim is to try to mentor young people when he comes out, to persuade them to leave crime behind them.

Owen Curran, the national top end manager for Barlinnie, said: "Life prisoners within four years of completing the punishment part of their sentence should be aiming to be in national top end. They do a year on escorted leave and a year-long work placement. Then if they have completed all the risk assessments they would go on to the open prison estate.

"Prior to coming to national top end, they have to complete their core behavioural work and courses, such as anger management. After the case of Mr Foye [a prisoner who absconded from open prison and raped a schoolgirl], a lot of things changed. We were already very careful about who was put out on parole but it forced us to review all aspects of what we do.

"This is new to Barlinnie. We were looking for local placements and came here. This place was just a shell. About 50% of the work done on the building has been done by national top enders."

He added: "We're very, very careful about matching people to placements. Before they go out on placement they go through a two-year risk assessment. At some point the parole board will release them. It's much better that we gradually reintroduce them into society rather than throwing them in at the deep end. Some have been in for 20 years."

David Crimin, 43, served a life sentence for murder. He was released more than a decade ago and has since applied for hundreds of jobs.

"I'm a qualified bricklayer, ­hairdresser and painter and ­decorator but as soon as people see you are on a life licence, it's over," he says. "I was 16 and it was a fight that went wrong. I grew up in prison. There were a lot of opportunities in prison to do training and I did as much as I could. I learnt how to do upholstery too. I don't want to be sitting around doing nothing so I jumped at the chance to work here as a volunteer. I'm here five days a week. It's great to be able to show family what we've done with the White House. With the guys coming here I can show them that it is possible to come out and help other people and have a family and do OK.

"They've asked how to cope with people judging you on the outside. I think the best policy is to be honest."

Pat Clark, 63, founder of Open Gates, received his first sentence aged nine. "I was never out of prison," he said. "My first sentence was 14 days when I was nine. I had eight or nine custodial sentences. Never once did I want to go back but I always did.

"What I want to do now is give people an opportunity. I want to help. Ultimately I want to do the prison officers out of a job by persuading folk not to offend. I know how difficult it is to break the cycle of reoffending but I know it can be done."

Scottish Canals is working with the charity and provided the buildings at a peppercorn rent so they could be renovated.

Steve Dunlop, chief executive of Scottish Canals, said: "We see them as a vital part of the community. We get a direct benefit because they are good for the area and the regeneration of buildings in the area."