The British government is recruiting prison guards. But reality is different from the promotional videos.
Physical violence, attacks on fellow inmates or officers. British prisons are overcrowded, so much so, that the government had to release some prisoners early.
Francesca Fattore spent almost four years behind bars for drug trafficking, some of the time in this women's prison near London. Only once a day were women allowed out of their cell, she remembers.
"Absolutely chaotic. You know, you got all different people from all different walks of life, different crimes. As soon as they open the doors, it's like letting the animals out the zoo because everyone's so loud," she says.
Her cell had been designed just for one person. But because of overcrowding, she was joined by another inmate. Many women around her were suffering from mental health problems, she says. Across the UK, the rates of prisoners who are self-harming is at a record-high.
"You are left with your own thoughts. And if you're somebody that doesn't do well with sitting with yourself, which I didn't at first, it is horrible, because once you are locked in there and if you're locked in all day as well, you just overthink absolutely everything," says Fattore.
The UK Justice Secretary defends the government. It was only elected in July, and had inherited the crisis, she says.
"This government will build the prisons the last Conservative government promised but failed to deliver. But in seeking a lasting solution to our prisons crisis, we must be honest too, in a way that my predecessors were not. We cannot build our way out of this problem. Sentences must encourage offenders to turn their backs on crime. We need both sticks and carrots," says Shabana Mahmood, UK Justice Secretary.
Because of spending cuts under the previous government, fewer and fewer prisoners have been given the opportunity to continue their education in prison; and the quality of training has steadily declined in recent years, according to the government’s own analysis.
And employment opportunities are rare. The London coffee chain Redemption Roasters is one of the few employers willing to give prisoners a chance.
"If you have a job on leaving prison or within the first six weeks of leaving prison, you're half as likely to re-offend as somebody who doesn't," says Max Dubiel, the founder of Redemption Roasters.
Their coffee roasting is done within a prison. Convicts are being trained as baristas. Only 4%of them go on to reoffend within a year as opposed to over 30% nationwide. The new government is looking to increase schemes like this.
Rad is still learning in his new job as a barista. Before he was given a chance at Redemption Roasters, he had spent several years in jail, mostly having nothing to do.
"When I asked whether there would be any positions available for employment, like cleaning the corridors or anything, I've been told that it's a long waiting list and they are just ending up being in the cell, locked up for about 23 hours a day. All you can do is a little bit of exercise and the television, and that's the life you have to get used to," says Rad.
Rad meets his case worker Patrick once a week, who is also employed by Redemption Roasters. A service that other ex-prisoners don´t get, as probation officers don’t have time for much individual support. However, the employees have to keep up their end of the bargain, too.
"We provide support. But there's also a bottom line where we say, 'we're a business, we're not a charity.' And if you're not showing willingness to work with us then I'm sorry, we're going to have to move on," says Dubiel.
Francesca Fattore hopes to earn money as a YouTuber. She’s has some success already, with a channel that is dedicated to helping female prisoners. She advocates for community service instead of jail for those who have committed less serious crimes, something that the new government is also looking at.
But employment remains the biggest challenge, she reckons.
"Give people a chance. If you'd employed me I’d work 10 times harder than you would because I'd be grateful for one, you know. And two you know, I'd want to prove myself that you made you made the right decision," Fattore says.
Francesca Fattore considers herself lucky: In prison she benefited from therapy sessions that helped her to move on from drug trafficking. She hopes that in the future, more help and more training will be available for others, too.