1. It’s really overwhelming when you first get there
“I was allowed one phone call, then I had to check in all my belongings. I wrote down some important numbers from my phone and then sat in a room alone for hours, wondering what was going on. Eventually someone offered me some dinner, but I was too nervous to eat. I saw a nurse and a doctor and then they gave me a laundry bag with a plastic plate and knife and fork, bedding, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a ‘welcome pack’ with colouring pens and a colouring book.”
2. You don’t necessarily get strip-searched…
“You sit on a chair and it scans you for metal but that was it for me. They will strip search you if they have reason to suspect you have drugs, but they don't always bother. If they think you have drugs they will also search your cells, and sometimes make you and your cellmates lie down on the floor with your hands on your heads while they do it.”
3. Cell arrangements vary
“In some prisons you have your own cell, with a shower/toilet. In other cases you have to share, including the toilet, and showers are communal – and sometimes also used as a toilet! On my first night I was taken to a cell with a television and a phone in it, which surprised me. Unfortunately I was only there for one night. Then they took me over to the wing I would be staying on and it was very different. There was a woman banging her cell door with a chair and kicking it. You could hear everything because all the cell doors have gaps on either side. Even someone having a wee a few cells down is audible.”
4. It’s best not to ask what people are in for
“There are always rumours. Personally I never asked because I didn't want to feel I was judging someone on their crime. Some people ask straight away, but it's generally not really done. There's a lot of gossip! Like bad gossip! Quite damaging. It depends I guess on the person and situation.”
5. The food is crap
“You pick your lunch menu a week in advance. I hated the food so lived off instant noodles from the canteen. Now I’m out, I still live on the same noodles! Some places you have a kettle/toaster/microwave and the girls chip in on the canteen and make food together to share. There are canteen recipes like cheesecakes and other stuff. Usually you can find them in the prison newspapers (which are a good read). People also trade things from the canteen quite often.”
6. You have to put in an application for everything you need beyond the basics
“Whether ordering your weekly supplies, applying for jobs, other prison transfers, doctor’s appointments, etc, it’s all done via app. Once a week is canteen day. That's when you get your weekly shop in of shower gels, sweets, chocolate, tobacco and things like that. It's up to you what you spend it on. They supply sanitary protection for free but even that you have to apply for. I’m surprised you're allowed to shit without an app!”
7. It’s good to keep busy
“Try and get a job or pursue an educational course if you can, to keep yourself out of your cell and/or earn some money. You earn various amounts depending on your status (basic, enhanced, etc) plus if your family send you money you can have a certain amount of that per week.”
8. Fights happen all the time
“I was quite fortunate not to be bullied in prison. I got on with everyone, basically. When fights happened, I got stuck in the middle most of the time. If a big brawl starts, and you’re in the way, you have to fight your way out of it. Which is quite scary.”
9. Romantic/sexual relationships are commonplace
“It’s not just lesbian and bi women, either. ‘Gay for the stay’ is definitely a thing. Women who are adamant they're straight end up in relationships with women for the comfort. In closed prison plenty of women get together. The environment means that it usually ends up in fighting and both women being put in segregation, however.”
10. Your first day out can be daunting
“I just felt numb. I had to make my way to probation and then I went to Waitrose to spend some of my leaving money (you get £46 when you leave). I bought myself some of the things I had missed while I was inside: artichokes and a nice bottle of wine. Then I got some fish and chips and went home to wait for the tag people.”
11. Being on tag is a drag!
“I didn't sleep properly until the tag came off. A lot of people go home on tag to families and even jobs. I didn't have that. I spent a lot of time alone, watching Netflix. Strangely, I kind of missed the regime I’d had in prison. I kept looking at the clock and thinking, ‘I would be working right now, or in the gym.’ Suddenly losing that kind of structure is a bit unnerving - or so I found.”
