Aylesbury prison officer describes her stereotype-breaking work rehabilitating inmates

A prison officer working at an institution in Aylesbury has shared her experiences working in the demanding role.

Natalie Manning, 25, who works at HMP Aylesbury left the care sector to become an officer and has found many of her preconceptions around the role to be false.

Natalie has shared her experiences at the category C prison to coincide with the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) national autumn recruitment drive. More details on the role can be found on the Government’s website here.

The 25-year-old, who joined the prison two years ago, said: “Before joining HMP Aylesbury, I knew I wanted to do a job that involved helping people but hadn’t considered the prison service until I spotted a job ad that grabbed my attention. The advert sounded really interesting to me as it described how a prison officer can help to support rehabilitation, so I thought I would give it a shot and I haven’t looked back.”

When she joined Natalie was pleasantly surprised that many of the stereotypes associated with being a prison officer proved to be incorrect.

She added: “Contrary to how prison officers are portrayed on the TV or in films, size isn’t important to do this role. I am only 5ft 7 tall myself, but to be an effective prison officer you need great communications skills as much of the role is about talking to people and helping them. So if you are a great people person, you’ll be a great prison officer.

“Before joining HMP Aylesbury, I also expected the prison service to be male dominated, but that really isn’t the case – I was encouraged to see lots of young females just like me when I arrived.

“Working in a prison is demanding but it’s the team spirit amongst the staff that helps us to get through the difficult moments. I definitely see myself staying within the service in the long term because there are so many routes that you can go down.”

HMP Aylesbury is looking for officers to join Natalie and her team.