We’re looking for an engaging and knowledgable Food Educator to lead a cookery programme at HMP Downview.

When I found myself arriving at the entrance of Sulkava, an open prison in eastern Finland, I was sure we must have come to the wrong place. In front of me stretched miles of open water, with small red cabins dotting the side of the lake, conjuring images of a charming Nordic holiday camp.

I felt I was visiting Sweden at a turning point. Many staff told me that when they joined the service only 5 years ago, they were closing prisons down as they couldn’t fill them. Now, the opposite is true. Every prison I went to was a building site - cells were being doubled up, new units were being built and they were running out of space.

Here I am sitting with a group of prisoners in one of the residential units of this high security prison, which is home to around 250 men. They’ve made me a huge chocolate cake - brought out on a silver platter, sliced up and shared amongst the prisoners, officers and myself.