The Unlock Community provides a space for people with convictions to share their stories and experiences about living as a law-abiding person with convictions, give hope and inspiration for the future, and show examples of what’s possible.
Success Stories
Hear directly from people with convictions about their experiences living as a law-abiding person with criminal convictions
Struggles and Stigma
Learn about the various struggles and stigma that people with criminal records have faced, and how they have overcome them.
- “Let me put that in writing” – Why you should always confirm your criminal record in writing what you’ve said verbally
- “Second chances don’t feel like they exist if you’ve been convicted of a sexual offence”
- “You’re fired!” – Losing my job after my spent conviction came to light due to my own honesty
The latest opinions, views & reviews submitted by our Community members
View all news and updates
“What we need now is action” – Unlock’s view on the prisons white paper
The government has published its much-awaited prisons white paper, which covers a great deal of ground from building new prisons to measures to improve access to jobs on release. The latter is the focus of Unlock’s attention and can be found in the third chapter. While the paper offers renewed assurances that rehabilitation sits alongside public […]
“What we need now is action” – Unlock’s view on the prisons white paper
The government has published its much-awaited prisons white paper, which covers a great deal of ground from building new prisons to measures to improve access to jobs on release. The latter is the focus of Unlock’s attention and can be found in the third chapter. While the paper offers renewed assurances that rehabilitation sits alongside public […]
Welcome to the new Unlock website
We’ve spent the last few months working hard behind the scenes to build our new website – we hope you…
Unlock’s annual report 2020/21
Each year we publish our annual report and accounts – which you can read in full on the Charity Commission’s…
Want to ‘fix’ labour shortages? Start seeing the person, not their past
Last week, Dominic Raab called for employers to recruit people in and leaving prison to help plug the skills gap in an…
3 ways that you can get involved with the Unlock Community
Our inclusive community is made by, and for, people with criminal convictions.
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Top personal stories by topic
Most Popular
View all the most popular articles by Unlock from the last month
- “Computer says no” – appealing the disclosure of my spent conviction
- Life after receiving a conviction for a sexual offence
- “Let me put that in writing” – Why you should always confirm your criminal record in writing what you’ve said verbally
- My world’s just got bigger – disclosing my conviction to a new partner and travelling to Canada
- Functioning on a daily basis with a sexual offences order
- Allow me to talk about my past and you might give me a better future
- I’ve worked hard to be part of a system that’s now holding me back – problems with the UK criminal record disclosure system
- If employers aren’t willing to give people with convictions a second chance how can we ever prove that we’ve changed
About Criminal Records
- A chance at last – changes to filtering rules will give me a clean DBS at last
- “Computer says no” – appealing the disclosure of my spent conviction
- Although my conviction can be filtered, 11 years seems a very long time to wait
- ‘Yes I’ve got some historic convictions but do the public really need protecting from me?’
- “You’re fired!” – Losing my job after my spent conviction came to light due to my own honesty
Employment, Business and Volunteering
Everything you need to know about gaining employment, starting or running your own business, or volunteering.
- Service user involvement aids rehabilitation and reform
- Amazon, if you ban all applicants with unspent convictions then you’re missing out on a huge amount of talent
- “Second chances don’t feel like they exist if you’ve been convicted of a sexual offence”
- Allow me to talk about my past and you might give me a better future
- ‘Employers, if you want me to disclose my conviction, then please ask me the question’
Education
- “Acceptance was the answer to my problems” – Getting into university with an unspent conviction
- I’ve been fortunate that my stupidity hasn’t been held against me
- An education, a job and a future; look how my life has changed
- I was rejected from university because of my record, now I’m campaigning for fair treatment
- Celebrating the achievement of an outstanding learner
Insurance, Banking and Finance
- Why are insurance companies still discriminating against those with a criminal record?
- Credit where credit’s due – opening a bank account with a fraud conviction
- Now I’ve got my professional indemnity insurance, I can start to believe that the best is yet to come
- Banking on a new start – advice on opening a bank account with a criminal record
- I am being punished for something I haven’t done – Insurance problems for family members
Housing, and Living in the UK
- I had to face the consequences of breaking the law, why shouldn’t local councils?
- The difficulty trying to rehabilitate and reintegrate miles from home.
- Home sweet home – successfully appealing a Council’s decision to take a spent conviction into account
- Staying positive and being resilient – my journey from prison to normality
- Every house a home
The Criminal Justice System
- “I didn’t think that my dad was at risk of dying when he was sent to prison” – The impact of coronavirus on people in prison
- The difficulty trying to rehabilitate and reintegrate miles from home.
- Although prison affected my mental health, I want to stay part of the criminal justice system
- ‘Yes I’ve got some historic convictions but do the public really need protecting from me?’
- A clear cut career choice – training to become a barber whilst in prison
Travel
- “Don’t believe everything you read” – Getting a visa from the US Embassy in Belfast is no guarantee
- Being a ‘juvenile delinquent’ enabled me to get a visa to the USA!
- Having my wings clipped by an old conviction – how my criminal record stopped me travelling with my family
- Getting permission from probation to return overseas to my husband and family
- Getting permission from probation to travel to my brother’s wedding whilst on licence
Other Areas of Life
- “Don’t let trolls affect your goals” – getting links to your name removed from the internet
- Being brave isn’t easy but it’s key to moving forward – Standing by my husband following his conviction
- An education, a job and a future; look how my life has changed
- Allow me to talk about my past and you might give me a better future
- Denied healthcare due to my conviction for assault