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For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

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A city of possibilities – Living and working in Singapore with a criminal record

I’m 40 years old and most people that know me would consider me to be a ‘pillar of the community’. However, this hasn’t always been the case and, as a young man, I received several cautions and also had a short stay in a Young Offender’s Institution. Most of the incidents involved violence.

Since then, I’ve done pretty well at work and, two years ago through my work in the UK, I was offered a job in Singapore. The job was a management role and I’d been offered a good salary. As a young man, it had always been my dream to live and work abroad but, from what I’d read, this was going to be impossible with my criminal record.

My new employers in Singapore told me that I’d need an ‘Employment Pass’ which they would apply for on my behalf and would last for two years. To meet the criteria, I had to demonstrate that I had the appropriate professional qualifications and skills and would be earning above £1800 per month.

It all sounded too good to be true and I started to do some research into what, if any, criminal record checks might be undertaken. I found out that to work in many countries, I would need to get a copy of my Police Certificate. I know that my past cautions and conviction would probably show up and this would be likely to affect my new employers decision as to whether to employ me. However, I’d not been asked to provide one yet.

Within a matter of days, my new employer contacted me to let me know that they’d submitted the application for an Employment Pass and that they needed some additional information from me – this included a copy of my passport, my bank details and evidence to show that I had a clean criminal record.

I obviously agreed to send this off but was panicking like mad. How could I prove that I didn’t have a criminal record – I did. I started to search for information online and came across details of the helpline run by Unlock. I rang the number straight away and explained the situation to the lady at the other end of the phone. She immediately put me at ease and, after a few minutes suggested that as the company had not specified the need for a Police Certificate, then I should get a copy of my basic criminal record check from Disclosure Scotland and send this to my employer. The certificate would be blank as all my cautions and my conviction were spent.

It all made complete sense and I started to think it might actually work. As soon as I put the phone down, I applied for my basic certificate online. I got it back about 6 days later and emailed a copy to my new employers who were more than happy with it.

I’ve been working in Singapore for about a year now and loving it. Singapore is a cosmopolitan city that offers a high quality of life and endless career opportunities. Sometimes, it’s important to really think about what an employer wants from you. Mine needed evidence that I didn’t have a criminal record and the basic certificate was able to prove this. If I’d rushed in and given them a Police Certificate it might have been a different story for me.

By Seb (name changed to protect identity)

 

Useful links

  • Comment – Let us know your thoughts on this post by commenting below
  • Information – We have practical self-help information on police certificates and travelling abroad
  • Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions related to disclosure on our online forum.

I’m hoping that the law doesn’t destroy my future – Pushing for changes to the filtering process

In support of your current campaign in the Supreme Court this February, I would like to describe my case which is an example of how the law for individuals with more than one conviction falls foul of expectations when it comes to human rights and what’s fair. I have been trying to pursue a career in finance, but have been dismissed due to the two minor convictions I have. This has led me to live in constant fear of not being able to land a role in my chosen industry and now most certainly in the advisory segment of the business which is regulated by the FCA.

This problem is all because I have two minor convictions. The first was in 2004 when I was 17 years old for criminal damage to a phone box for which I received a fine and community service. The second was in 2012 when I was 25 years old for common assault after an altercation one evening between myself and another gentleman. I was informed that the common assault conviction was ‘protected’ (eligible for filtering) however, because I have two minor convictions they will both always show on my DBS criminal record check.

This has led me to feel very uncomfortable when filling out applications for roles in the financial industry and in some cases I have had to explain my convictions prior to criminal record checks, often leading to roles not being landed.

At the moment I am studying very hard for exams that will lead to regulated positions in the finance industry. These roles require standard DBS checks and therefore I would need to disclose my two minor convictions. This makes the process very difficult and will often mean that an employer will not wish to proceed with my application.

When will this nonsense stop! Even if the law changes for minor convictions, having to wait for over 11 years for it to be filtered is ridiculous. Justice has been done, I’ve paid the fine and more than suffered for my mistake.

I regret both instances. I wish I could turn back the hands of time to change the situation but unfortunately I can’t. I’ve done my absolute best to move forward and build a career but truthfully it’s not myself holding back my progress but these two minor convictions. When is the law going to change so that I can apply for a job without having the stigma of disclosing a criminal record. These convictions are not relevant to the jobs that I want to do but an employer will obviously chose the candidate without the conviction and mask it under the fact that the other candidate was stronger for the role.

I plead that the law does not destroy my future as it has many others who simply want to just get on with life.

Finally, I’d like to thank the volunteer that I recently spoke to when I rang the Unlock helpline. He provided me with more sound advice than any legal entity or online party that I could have found.

By Dennis (name changed to protect identity)

 

Useful links

  • Comment – Let us know your thoughts on this post by commenting below
  • Information – We have practical self-help information on filtering and financial services sector 
  • Discuss this issue – There are some interesting discussions related to job centre agreements and sanctions on our online forum
  • Our policy work – Read about the policy work we’re doing on this issue

‘Be prepared’ – Facing up to my past and volunteering as a Scout Leader

Almost 20 years ago, I received two convictions; one for criminal damage and one for carrying an offensive weapon in a public place. This sounds absolutely terrible but, if I explain, you might get a better understanding of what happened.

For about a year prior to my convictions, I’d been experiencing some extreme mood swings. Some days I’d be pretty depressed and feel really pessimistic about everything and other days I’d be full of energy and great ideas. I didn’t know it at the time but I was suffering from bipolar.

Sadly, another symptom of my condition was that whilst I was in a manic phase, I would become easily irritated and agitated although I’d remember very little about this when I was ‘normal’.

On the day of my conviction, I had a bit of an argument with a guy in a car park who I thought had tried to run me over (on reflection, I think I’d probably just walked in front of him whilst he was concentrating on parking his car). There was a bit of ‘banter’, I kicked his car and the police were called. Not knowing when to keep quiet, I continued to argue with the police officer who decided that the only way to shut me up was to take me down to the police station.

When we arrived at the station I was asked by the Desk Sergeant if I had anything on me that I shouldn’t, and I handed over a small knife which I had in my pocket (I can’t remember why I had it) – bang – two convictions.

Despite receiving the convictions, some good did come out of this as I was diagnosed with bipolar and started on medication to control my condition.

My bipolar is now well under-control and I’ve never been in trouble since. I now run my own business and I’m married with two beautiful boys. Both my kids are really active and involved in all sorts of clubs and groups and, like many fathers, I’ve also become involved in some of these.

About a year ago, I was asked by the kid’s Scout group if I’d consider becoming a Scout Leader. I didn’t give an answer straight away, just told the guy that I’d give it some thought and would let him know. Over the next couple of weeks I read all I could about the process and found out that despite my convictions being very old, they would not be eligible for filtering because I had more than one.

I’d pretty much decided not to go ahead when I saw the Scout Leader again and he asked me where my application form was. I can’t tell you what made me do it but I sat down with him and told him everything. He told me that I shouldn’t let it bother me – it was years ago, I’d been ill at the time and I was now a completely different bloke. So, fuelled by his positivity, I filled in all the forms and sent them off.

Weeks later my DBS certificate dropped through the letterbox and I opened it with some trepidation. I was so upset when I read it. I knew what I’d done but seeing it in writing was hard. I toyed with the idea of withdrawing my application so that I didn’t have to had it over but luckily I listened to my wife who told me that as I’d already had a conversation with the Scout Leader about it, it didn’t really matter.

So with that in mind, I handed over the certificate. There were a couple more conversations about my past with members of the Scout Association but ultimately, I was approved and I’ve been volunteering for about six months now.

However long ago it was, facing up to your past is never great but if you do, you can reap fantastic rewards.

By Taylor (name changed to protect identity)

 

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Has an employer wrongly checked your official criminal record? – Get in touch

As part of our Fair Access to Employment project we’re looking for examples of employers who have carried out inappropriate criminal record checks. We’re gathering this information to feed into our legal strategy which aims to put an end to unlawful criminal record checks.

We’re especially keen to hear from anyone who believes that an employer has carried out a standard or enhanced criminal record check for a role that wasn’t eligible for that level of check and that employer has subsequently taken into account spent convictions or other information from the police that they were not entitled to see (so called “soft intelligence” or “local police information”).

The types of information we’re looking for

We’re interested to hear examples where:

  1. Employers have carried out a standard or enhanced criminal record check which revealed spent convictions or “soft intelligence” or both, AND
  2. The role in question was not eligible for that level of check (i.e. a standard check was carried out when the role was only eligible for a basic check, or an enhanced check was carried out when the role was only eligible for a standard or basic check).

We will review all of the evidence and advise you about your options, including potentially participating in legal action against the employer or umbrella body for submitting an ineligible check or against the DBS for processing an ineligible check.

For further information see our website.

There are people in the caring profession that care about people with criminal convictions: Getting a job in a care home

care-homeAs a youngster growing up my life was extremely chaotic. A mixture of getting in with the wrong crowd and being mentally unwell meant that I picked up a series of convictions – shoplifting, assault, burglary and possession of heroin. However, there reached a point when I realised that I needed to get away from the crowd I was mixing with and better myself. So I started studying for a degree in health and social care.

As my degree course came to an end, I turned my attention to job hunting and after sending off several applications, I was invited to an interview at a care home. Obviously, I was nervous – this was going to be my first proper job. The interview was going well and then the interviewer said:

You’ve ticked the box stating that you have a criminal conviction, can you tell me a little more about that’

I had so many but I disclosed what I could remember and the manager thanked me for being so honest.

A couple of days later I received a phone call offering me the job. I was asked to go in and complete the paperwork for my enhanced DBS check (I was told that I couldn’t start work until I’d received this) and put an order in for my uniform. I was over the moon.

Several weeks later my DBS certificate dropped through the letterbox and on opening it I felt physically sick. It was far more in-depth than I’d expected it to be with information about a short prison sentence that I hadn’t even mentioned and a couple of other things that I’d totally forgotten about. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten this stuff but I’d been mentally unwell at the time and had even been hospitalised for a while. What was I going to say to the manager when I had to take my DBS check in? He was going to see far more than he’d bargained for and I felt absolutely awful about it. I’d kept out of trouble for over 16 years yet it all seemed a waste of time – my past would follow me around forever.

I felt as though my future had just gone up in flames. I was young and stupid at the time of my offending. Addicted to drugs and mentally ill.

One of my neighbours works in the same care home and she’d been as excited as me when I told her that I’d got the job. What would happen when the job offer got revoked. It would be obvious that there’d been something on my DBS check. Would she tell anybody? My head was buzzing with the implications that handing over the certificate would have.

That night I dreamt about working in the care home. It was the strangest dream ever but it made me realise that I owed it to the manager to go and explain the situation. I rang the home and started to explain. The manager told me that he’d have to arrange for me to meet the company’s Area Manager as it was too much for him to deal with.

As I prepared for the meeting lots of scenario’s were running through my head. I’d convinced myself that the job offer would be withdrawn and even if it wasn’t and I started work I’d probably be treated differently to my colleagues. I read my DBS certificate over and over again and tried to remember what was happening at the time of each of my convictions.

On the day of the meeting, I walked into the office of the Area Manager and handed over the certificate. I gave her a moment to read through it and then started to explain. I told her that I hadn’t deliberately withheld information but as a result of my mental state at the time there was stuff that I just couldn’t remember. I told her about the care I’d been given when I was ill and how I really wanted to do the same for somebody else and how I felt that I’d never be able to shake off my past. She listened to everything I had to say and asked me couple of questions.

She thanked me for being so honest and I prepared myself to hear her say ‘unfortunately we won’t be able to progress any further with this job offer’.

Instead she said:

Congratulations, I think you’ll make an excellent addition to the team’

I’m starting to think that it might just be possible to shake off my past after all.

By Lizzie (name changed to protect identity)

 

A comment from Unlock:

Lizzie’s story demonstrates how there are employers willing to see beyond a criminal record and give people a second chance.

Although Lizzie initially forgot to disclose some of her convictions, her employers still gave her the opportunity to explain them in further detail when she handed over her DBS certificate. Sadly, many employers are not so obliging and, if the same situation had arisen elsewhere, Lizzie may have had the job offer revoked. Some employers might have taken the view that she had been deliberately dishonest.

Unlock’s advice would always be to find out exactly what is on your criminal record (apply for a subject access request if you’re not sure) before you start applying for jobs.

Great result Lizzie!

 

Useful links

Piece in The Economist – “In Britain, criminal records dog offenders for decades”

Yesterday The Economist published an excellent piece, making the point that “the long memory of the law may limit the chance of rehabilitation”.

Following the recent Law Commission report, and ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing into the current DBS filtering legal challenge, the article highlights Britain’s punitive approach to criminal records.

Featuring the work I did as part of my Winston Churchill Fellowship:

“All this adds up to a system that affects ex-offenders for longer and more profoundly than those elsewhere in Europe, says Christopher Stacey of Unlock, a charity that helps ex-cons. Not all countries include cautions in criminal records, as England and Wales do. In some, employers tend only to ask for background checks when required to do so by law. Sweden allows crimes that have resulted in imprisonment to be expunged after ten years. In France, a judge can deem a person to be “rehabilitated” and wipe the slate clean.”

The article goes on:

“The dilemma is how to balance risk with rehabilitation. At present, Britain leans heavily towards minimising the former. A criminal record is, in effect, an additional sentence, says Mr Stacey—one that can run for the rest of a person’s life.”

Read the article in full.

Written by Christopher Stacey

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Just because an employer doesn’t ask about criminal convictions don’t assume they won’t find out – especially if you’re under MAPPA

sex-offences-actI’d like to bring to everyone’s attention the issues you may encounter if you’re not entirely clear about the types of restrictions or conditions that exist on your licence or the input that other organisations may have which you might not have been made aware of. This is my story.

I recently started a new job eight months after I was released from prison. I know from reading posts on the Unlock forum that it’s difficult to get a job with a criminal record and, if you have a conviction for a sexual offence, like I do, then it’s even more so. I thought I’d done well to find a company that didn’t ask about my criminal record so I didn’t disclose it.

The job was going well until for some reason, my boss decided to Google me. I’m not sure what led him to do so, perhaps it was something he did with every new member of staff or maybe he’d been tipped off about my conviction. Needless to say, the newspaper report he read didn’t present me in the best light and he decided to do some further digging about me.

He immediately chose to ring the local police station and was put in touch with my supervising officer. Without speaking to me first, my supervising officer told him the details of my conviction and the fact that I’d spent time in prison. The first I knew of this conversation was when my boss called me into his office and told me:

I know everything about you. The police have told me what you did and where you’ve been’

I was immediately suspended whilst my boss considered what he would do with me.

The next time I met my probation officer, she told me that she’d been contacted by the police and that they were concerned that I’d breached my registration requirements. She told me that the police would arrange to visit me to discuss the matter further.

As soon as I got home I started to look through the details of my notification requirements. I checked my Sexual Harm Prevention Order and also my licence and I couldn’t see anything that set out the need to disclose my conviction to an employer it they didn’t ask me about it. I was confident that I’d done as much research as I could and I believed that the police had unlawfully disclosed my conviction to an employer. I was ready to have a reasoned argument about it.

I always worry about any police visit but I was fairly confident that the situation would be sorted out once I’d had a chat with the officer concerned. I figured that the police had the same duty to abide by my licence/SHPO conditions as I did.

My confidence left me very soon after the police officer arrived. She started to explain that her decision to disclose details of my conviction were nothing to do with the SOR, SHPO or my licence conditions it was as a result of being supervised by MAPPA. I’d heard of MAPPA whilst I was in prison but only in the context of people with violent offences – that wasn’t me.

However, she told me that all registered sex offenders are subject to MAPPA arrangements – unfortunately that did apply to me. The MAPPA arrangement apparently means that the police have a duty to consider whether it’s necessary to disclose information about an individual to a third party in order to protect the public and safeguard children. She explained that having heard about the type of work I was doing, she believed that the public may be at some risk. Hence her decision to disclose.

She told me that normally she would have given me the opportunity to disclose the conviction myself but, as my boss was on the telephone and very concerned about the risk I posed, this had not been possible.

So it seemed that in this case, the police hadn’t really done anything wrong. Yes they probably should have given me the chance to disclose my conviction myself but in this case the outcome would probably have been the same. My boss had already found out about my conviction and was desperate to find more out about me. The police officer told me that it wouldn’t always be necessary for her to disclose to a third party, it would very much depend on the job. However, if I find another job that doesn’t ask about my past and I don’t disclose, I’m worried about how this will be viewed by the police and probation. The last thing I want is to end up back in prison.

I’ve not heard from my boss yet about what he’s going to do. However, whatever happens, I’ve decided the best thing for me to do is to work on my disclosure so that I’ll feel more comfortable and confident about disclosing my conviction in the future. Knowing where I stand will no doubt stand me in good stead for whatever lies ahead.

By Wayne (name changed to protect identity)

 

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Sorry for the problems with the site this week

I wanted to write a post to explain about the problems you might have been experiencing with our site this week.

Alongside many other websites, theRecord was having a problem with a digital hack which we understand has affected thousands of websites recently.

Our website platform provider has reacted quickly to overcome this issue and we understand that new updates they’ve provided us with have rectified the problem.

Although this has been incredibly frustrating (we’ve been battling behind the scenes), we would like to reassure all our subscribers that no personal details have been compromised. The site holds no personal information, and our mailing list is maintained by a separate provider, MailChimp, which is unaffected.

So we hope we’re back to business-as-usual, but if you have any questions or concerns, you can contact us at therecord@outlook.com.

 

By Debbie Sadler 

 

Officer G – a prison officer in a million

prison-officerI’ve been watching the news over the past couple of weeks which have shown some disturbing images of prison riots.

Prison officers being interviewed in the press say that cuts in staffing mean they don’t have time to deal with individual prisoners’ requests and issues. They’re spending less time interacting with prisoners which means that they miss out on changes in prisoner’s behaviour.

It’s been reported that prison management isn’t bothered about frontline staff as long as they complete the necessary paperwork. Management don’t see the importance of engaging with officers or prisoners on a daily, face-to-face basis. The end result is totally demotivated officers.

Therein, I believe lies the problem. For anybody that’s been in prison, it’s fair to say that a good officer can make all the difference and the impact they can have on an individual can go on long after the individual leaves prison.

I arrived in prison having just received a 4 year sentence. Not having any control over my situation or environment was a huge culture shock and it became obvious that prisons are generally under-funded places, having to deal with a variety of people, some of whom can be really difficult to manage. It was also clear that when asking a question some prison officers knew nothing and didn’t want to know anything, whilst others knew loads and were keen to impart their knowledge to others. Officer G was one such woman.

The things she did may sound simple but they were different to the way a lot of the other officers acted.

  • She was a role model for socially acceptable behaviour. For example, she always referred to us as ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs’, she was always really polite and never used bad language.
  • For anybody that was willing to make changes to their lives she was happy to reward their positive behaviour. This was simple stuff like arranging a bingo afternoon or a film show on a Sunday afternoon.
  • She was always keen to encourage us to seek guidance, information and advice from a wide range of different organisations and she would often get the more capable prisoners to help those who were less able.

Officer G didn’t think that prison should stop us being individuals and more importantly, women. After we complained that the make-up we could purchase through the prison shop was useless and really expensive, Officer G contacted a well-known make up supplier and became the wing’s ‘Avon lady’. She used a team of girls to help her package it up and distribute it which reflected the trust she put in us.

Everybody in prison will have worries or concerns of some kind and mine was what I was going to do for work when I left prison. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go back into my previous line of work but I didn’t know anything else. I spoke to Officer G about this who explained that I’d soon be eligible to move to an open prison where I’d be able to do some voluntary work before being able to apply for paid work. She told me that I should think carefully about where I did my voluntary work as it could potentially lead straight into a paid job which I may be able to continue upon my release. She suggested that I consider work in the retail or leisure industry as career progression can be quite quick.

The next day when I saw Officer G she gave me a list of hotels which were local to the open prison that I’d be moving to. She told me that she thought I had some good people skills and she could see me working in a hotel. I set about updating my CV and sent it out along with a covering letter explaining my conviction and current circumstances to all the hotels on the list, asking whether they had any opportunities for either voluntary or paid work. By the time I’d moved to the open prison a month later, I’d already lined up a couple of interviews.

To cut a long story short, I was offered a work experience role with a large hotel chain. These roles are generally geared at school leavers looking to get a taste of what working in a hotel can offer. However, the company is large enough to tailor these programmes to an individual’s needs and this enabled me to work with them on a voluntary basis for a couple of months. As soon as I was eligible to, I applied for a team members job which involved working on the reception desk and also in the hotel restaurant when required.

I’ve now left prison but have continued working at the hotel. I was promoted pretty quickly to team leader and I’m now working towards a job as an Operations Manager. I’m very self-motivated and I’ve worked hard to get where I am. However, without the guidance and the push from Officer G I’m not sure that I would be where I am today. So thanks Officer G, you’re one in a million.

By Daisy (name changed to protect identity)

 

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Unlock – the beginning – by Bob Turney, Unlock’s co-founder

Bob Turney at his recent visit to Unlock’s office

Have you ever had a chance encounter with someone that has had a far reaching impact on people’s lives for the good? I have been fortunate enough to have had a few such meetings but this one was particularly memorable.

It was April 1997 and I was in the green room at the BBC Centre in Shepherds Bush, London waiting to appear on the Esther Rantzen Show. The programme was looking at people who had been in prison and how they had managed to turn their lives around.

Eighteen years earlier I had been released from Wandsworth prison having spent the previous twenty years drifting in and out of similar establishments. Since my release from Wandsworth, I had obtained a degree in Forensic Social Work and was now enjoying a career as a Probation Officer.

Also present in the green room was Mark Leech, then the editor of the Prisons Handbook, who had a similar background to me. We discovered that we had the same publisher, Bryan Gibson of Waterside Press. I found Mark very forthright in his opinions and was impressed with the way he handled questions from the studio audience. After the show we went for a bite to eat where the topic of our conversation turned to us increasingly coming across people with criminal convictions who were struggling to reintegrate back into society despite their best efforts to put their offending behind them. Their pasts were like millstones around their necks. It was clear that disclosure was a massive drawback in the jobs market and they felt that society was continuing to punish them, despite their best efforts.

We agreed that if people were genuine in trying to turn their lives around, there should be an organisation that could help them. We then went on to explore the possibility of establishing a charity that would help ex-offenders manage their antecedents in a positive way. It was Mark who came up with the name ‘Unlock’ – I thought it was a great idea, because that was how our days in prison were divided up, when the landing officers shouted “Unlock!” we knew it meant we could have time out of our cells. It was symbolic of freedom.

So we set about establishing the charity, but it needed to have some gravitas – we didn’t want to be seen as reps for a burglar’s union! Lord Longford had befriended me while I was at university and he and I remained close friends up until his death in 2001. Frank had been good enough to open many doors for me and I managed to get him on board and he had many great ideas regarding the charity.

In the meantime Mark had contacted Sir Stephen Tumim who had been Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons from 1987 to 1995, and he also got behind Unlock, becoming the charity’s founding President.

Mark and I had a meeting with the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, who gave us an hour of his time. We told him about the objectives of Unlock and that we were hoping to obtain some government funding. We also discussed repealing the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

Simultaneously I was co-writing a book with Angela Devlin entitled ‘Going Straight‘, which contained interviews with a number of people who, since leaving prison, had totally changed their lifestyles and gone on to build successful careers. Jack Straw wrote the foreword for the book and it became core text reading in universities for students studying Criminology. We donated the royalties from the book to Unlock.

We received a lot of support from many people, including David Wilson, Professor of Criminology at Birmingham City University and former Prison Governor, who shared with us his wealth of knowledge, and Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, who generously let us use her offices for meetings.

Stephen Fry, actor and author, agreed to be involved in the launch of the charity and was very helpful with his time. His involvement meant we attracted a great deal of media attention.

Getting off the ground

Unlock was duly launched at Pentonville Prison in the spring of 1999 to an audience made up of inmates, members of the media, and invited guests.

David Wilson was our first speaker, followed Sir Stephen Tumim, myself, then Mark. Our concluding speaker was Stephen Fry, who held the audience spellbound for over half an hour, telling us about his time in Pucklechurch Young Offenders Institution. Such a nice man – I can see why he is regarded as a national treasure.

In 2000, Unlock was really starting to take off. Probation was undergoing a lot of changes with the introduction of Youth Offending Teams, which was putting a lot of demands on my time, plus I was also due to go to the States to study their penal system, and with five young children and a mortgage, conventional wisdom dictated that I couldn’t serve two masters at the same time. Regretfully I felt that I couldn’t give the charity the time that it deserved, so I took a back seat and we recruited Bobby Cummines to take over from me.

Why Unlock?

Unlock is driven by the belief that most people are redeemable and that their lives shouldn’t be defined by the mistakes of their past. The ethos of Unlock is to look at the positives in people and draw the best out of them.

In my case it was many years ago that I managed to become a volunteer with the Probation Service. I was full of self-doubt, and the chances of advancing in the service seemed impossible, and if the truth were known I believed that Probation was only using me as a cosmetic job, to show how they were allowing an ex-offender to become a volunteer.

But that was so far from the truth. In fact, the service saw qualities in me that were far beyond my level of comprehension. They built on my fragile self-belief and gave me tasks that would stretch my abilities. Of course I did make some mistakes, but nonetheless I reached a level I didn’t think possible, and the rest is now history.

And that is what Unlock is about – getting the best out of people.

To illustrate this, I am often invited to give talks in colleges and sixth forms and as part of my talk I will hold up a fifty pound note and ask the audience who would like it. Every time I get the same response – a forest of hands are raised as everyone in the room wants the money. Then I screw up the note, throw it on the floor then stamp all over it, then hold it up again and ask if they still want it – again everyone holds up their hands. I then ask them why and always get the same reply that of course they do as it is still valuable! That is how Unlock perceives the people they work with – for sure they screwed up, but they recognise the value that is in everyone.

Unlock is all about harnessing people’s skills in a positive way, helping people to identify their talents, and then magnifying them. But it is also more than that, it’s not about enabling people to move away from offending, it’s about helping them feel that they are no longer standing on the peripherals of society, but playing a pivotal role in reintegrating themselves back into a productive life.

The Longford Prize 2016

Following the death of Lord Longford in August 2001, the Longford Trust was established. His family invited me to become Patron of the Trust, which I gladly accepted and I was invited to sit on the panel of judges which would select the recipients of the annual Longford Prize award. The competition was always fierce, each year we would be inundated with nominees that we would whittle down to a shortlist. It was one of the most difficult tasks I have ever been involved in. There were so many good causes it was extremely difficult to select a winner.

So, when Unlock was awarded the Longford Prize this year I felt extremely proud to be one of the founders of the charity all those years ago when none of us could have visualised that it would be such a big player in the rehabilitation of offenders.

Bob with Unlock’s co-directors Julie Harmsworth and Christopher Stacey at the Longford Prize award

I am really grateful to all the staff and volunteers at Unlock for the vital work they are doing in helping people to cast off the baggage of their past. My time with this wonderful charity was incredibly rewarding and I am so happy to see it going from strength to strength.

By Bob Turney – Co-founder of Unlock

 

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