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For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Story Type: Successes

The long journey from crack to carer – Working in a care home

It’s often felt that jobs within health or social care can be difficult to get into if you have a criminal record. However, as Melanie’s story shows, people with significant criminal records can successfully get into this type of work.

 

 

I’m sitting at Gatwick Airport with my son waiting for our flight to Spain to be called. We’ve both been working really hard so we’re looking forward to the break. It’s strange to think that the crazy journey I’ve been on started at Gatwick and will end there as well.

Back in 2005 when my son was 7 years old I was a single mother with an addiction to crack cocaine. I was struggling to survive and when I was given the opportunity to earn some serious cash I didn’t think twice and I agreed to smuggle a huge amount of drugs into the UK.

I wasn’t a criminal mastermind, just a crack addict, so unsurprisingly I was arrested at Gatwick Airport and before I knew it, I found myself in court and sentenced to 12 years in prison. During my time inside I recovered from a stroke (bought on by my drug taking), got myself clean and started to think about what life after prison would be like.

My son went to live with my mum and despite her being hugely disappointed in me, she bought him along to the prison most weekends so that we could maintain a close relationship.

In 2009 I moved to an open prison and started doing some voluntary work in a residential care home. As a result of my drug addiction I’d never held down a job before and I absolutely loved the routine it gave me. I volunteered for 5 days a week but would often do extra shifts when the home was short staffed.

Around the same time that I was eligible for paid work, a job came up at the care home where I volunteered and I applied, confident that I’d walk it. I was constantly praised for my work as a volunteer so why wouldn’t I get a full time paid job. Sadly, it seems employers are less tolerant about convictions when it comes to paid work than for volunteers. Although the manager of the home was happy to employ me, the Care Quality Commission were making it very difficult for her. She told me that she was willing to ‘fight my corner’ but I knew that as soon as I was released from prison I’d be moving to a different part of the country and so I took the decision to continue as a volunteer and save the ‘fight’ until I was released.

Since my release in 2011, I have gone on to work as a carer in a residential home, although it wasn’t easy to get a job. Many employers disregarded me as soon as I told them I’d got a criminal record and those that did invite me to an interview and gave me a chance to explain my conviction were less receptive when I mentioned that my offence was drug related.

Eventually I struck gold and found an employer that valued my skills and experience far more than worrying about my past. My reference from my previous care home manager was fantastic and my personal officer in prison had given me a character reference which highlighted how I’d worked with a prison drug charity and had been clean for 5 years.

I work full time and rent a house for me and my son. He’s grown into a wonderful young man and is an apprentice car mechanic. Getting paid to do a job I love is amazing. I’m able to regularly spoil my mum as a thank you for the years she’d spent looking after my son and he and I are now on our way to Spain on holiday.

It’s odd being back at Gatwick and what a difference. This time my case is full of PG Tips instead of crack cocaine – well you know how difficult it is to get a decent cup of tea abroad.

By Melanie (name changed to protect identity)

 

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Trying to forget my criminal record almost cost me a job

Like a lot of people who receive a criminal record, Georgina tried to forget all about her conviction and simply move on with her life. However, applying for jobs in the NHS meant that she needed to disclose details of her past conviction, and being unclear about the precise details made her employer question her honesty. 

 

I received my conviction in 2007 following an argument with my partner. At the time I had two small children and therefore only worked part time for the NHS. This was the only time I’d ever been in trouble with the law.

I didn’t tell my employers about my conviction and merely carried on with my job. However, I carried the shame of it and kept it a secret for many years.

As my children grew up, I started to feel that I wanted more from a job but I was fearful of applying for something new, especially within the same NHS Trust as I knew that I would need a new DBS check and my conviction would show up. This meant that potentially I could lose my existing job.

I became really depressed and started to attend counselling sessions and when I told my counsellor of my fear of applying for a new job, she told me to just go for it.

I’d totally blanked out the details of my conviction but decided that if I was going to look for a new job I should find out exactly what I’d been convicted of. I started to search the internet when I came across Unlock and gave them a ring to get more advice. They advised me it wasn’t possible to apply for your own enhanced DBS check (which is the level of check that the job would involve) but that instead, I could apply for a copy of my police record which would set out the date and details of my conviction. They also advised me that, if asked at application, not to necessarily disclose all the details of my conviction on an application form but to give brief details and then go into more detail face to face, possibly at the interview stage. They suggested that I leave a written record of my disclosure so that there was evidence that I’d disclosed it.

With the benefit of this information, I applied for a post with another NHS Trust and was invited to an interview. The interview went really well and despite not having received a copy of my police record I disclosed what I could remember about my criminal record. To my surprise I was offered the job, subject to satisfactory references and a DBS check.

I nervously waited for my DBS certificate to drop through the letterbox but before it did, I received a copy of my police record which showed a different disposal to the one that I had disclosed to my potential employer. I started to worry that this might cause a real problem with my new employer and from what I’d read online, I discovered that this could be enough for an employer to withdraw the job offer.

Several weeks later my DBS certificate arrived and I arranged a time to meet with the HR department to drop it off. Along with my certificate, I took a written disclosure letter which explained the mistake that I’d made at the interview. I handed both over to the HR assistant and she told me that she’d need to speak to her manager because of the discrepancy. I had to wait 48 hours until I received a call from the HR Director who told me that she had read my letter and totally understood how the confusion had occurred. She told me that as a result of my honesty they still wanted me to start work with them.

I’ve now started my new job and I know that I have a bright future ahead of me. My advice to anyone is never give up. There are people out there that care and want to help and are willing to look beyond a criminal record.

By Georgina (name changed to protect identity)

 

A comment from Unlock

Employers will often ask you for details of your criminal record, and if the information you disclose is not accurate, this could cause you problems at a later stage.

We would always advise that you find out what’s contained on your criminal record to enable you to disclose the correct information when you’re asked. This will prevent you from disclosing inaccurate information, disclosing too much information or not disclosing what you are legally obliged to disclose.

However, this type of case is also why we think the DBS should provide a way for people to be able to find out which cautions and convictions will be disclosed on an enhanced check, so that they can make sure they disclose accurately and honestly, while at the same time not disclosing anything that would now be filtered.

 

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Thanks to the police I’m able to pick my grandson up from school – Getting my SOPO discharged

It’s fair to say that the UK has some of the toughest restrictions on people convicted of sexual offences. Conditions included in SOPOs can be very restrictive and can have a huge impact on an individual’s ability to move on. However as Colin explains, his local police force have taken a more sensible approach and by assisting low risk individuals to discharge their orders they are able to concentrate their resources on those deemed to be a high risk. 

In 2010 I was convicted of a number of sexual offences and received a 3 year community order and an indefinite SOPO. With everything that was going on in court, I didn’t give too much thought to the term ‘indefinite’ and it was only later that I realised the significance of this.

I suspect that many people will think that I was lucky not to go to prison and without a doubt I’m glad that I was able to serve my sentence in the community. Like anybody who is placed on the SOR, I had to notify the police of my personal circumstances every year. If I went abroad I had to notify the police and when I went on holiday with my daughter and her family I had to tell the police that I was going to be in the same place as my grandchildren. In addition to this, the police paid visits to our house without warning.

My SOPO meant that I couldn’t be alone with any children under any circumstances except for ‘incidental contact’.

Towards the end of 2013 I started to look forward to being ‘off the register’. However, I was totally floored when during one of their visits, the police told me that my indefinite SOPO meant that generally my situation would not change.

The detective sergeant in overall charge of my case contacted me some months later to tell me that my local police force were reviewing the SOPOs of some low risk individuals and were looking at ways that they may be able to assist in getting ‘indefinite’ SOPOs discharged. He told me he’d be back in touch when he had any further information.

I never expected to hear from him again but, true to his word, several months later he asked to see me so that he could interview me about my SOPO. I can’t say that I’ve ever looked forward to meeting a policeman but this was more like a friendly chat, and at the end he asked me to sign a witness statement that he’d written as we talked. One of the key points he made was that my computer had been regularly examined by the police and found to be free of any inappropriate material.

I was extremely anxious about having to go back to court but the detective sergeant reassured me that, whilst the presiding judge could ask that I attend, this had only happened once since the police had been involved in the ‘system’.

Within a couple of weeks I received through the post an ‘Application to Discharge a SOPO’ document which outlined my case, my criminal record, details of the SOPO, a statement from the detective and my own statement. An accompanying letter stated that the police had requested that the application be considered administratively. I wasn’t required to go to court.

Three weeks later I received a letter telling me that my SOPO had been discharged.

The discharge of my SOPO has been the final piece of my previous life. Last week, Sophie, one of my grandchildren was too ill to go to nursery and while my wife stayed at home to take care of her, now SOPO free, I was able to collect her twin brother Toby from nursery. As I relaxed in front of the television that night my phone buzzed with a text message from my daughter. It said:

Thank you for today. Toby loved you picking him up. When I dropped him off at nursery this morning he announced to everyone with a huge smile “My grandad is picking me up in his orange car today” xxx”

I’m delighted that such a simple thing has bought such joy to both of us.

By Colin (name changed to protect identity)

 

A comment from Unlock

It is common problem for individuals with convictions for sexual offences to be given SOPOs which exceed their sentence/disposal or time on the register. The proactive nature of the police in this case is to be welcomed but is still quite rare to see police forces actively helping individuals discharge a SOPO, but there is nothing stopping you from doing this yourself and, in the case of indefinite SOPOs, it is certainly worth doing.

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I couldn’t let a caution for ABH hold me back – Getting a job in the NHS

As one of the biggest employers in the UK, it’s always disappointing when we hear how risk averse the NHS can be. Teresa’s experience has been far more positive and the introduction of the NHS Liaison and Diversion department will hopefully mean that in terms of being an employer, they will gain a better understanding of some of the reasons why people receive cautions and convictions. 

 

I can’t help feeling that I’m a victim of ‘the system’. In 2008, after enduring more than a year of emotional abuse from my partner, the police came knocking at my door. I’d never had any dealings with the police before and had no idea why they were there. They informed me that my partner had contacted them accusing me of assault. I had no recollection of this; however I did remember pushing him out of the bedroom door the night before.

The police asked me whether I was suffering from any mental health issues and I admitted that I’d recently had a number of suicide attempts that required hospitalisation. I don’t remember much after that apart from tears and complete detachment, but ultimately I was cautioned for ABH.

Skip forward 8 years and, having completed my degree in psychology, I applied for my first job. I had a great interview and couldn’t believe my luck when I was offered the job. As I needed to have a DBS check and knew that my caution wouldn’t be eligible for filtering, I arranged a meeting with the HR manager to discuss my criminal record. I hadn’t thought about what had happened for many years, I’d moved on. I’d completed my therapy and done well. But as I started to explain the situation, it all came flooding back. I spent the next week in a state of anxiety, having flashbacks and regrets, reliving memories, it was totally overwhelming. Then at the end of the week I got a call from the employer, informing me that they’d decided to revoke the job offer, as they felt that they:

“Couldn’t trust me to be alone with vulnerable clients.”

I battled on and was offered another job, this time working for the NHS. I was certain that I’d disclosed my caution to them but it turned out that by mistake I’d ticked the wrong box on the application form and had answered ‘no’ instead of ‘yes’ to a question asking whether I had any cautions/convictions which were not eligible for filtering. As soon as the NHS received my DBS certificate, they contacted me to ask why I hadn’t disclosed the caution. I’m pretty sure they thought that I’d deliberately withheld the details. I explained that I’d made a genuine mistake and then set out the circumstances that led to my caution and how I’d turned my life around since then. I must have done something right because I’ve now been working for the NHS for 9 months.

I recently applied to the police to have my caution deleted from the PNC as I don’t feel that the ongoing implication of accepting it was properly explained to me at the time. I was a victim of abuse and struggling with a mental health condition. Sadly the police have refused to delete it.

I’m no longer a victim and I no longer struggle with a mental health condition. But this caution will follow me for life. I might be very capable and good at my job but I’ll have to revisit this every time I have a DBS check. When does the past become the past?

Recently I’ve become aware of an NHS department referred to as Liaison and Diversion (L & D). The service identifies people who have mental health, learning disabilities, substance misuse issues etc when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system and where appropriate refers them to other health or social care settings which can often mean that they get diverted away from the courts.

If this service had been available to me at the time of my arrest, I may not have ended up with a caution for ABH following me around.

By Teresa (name changed to protect identity)

 

Comment from Unlock

We know of many people like Teresa who have accepted cautions without fully appreciating the ongoing impact it will have on them. This is especially so for those who are looking to work in roles which require DBS checks and who have been given cautions for offences which are not eligible for filtering (ABH is on the DBS list of offences that are not eligible for filtering). It’s for this reason that Unlock is challenging the current DBS filtering process which we feel is blunt, restrictive and disproportionate.

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Overcoming my lack of confidence to get my dream job – working as a teaching assistant

One of the consequences of receiving a criminal record can be the impact it has on your self-confidence. Fiona’s story highlights how, until it was filtered, her caution impacted on her applying for her dream job.

 

 

Ever since I can remember I have loved teaching, forever holding pretend classes and showing my younger siblings how to do things.

At eighteen I went off to study history at college with the intention of becoming a history teacher. Whilst there I began a relationship with a fellow student without realising that he already had a girlfriend. On a night out, I saw this woman, got into a huge argument with her and, in the heat of the moment, threw a glass of wine at her back (just the liquid not the glass).

The police were called and I ended up with a caution. They told me that they had to caution me as the incident had been captured on CCTV. As I was young and didn’t understand the legalities behind it, I just accepted  it. I had never been in trouble before and was even too scared to tell my parents. If I knew then what I know now, I would have contested it, but I just wanted it to be done with so agreed with everything the police said.

As soon as I left the police station I felt like a criminal. The police said the caution would be on my record for the next five years. They had taken my fingerprints and photograph, I felt awful. When I went into shops and picked up items I had flash backs and felt uncomfortable in everyday life. The caution really affected me, totally knocking my confidence.

My dreams of becoming a teacher had been shattered as I felt that no school would take me on with a caution on my record. It had been recorded as battery even though I hadn’t made any physical contact with the girl, I’d just thrown a drink, I felt humiliated and ashamed, and it was so out of character.

With my confidence and dreams shattered I went on to work in various jobs doing a teaching assistant course at evening school.

Seven years after the caution, a job I’d dreamed of came up in a local school – a teaching assistant role. I applied for the job and got an interview. I contacted the local police for their advice on the caution as I didn’t want to disclose it unless it was necessary. Even though the police advised me that I didn’t have to disclose a caution after seven years, I was still unsure and didn’t want to do the wrong thing. I emailed Unlock and was delighted to learn that my caution would be filtered and wouldn’t show on my DBS certificate. Knowing I didn’t have to disclose it really gave me added confidence and I went to the interview determined to prove that I was the best person for the job.

I got the job and applied for my DBS check. Eight weeks later I received the certificate and to my horror saw that the DBS certificate not only had my name wrong, but showed my caution as a conviction. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, how could they have made this mistake? I felt sure I would lose my job as the school were waiting for the DBS certificate.

Again I went to the police station to try and resolve the situation, but nobody could help me, clearly they didn’t realise the impact this would have on my career or my life.

In tears, I telephoned Unlock again. They explained that I would have to appeal to the DBS and even sent me a link to the relevant DBS website page. I filled out the form and waited. Eventually the DBS confirmed that an error had been made, and they sent me a new certificate – absolutely clear which I passed onto the school.

I’m now working in my dream job and feel so relieved that I’ve been able to benefit from having my caution filtered. The caution really knocked my confidence, just thinking about disclosing it caused me loads of stress and upset and I probably wasted a lot of opportunities because of it.

By Fiona (name changed to protect identity)

 

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Getting permission from probation to return overseas to my husband and family

We’re always encouraging people to try and build good relationships with their probation officer, however difficult this can sometimes be. Rosie explains the assistance she was given by her probation officer and the benefits of seeking peer advice, in this case from the Unlock forum.

To say that I’ve had the year from hell is an understatement. At the beginning of the year I was convicted of a white collar crime and given a suspended sentence and 300 hours of unpaid work. Up until the time I was arrested (May 2016) I’d been living with my husband 5,000 miles away from the UK but whilst awaiting my court appearance and sentencing I hadn’t been allowed to leave the UK.

As he sentenced me, the judge said he hoped that after completing my unpaid work requirements I would be allowed to return home to my family. It took me just 6 weeks to complete the 300 hours (I worked six days a week, 8 hours a day) and I sold my house to ‘we-buy-any-house.com’ at a greatly reduced price in order to raise the funds quickly to return to my country of residence.

As I was finishing my last day at the charity shop where I worked and saying goodbye to all my new friends, I received a call from my probation officer telling me that there was no way I would be allowed to return home until my suspended prison sentence was completed; 22.5 months away. I was absolutely devastated. I was homeless, had no job, no savings, a crucified reputation, the lot. I couldn’t understand the purpose of keeping me in the UK. I was classed as low risk and my probation officer had already told me that she would no longer need to see me.

I contacted loads of solicitors and other specialists but nobody could help. I was told again and again to keep my head down and wait out the end of my sentence. But I’d lost everything and there was no way that I was going to lose my marriage as well. So, as I sat on a friends’ settee one evening surfing the internet, I came across the Unlock forum and added a post asking if anybody had been in a similar situation to me and what advice they could offer.

It wasn’t long before I got a response from somebody who’d been through something similar and offered me some help. He gave me some fantastic advice about my legal standing with probation and suggested I research information around the right to family life etc. I’d built up a good relationship with my probation officer and I could tell that she was as frustrated with my situation as I was. Every piece of useful information that I found which I thought might help me get home I sent to her, bombarding her with details of other similar cases that I’d found online. I had nothing to lose and nothing else to do.

The solicitor who’d dealt with my original case was pretty useless. I truly have lost a lot of respect for the legal system, it seems all they’re interested in is money. I can honestly say that I got a lot more help from the Unlock forum than my legal team.

I’m not sure whether it was the information I sent to probation or the fact that they were just sick of my tenacity but a couple of weeks ago my wonderful probation officer called me to say that she’d taken my case to the Deputy Director of Probation and that I should book my flight, pack my case and return home. I was free to go.

So here I am 5,000 miles away with our rescue animals (8 so far). My husband is the happiest man on the planet and I’ve already received a job offer. Life is good. I’m determined to stay in touch with the guy that helped me on the Unlock forum. I really hope that one day I’ll be able to help him as much as he helped me.

If I can give any advice as far as my dealings with probation go, it would be to be polite and honest, do exactly as they tell you and give them no reason to dislike you. I know that having my probation officer on my side really helped me. Not only was she able to present my case to the Deputy Director but, as I’d always been very upfront with her, she was confident in supporting my application to move overseas.

I’m keen to put the last couple of years behind me and start to live my new life overseas.

By Rosie (name changed to protect identity)

 

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Banking on a new start – advice on opening a bank account with a criminal record

Having recently opened a basic bank account, Eric sets out some tips to guide others through the process.

 

 

 

For anybody that’s ever been to prison, you’ll know that all the time you’re there you lose all sense of personal identity and become a number for the duration of your stay. In many ways this dehumanisation is part of the punishment where you end up feeling sub-human, a category a number of steps below a normal human being who has the normal freedoms to come and go as they please and do what they please within the restrictions of acceptable normal behaviour. A prisoner does not have these freedoms in the normal course of events and exists on an inferior level to his peers on the outside world regardless of his former social status.

Once I’d come to terms with the mental block that I had when I came out of prison I decided that the time had come to try and open a bank account so that I could start to move on with my life. I thought it would be a good idea to approach the bank that already knew my family and where my grown up daughter had a good banking relationship.

I realised that the best policy was to be totally honest with the bank and explain the problems that I’d had over the previous few years, and so I explained my situation to a young man on the telephone at my local branch and threw myself on his mercy! He was pretty positive and suggested that the best option was for me to make an appointment to go and see him with all my documentation and that he would process the account application on my behalf. I explained that I’d be happy with any type of account, even the most basic so that I could rebuild my banking history over a number of years. He agreed that could be the best bet.

And so the process began. I made the appointment and about ten days later presented myself at the bank with all the required documentation. The forms were duly completed and about a week later I received a call from the bank. Apparently a personal reference from a respected professional within the community would be of enormous help in convincing the bank that I deserved another chance. Fortunately, I’ve always had a good relationship with my doctor, so I made an appointment to see him and explained what I needed. It is to his eternal credit that having known me and my family for nearly 20 years he agreed to write the appropriate letter required by the bank.

Within a week the bank confirmed that they would be willing to offer me a basic bank account. Success! In spite of all my reservations and doubts at the beginning, I had by the power of positive thinking found a way to get a new bank account and a fresh start. My advice to all of you out there reading this is:

  • Be positive
  • Look for a bank that already has a relationship with a member of your immediate family
  • Look for support from any respected professional who has known you for a long time
  • Be completely honest and up front when you approach the bank about your recent history.

Everyone makes mistakes in life, some more than others and everyone deserves a second chance – the important thing is not to give up at the first hurdle. If you are determined to rebuild your life and put your past mistakes behind you, then you’ll find a way to overcome these problems and take the first steps back into life as a honest and hardworking member of your community.

By Eric (name changed to protect identity)

 

Comment from Unlock

We’ve done a lot of work to set up access to basic bank accounts for people in prison on release. Unfortunately, it’s still the case that people are released from prison without a bank account, so we have guidance on opening a bank account in the community. Although Eric was asked to provide a reference, this isn’t usually required, and we would suggest people follow Eric’s footsteps in opening a basic bank account – it’s the easiest one to open as it doesn’t come with any credit.

 

Useful links

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

A long criminal record doesn’t have to stop you succeeding – My experience of working with young and vulnerable adults

Many people assume that once they’ve got a criminal record, they’ll never be able to work with children or vulnerable adults. As Danny’s story shows, this is not always the case. 

 

 

What can I say about my childhood – it wasn’t great to be honest. I was the middle of three kids, all born within 4 years of each other and my mum was a typical wonderfully caring woman whilst my dad was a real disciplinarian (probably due to his having served in the army for many years).

When he left the services my family settled in the South of England and one of my earliest childhood memories was the bitter arguing and fighting between my mum and dad. My dad moved out for a while but came back pretty quickly and the fighting and arguing just continued as before.

I started a fantastic junior school in the 70’s but because I was made to wear jumble sale clothes and my dad shaved my hair into a skinhead cut (just like I was in the army) I was bullied a lot. This wasn’t the worst thing though because at about the same time my dad started abusing myself and my sister. In my case, the abuse carried on for many years, right up until I started secondary school when it stopped suddenly. However, he continued to abuse my sister who told nobody about her experiences.

My father’s abuse affected many parts of my life, not least my education. I was continually disruptive in school but when the head teacher called my parents in, my dad would punish me further by beating me until I was black and blue.

By the time I was 12, I’d started getting into trouble with the police – silly stuff like shoplifting and other petty crimes but eventually I was sent to a detention centre in Kent for 4 months. This is going to sound crazy but I was the happiest I’d ever been. There were no beatings, no abuse, no fights, no arguing.

After years and years of abuse, my sister eventually found the courage to confide in her boyfriend about our father and encouraged by him, she went to the police. My father was arrested, charged and sentenced to many years in prison and we all moved back to the North of England. I continued to get into trouble and served another 4 sentences in detention centres and prison – offending was now part of my life and I couldn’t see any way out of it.

Then I met the person who was to change my life and would become my wife. Having somebody in my life that I loved and who loved me made all the difference and I was determined to change my life for the better. So I started working in a variety of jobs, mostly in factories, until I got a start in retail. I loved the work and within a few years I’d been made a department manager in a large high street store. I got married and my wife gave birth to our beautiful daughter who was (and still is) the apple of my eye. Every decision I made from then on was based on my ability to provide for and spend time with my family. I wanted to make sure their lives were different to mine.

Having started to do OK for myself both personally and professionally, in 2009 I decided to spend some of my spare time volunteering with the Barnardos Heartbeat Project. I was working alongside a guy called Bob delivering sessions to hard to reach young people which looked at the causes of their offending and provided them with strategies they could use to overcome their cycle of offending. I’d been volunteering for about 6 months when I was asked by one of my managers to apply for a paid job with them as a project worker in my local area. To cut a long story short, the interview went well and I was offered the job – what followed was one of the most rewarding times of my entire working life.

Whilst working at Barnardos I gained a number of qualifications including Level 3 NVQ’s in Advice and Guidance and Counselling and a PTTLS teaching qualification. I gained an ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) delivery qualification and started delivering employability training to young people studying vocational courses at a local college. I still work in the same type of job now but with people with special needs as well as young people. My own experience has shown what you can achieve if somebody believes in you and my job allows me to help others to see a future for themselves. It’s immensely rewarding and I look forward to getting up in the morning and going to work.

My relationship with my mum remains good and in 2012 she nominated me to be an Olympic torchbearer in my local town. An amazing day that I’ll never forget.

I’ve tried hard to understand why my dad did what he did and I’d started to see him on a regular basis. On one of my recent weekly visits, despite ringing the doorbell and hammering on the door for what seemed an age, I couldn’t get any answer from him and, after looking through the keyhole and seeing his keys and phone on the hall table I began to get really worried. I phoned the police who broke into his flat where we found my father dead on the floor.

Finding my dad like that was so hard. There was still so much I wanted to talk to him about and I never got a chance to do that. At his funeral, I talked about forgiveness and how important it is to forgive others because life is too short.

My real message to anybody with a criminal record who feels that society has given up on them is this: Please believe in yourself and let others see how determined you are to succeed. I left school with no qualifications, no prospects and a criminal record as long as your arm. I wanted to work with young people but I was worried about rejection. However, I had nothing to fear – there are organisations that are looking for people just like you who have lived real life experiences and can relate to them.

By Danny (name changed to protect identity)

 

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Timpson’s gave me the key to unlock my future

Knowing that you’ve got a job to go to on leaving prison can relieve a lot of worry and anxiety. Michaela’s story sets out her experience of securing employment with Timpson’s whilst she was in prison and then upon release. 

 

My name is Michaela and I’m an ex-offender.

When I was 21 years old I was convicted of a drunken violent offence, which happened while I was still a teenager. In a second, a mindless act changed so many lives. My actions were out of character however I knew I had caused another person serious harm and for that I was sorry and I knew I had to be punished. I was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Unsure of the prison system I felt like my life was in the complete control of other people. I knew I had a long journey ahead of me, I kept my head down, made a few friends and got on with what was now my life. In prison.

The prison experience for me wasn’t all bad. Of course, there were times I found myself in tears. Hours, days and even weeks were spent thinking and wishing things were different but nothing could ever change the situation I was in. I found strength from regular contact with my family and the close friends I had made on the inside and I spent a lot of time reading and writing. Any course the prison had on offer to further my education and skills, I jumped at. I completed various IT qualifications and also gained my Level 2 Certificate in gym-based exercise and physical activity as well as studying for a Stonebridge distance learning diploma in Personal Development Coaching.

A little over a year into my sentence I was finally given Cat D status and this meant I could now start to do unpaid voluntary work outside of the prison during the day and return back to the prison after work. I was thrilled. I couldn’t wait to get out of there for the day. My first voluntary job role was in a charity shop.

I heard on the grapevine that a company call Timpson were coming into the prison to interview potential employees to give them the opportunity of paid work, training and a chance of employment on release. I spoke to the officer in charge of the outwork scheme and got myself a place on the meet and greet list. A few weeks later the Foundation Ambassador for Timpson, Darren Phillips, came into the prison and interviewed about 12 women. I think they had about 6 vacancies so we were all nervous and feeling fiercely competitive. Well I was anyway. After a brief chat about the company and their quest to find untapped talent in prisons it was time for the one to one interviews and I was up first. My interview went well and I was listed for a second interview two weeks later with the area manager.

My second interview went well and I was offered a paid job. I would be working full time, 40 hours a week and I would get paid. From my wages I had to pay for my own travel to and from work and 40% of my salary was taken out to contribute towards the victim support fund. That was fine by me, I couldn’t wait to get started. Things were looking up for me. The job involved a 16 week training programme – luckily I only had 20 weeks left on my sentence.

My training in store was going great, I passed the relevant skills test and I enjoyed the environment I was in. It wasn’t long before I would be going home and I was keen to ensure that I had a job when I returned to my home town. I contacted the area manager who covered the town I would be going back to and once again I was asked to head to a new store for another interview. I took with me glowing references from my existing manager who spoke highly of me and my work ethic and I was offered another 16 week training period to start the day after I was released from prison. 16 weeks later I was offered a permanent full time position in the store closest to my home, I was over the moon.

I’ve now been a store manager for just over 6 months and I am looking for other great opportunities like the one offered to me by Timpson, to gain more skills and knowledge in different areas. If I can make it this far, why stop now? I have a fantastic work ethic and my ambition is driving me to search for other roles, open up different doors and a new chapter of my life.

I always believed it was easier to find a job when you already had one – I have dedicated a significant amount of time to writing CV’s and applying online for various jobs and registered with different recruitment agencies and here is where I have found a problem. On every single registration form and application form, the dreaded box to tick – ‘Do you have any unspent criminal convictions?’

I find this extremely worrying, as a potential employer will already know I have a conviction before they’ve even met me. Regardless if the conviction in no way effects my ability to work in said position and regardless of how long ago my conviction was, with no other offences in the last 7 years.

This will in no way stop my journey, if anything it has just motivated me even more to make something of myself. I have been in touch with a recruitment agency that is dedicated to helping ex-offenders make it back into employment. I have also contacted a number of charities for any help and advice they can offer me on disclosing my convictions.

My name is Michaela, I’m a dreamer, a mother, a provider, a young woman with passion, ambition and a strong resilience to not let a mistake as a teenager define the rest of my life.

By Michaela

This post originally appeared in the May edition of Inside Time with the title ‘Who I am’ and is reproduced with permission and thanks.

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From prisoner to probation officer – securing a job as a probation officer with a criminal record

Back in 2005 when I was about 16 years old my mum made the brave decision to move me and my younger brother from London to Wales. Although I’d never got into any serious trouble, I’d been hanging around with the ‘wrong-crowd’ and had started to get more and more involved in the whole gang scene. My mum could see that I was becoming more drawn in and was terrified that I’d either end up dead or in prison. When she was given the opportunity to relocate with her job, she grabbed it with both hands.

Although I worked hard at my new school and got 10 GCSE’s I still had that ‘gang mentality’ and was a magnet for local Welsh gangs who looked upon me as a ‘proper London gangster’. I’d started to study for my ‘A’ levels but when I wasn’t at college, I’d be selling drugs for my new Welsh ‘friends’.

In 2007, just after my 18th birthday, the inevitable happened and I was arrested and charged with possession with intent to supply. I wasn’t really surprised when the judge sentenced me to a 2 year 10 month sentence and took my punishment like a man. But I fell apart like a baby when I looked over to my mum and saw the tears and look of disappointment in her eyes. I knew immediately that I had to change, I had to make my mum proud of me, whatever happened.

Prison is prison and the worst part of it is the boredom. The prison education department arranged for me to sit my ‘A’ levels. There begun my interest in learning and gaining more knowledge and I was lucky enough to be able to study for a couple of Open University modules.

The prison education department were great. I think they could see how desperate I was to change my life around and they gave me all the help they could. As I started to think about release, I decided that what I wanted more than anything was to continue my education and study for a degree and with this in mind I started applying to different universities. After being rejected by several as a result of my criminal record, I was invited to attend an interview upon my release at a university in Wales. The interview couldn’t have gone better. I didn’t feel as though I was being judged I just got the impression that they wanted to offer me a place and wanted me to succeed.

In September 2009 I started a degree in sociology. A lot of the course was geared around human behaviours which totally fascinated me. I loved learning and was extremely motivated to do well. As well as studying I also started doing voluntary work with an organisation who worked with youth groups and in particular, those who were at risk of getting involved with gangs. Disclosing my conviction was no problem, if anything I used it as a positive rather than a negative and the organisation viewed it in the same way.

After 3 years of study I got a 2:1 in sociology. I’m not saying that I wasn’t happy with my result but I quickly realised that when I applied for jobs I’d be up against other graduates with a similar degree but lacking a criminal record. I knew I needed more and so weeks after leaving university I applied to study for a Masters in Criminology and I was accepted. I also started to look at other volunteering opportunities and came across a vacancy with my local probation service as a mentor. With my background, I didn’t think I stood much of a chance but I also took the view that I had nothing to lose and lo and behold I was invited to an interview and offered a voluntary mentoring role.

On completion of my Masters, I saw a Probation Officers job advertised at the Probation Trust where I volunteered. I’d formed a great working relationship with all the staff in the office and several of them encouraged me to apply for the job. I don’t know whether I’ve just been lucky but I’ve always been very upfront about my past and on the whole, this has served me well. I’ve tried to use my past in a positive way and in light of the type of work I’m doing I guess its been a bit easier.

Prison and education were my saviours and I’m not sure that I would have done one without the other. If I hadn’t been arrested and sent to prison when I was, I would have continued offending – I may well have ended up dead but more likely I’d have got a really long prison sentence. Prison gave me the time and motivation to learn and the rest, as they say, is history.

By Richard (name changed to protect identity)

 

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