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About us

Find out about Unlock, including our history, our current team and trustees, our mission & values, and much more.

Unlock is a national independent advocacy charity that supports, speaks up and campaigns for people facing stigma, prejudice and discrimination because of their criminal record.

Unlock, in brief.

  • Unlock is a charity founded by a group of former prisoners who wanted to use their experience so that people with convictions would have better opportunities to move on in their lives. Find out more about our history
  • We support those who have desisted from crime to live a law-abiding life.
  • We believe people want to lead a positive life and when opportunity unleashes their potential they contribute great things. The ultimate solutions to crime lay in social, not criminal justice.
  • We focus on the long-term impact of criminal records on individuals and their families, organisations, communities, and society.
  • We work in partnership, and with volunteers, to achieve positive outcomes at both the individual and systemic level.

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12 million people have criminal records in the UK. We need your help to help them.

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