In the 1960s, when Richard was 16, he was found in possession of a small amount of cannabis. He was prosecuted for possession and given a one-year conditional discharge. As a student a few years later, Richard got into trouble again and was convicted of taking an item of food from a warehouse where he

Together with the charity Transform Justice, Unlock has launched the #FairChecks movement to help push for a fresh start for the criminal records system. Our outdated criminal records regime is holding hundreds of thousands of people back from participating fully in society. Even a minor criminal history can produce lifelong barriers to employment, volunteering, housing

Today we’ve published our winter 2019/20 newsletter. The newsletter provides an update of the news at Unlock in the last three months. It’s sent to everyone who’s on our public mailing list, and we hope it’s a useful way of keeping up to date with what we’ve been up to. Read: Winter 2019/20 Newsletter  Previous

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped. We hope they give a good idea of how we help people. However, more importantly than our role, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers

We’ve just published our update for December 2019. This months update includes: New information on travelling to Russia with a criminal record. A personal story highlighting how an individual was dismissed from his job after his employers unlawfully became aware of his 31 year old criminal record. A link to a discussion on theForum around

We’ve published our priorities for government in 2020. We are calling on the government to commit to five priorities to bring about a fresh start for law-abiding people with criminal records. For 20 years Unlock has, as an independent charity, provided a voice and support for people who are facing stigma and obstacles because of

As a charity set up by people with criminal records, Unlock is committed to fair recruitment and the inclusion of people with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Our recruitment policy has helped us do that but we believe every organisation should regularly review their policies and practices to make sure they’re as effective

With the Christmas break almost upon us and 2019 coming to an end, it’s a good time to reflect on the last 12 months at Unlock and the developments relating to criminal records. Once again it’s been an incredibly busy year for us, with lots of positive news and progress to report in terms of

Below is a statement from Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, following the tragic events of Friday 30th November at London Bridge. “Last Friday, the work of our friends and colleagues at Learning Together was thrust into the spotlight in the very worst way. Our thoughts are with them and their families. “The transformational power of

We’ve just published our update for November 2019. This months update includes: Examples of templates which can be used to challenge an ineligible check being carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service. A link to a survey asking users of our Information Hub for their thoughts and opinions about the site. A personal story

We are delighted to publish our Annual Report and Accounts for the year 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. Reviewing a whole year of activity can be a demanding process. Our activities are always taking us forwards, driving us on to the next challenge, so to take a step away, look back and reflect,

We’re delighted that one of Unlock’s long-standing helpline volunteers, Simon, was shortlisted for the Helpline Partnership’s ‘Helpline Volunteer of the Year’ award. On hearing the news, Simon said: “I’m delighted to have been shortlisted for the Helpline Partnership ‘Volunteer of the year’ award. As much as this is recognition that the work I do for