theRecord
Issue 19 Jan/Feb 2013
The free magazine for law-abiding people facing discrimination and inequality as a result of a criminal record
n o s r e P g n u o Y cial Edition Spe
In this issue...
2. Editor’s note 3. Lauren’s story 4. Takeover Day 2012 5. Life beyond prison 6. Poem from Kabz 7. Finding order after an order 8. 17 and homeless 9. Interviews with Ricky Sykes
in association with
original image © shay1448 on sxc.hu
Editor’s note
This month theRecord writers were able to put their feet up and treat themselves to a few extra biscuits while young people took over reporting duties. The charity User Voice, which is led and delivered by people with convictions, supported 14 talented individuals to tell their thought-provoking stories.
In this edition they open up about their lives and the challenges they’ve faced as well as offering their thoughts on how to improve services for young people through work with organisations like User Voice and the Children’s Rights Alliance. The articles cover everything from tough council estates and homelessness to prison life and gun crime. One of our interviewees perfectly captures the essence of what many of the contributors feel is the problem within the criminal justice system and youth services, saying he often feels like “a piece of paperwork” or a “dot in the system”. The idea that a person is not an individual, but merely a project to be worked on or a box to be ticked will strike a chord with many people with convictions of all ages, and is an area that our writers believe needs addressing to bring about progress. The different stories, which reflect the varied backgrounds of young people in trouble across the UK, are an important reminder that a ‘one size fits all’ service misses the mark, and that it’s youth workers who display understanding that make the biggest impact. Just as important as their back stories are the hobbies and passions that have helped young people find their feet. For some, these breakthroughs have come in the form of relationships or children, for others it has been the stability that a home or job can provide. For many, a huge motivator has been the issue of young people’s rights, which has led them to volunteer at organisations and take part in conferences to improve facilities and boost awareness. All of them remarked on the importance of feeling valued and having their voices heard. One of the contributors in this issue, Kabz, offers a poem with the poignant phrase, “buy a pen, not a cigarette”, which urges his peers to make choices that nurture rather than damage. Star-in-the-making Martin takes acting lessons to further his career, while Lisa’s work with young people saw her presented with a YJB award. Ricky Sykes, who interviewed several of the young people, and whose own past he describes as “all kinds of madness” spoke to theRecord about his work with User Voice and supporting youth offenders. “They’re flipping amazing these guys, and they can sense how I feel about them and that I want what’s best for them.” Since joining the team just seven months ago he’s built strong connections and puts his rapport with young people down to the genuine respect he has for them. “Just as important as them knowing they’re valued and respected is not pretending to have all the answers. Only they can decide how they want to live their lives and the choices they need to make.” A huge thanks to User Voice and their team of writers and contributors, from all of us at theRecord.
Hajar Wright Statement from User Voice regarding safeguarding
These are real accounts of young people’s lives from their perspectives; all the young people that have contributed are supported by User Voice staff and in partnership with other support agencies. Staff at User Voice are committed to practice which promotes the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults and safeguards them from harm. Some names have therefore been changed and details omitted.
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Lauren’s Story When Lauren ran away from home she could have faced a lifetime of trouble with the police, but with support from her YOT and User Voice she found her voice as a youth representative and now runs a dance project for young people I first started getting into trouble with the police when I was 13 years old. I got mixed up in the wrong group at school and when I was 15 something personal happened to me. After that I started skipping school and drinking heavily. I managed to do my GCSEs but I didn’t get good grades. Arguments at home had become worse and I felt my parents had turned against me. I then came in contact with two girls and the three of us ran off to London and we became homeless. We were living on the streets of Peckham and staying at random people’s houses, which was really scary but we didn’t have a choice. Some nights we would sleep in a bus stop and had to offend to live. We used to steal food and clothes and had no money to live on. Sometimes random people – mainly men – would give us money for food. It wasn’t long before I was in trouble with the police again and I got put on remand for five days until I had my court date. I went to court and they put me on a four month referral order at my local YOT. The YOT also got in contact with a hostel where I stayed for a week. I was given a foster family for a few months as there wasn’t any place at the hostel I was staying in. After about five months a place became available at the hostel and they let me have my own flat there, but I got into trouble again for fighting and had to do another four month referral order at the YOT. The YOT helped me so much. They helped me with the trauma I went through in London and they also helped me with my anger. I went on an anger management course which really helped me a lot. Now that I have turned my life around I haven’t been in trouble with the police for over a year. I’m currently running a dance project and my aim is to get youths off the street and not to offend. It’s going really well. I get 12-15 youths who attend each week. I also did a Level 2 Leadership Skills course a few months ago and passed. I’m also working with my local YOT and have attended loads of big meetings, where I’m a youth representative. In November I attended the Youth Justice Convention in Birmingham and found it really good as people were listening to our views and were genuinely interested in hearing about our experiences. They listened to us and our thoughts on what we would like to change about the Youth Justice Board. It was a really good experience and I would do it all over again! This is thanks to User Voice! They have had a massive impact on my life by giving me the opportunity to do amazing things and to have my voice heard. I’m hoping to become a YOT worker at my local YOT as I really enjoy talking to young people who have been in the same kind of situation as me.
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User Voice at Children’s Commissioner Takeover Day 2012 On Friday 23 November, Zak* was invited to take part in the Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day, a national event which gives children and young people the chance to shadow jobs and have their voices heard A number of young people from around the country spent the day taking part in activities which saw them take over staff roles at the Children’s Commissioner’s office. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to get involved in the decisionmaking processes on special projects and key issues. As part of the day User Voice sent me along with a member of staff to find out what the Children’s Commissioner does and to offer my thoughts on young people’s issues. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was really looking forward to the whole day – especially to meeting the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner. It started with a meet-and-greet and a welcome from Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissioner for England, and we were told how the day would go and what activities we’d be taking part in. I would be involved in discussing the complaints processes for young people. A key element of this was to find ways of ensuring young people not only had access to youth service complaints processes but that they were being listened to. It was a really enlightening session and was followed by lunch with Maggie Atkinson and the Deputy Children’s Commissioner Sue Berelowitz. After that I headed off to New Scotland Yard. I really never thought I would be able to walk into New Scotland Yard to meet a police commissioner and was really nervous as I stepped inside, but once I met Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne high up on the 10th floor I was a lot more relaxed. Sue Berelowitz and I put forward our questions to him on topics like detention in police cells and ‘stop and search’. I felt it was a really positive meeting as I got to say what I felt about really important issues. The commissioner
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was a normal person, which surprised me a little as I’d expected him to be just like the police on the streets who stop and search young people for no reason. I was also surprised to find out that he does actually go out onto the streets and ask people how he can help and support them. Next, I had a really interesting one-toone session with Sue, which gave us both a chance to feed back to each other about how we felt the day was going. We talked about criminal records for young people and the impact they have as young people try to move into employment and higher education. Sue said it was something she would put in her business plan, which was quite encouraging. At the end of the day we had a feedback session and were all given certificates for taking part. The whole day was a great opportunity to see what a working environment is like. It has also been a real confidence booster to have the opportunity to voice my opinion about the youth justice system. *not his real name
Life beyond prison When Shauna left prison she knew she would have to shed friends and stay motivated After being sentenced to five years in prison at the age of 19, life beyond prison become hard to visualise. I am now 22 and have been out of prison for 6 months; I am currently serving the rest of my sentence on probation where I have to report every two months. When I came out I decided that talking to the same people as before was not going to help me achieve my goals. Losing touch with some of my peers was not an easy thing to do, but I had to stay strong and knew that it was for the best. On my journey since leaving prison I have experienced more than I ever thought possible. Trying to adjust back into society has given me the tools to direct my life back on the right path. The people that I have in my life at present have given me nothing but positivity and good encouragement. That encouragement along with my past life experience motivated me to get involved in youth work. I started volunteering with an organisation involved in tackling gang culture in schools and colleges, which was a good opportunity for me to share my experiences with them. In particular I wanted to work with young girls getting involved in crimes and with gang culture.
While doing voluntary work I was still trying to find paid employment; I tried every recruitment process and failed. I started to lose hope of ever finding a job and got tired of asking – but I was hungry for my independence. Eventually I got a much-needed break and was offered a position as a coffee vendor. The coffee vendor job opened a door with a light shining through it. That light was User Voice. After I spoke to a few people about what, and more importantly who, the charity represented, I was left thinking life couldn’t get any better and that this was the route I needed to take. After a number of meetings and checks I was offered the position of Trainee Youth Engagement Officer. I’m shadowing at the moment and learning a lot. At this point in my life working with the youth team has given me the lift that I really needed to pursue a career I’m passionate about.
Convictions and Employment Law Following a detailed piece of work for Unlock by a volunteer, we’ve recently published our first ever detailed guide on the issue of convictions and employment law. We’re hoping that it will help to inform people about where they stand with employers when it comes to their convictions, particularly with existing employers. As it’s our first stab at this issue, we’re not expecting it to be the end of the matter. If anything, it’s only the start. However, we’d be grateful for people’s experiences on the information, whether they found it useful, and how it could be improved. It’s available to download as a PDF here. You can leave your feedback here.
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Poem
This is my story Kabz Look I ain’t God so I ain’t the creator I’m thinking of a time where there were no haters Where people could walk around with no fear Where kids could see their mums with no tears This is my story so please listen carefully Let someone want to be whatever they wish to be That is their destiny so it don’t bother me You see this it will all be a memory Sooner or later it will all be history Bare haters out there I’ll place you a bet Go to the shops buy a pen not a cigarette I’m climbing the steps to the top of my pyramid Now this generation look it’s changed Kids walking around with knives and blades I remember my past like it was yesterday Criminal gang life I can relate I stood up in court so ashamed of myself My mum looking at me thinking OMG I want to change now, it’s just for the better Prison and cells I wouldn’t have a future This is my story so please listen carefully Let someone want to be whatever they wish to be That is their destiny so it don’t bother me You see this it will all be a memory Sooner or later it will all be history Bare haters out there I’ll place you a bet Go to the shops buy a pen not a cigarette I’m climbing the steps to the top of my pyramid
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Now that I’m back I’m going to show you what I got I just want to rise from the bottom to the very top I don’t want to know what ends your rep Don’t expect me to clear up your bloody mess Do you know what, I’ll just confess You see me yeah I’m better than the rest You got a bit of time, how do you use it? You get a spliff, get a bottle, why do you drink it?
This is my story so please listen carefully Let someone want to be Whatever they wish to be That is their destiny So it don’t bother me You see this it will all be a memory Sooner or later it will all be history Bare haters out there I’ll place you a bet Go to the shops buy a pen not a cigarette I’m climbing the steps to the top of my pyramid What is it coz your mates say it’s hard Thinking you’re a thug, thinking you’re bad All you do is walk around your area Stay out till late, your mum’s in tears You don’t know what goes through a mum’s head She thinks of you always in her head Let me tell you this, you’re mum ain’t your friend So apologise to her and show her some respect This is my story so please listen carefully Let someone want to be whatever they wish to be That is their destiny so it don’t bother me You see this it will all be a memory
Finding order after an order Harley writes about how a big decision in her teens led to a fulfilling role as an apprentice youth engagement worker through User Voice. I first realised I wanted to get into this type of job when I was on an order myself. I realised that working with young people was my passion and I was determined to help make some changes to how they are treated within the criminal justice system. After months of not turning up for college and messing around, I realised if I wanted to get where I needed to in life I would have to work hard. So I did just that and achieved AAB in my A-levels and got a place at university to study Criminology. I then decided I would volunteer at the youth offending service I attended. Through that I found out about an apprenticeship on offer which was in conjunction with User Voice. The main focus of the post is to engage with young people who are involved with services and provide support and peer mentoring, as well as facilitate sustainable client-led groups. I applied and fortunately got the job. I am based at Positive Steps Oldham and work 36 hours a week. My job involves working with hard-to-reach young people and engaging them in services for the best possible way to get them through their orders. I support their needs in things such as education, housing and employment. My job also involves finding out from young people how services could be improved and what would make them better suited to their needs. It’s an extremely rewarding role, which has seen me visit the national Youth Justice Convention. This showed me just how dedicated everyone at User Voice is to helping change systems to benefit young people and I am very happy to be a part of this. One of the main reasons I love my job is because I can relate to the young
people and see myself in them. It is really rewarding to see them turn their lives around for the better. While I have been working with young people I have seen them go from not wanting to move away from crime, to graduating from college and representing youths at the Youth Justice Convention. Transitions like this are the highlight of my job. I think the role is highly beneficial for young people who are unwilling to engage in services because they feel they are being judged or not listened to. Young people, especially offending, are much more
comfortable speaking to someone they have something in common with and somebody they feel understands them. After speaking to the young people I work with I was really overwhelmed to hear what they said about my position. One of the youths I work with told me that seeing young people in positions like mine gives him role models and people he could relate to – as well as inspiration to go for similar sorts of jobs in the future. I’m really proud!
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17 and homeless Lucy was kicked out of home on her 17th birthday My mother and I have never had a good relationship; the difference in our personalities has always kept a brick wall between us. For years there’s been tension in our household and even months when my mother and I haven’t communicated unless absolutely necessary. She had kicked me out of the house on multiple occasions in the past and would send me to a family member until she had ‘cleared her mind’. But this, on my 17th birthday, was the first time that I felt totally abandoned.
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It was smoking weed that led to me being kicked out. I’ve been smoking for three years now and I have always tried to be honest with my mum about my habit but she’s never able to understand why I smoke. When she first found out she thought it was because of peer pressure and that I was an addict when in actual fact I only smoked occasionally – maybe something like every two weeks. But because she has cousins
that were weed addicts she never believed me when I said it was just an occasional thing. She tried to move me out of the area; I moved out of Peckham and in with my father but it became apparent that I would smoke wherever I lived and that it wasn’t really my friends who made me smoke. So I moved back to Peckham with the promise that I’d cut down and I did. But then I went to college and found lots of people who smoked weed. I started doing it every day – every break just because it was always there. I even missed lessons just to smoke. As most of the friends I made in college were older than me, hanging out with them meant being out late and so I started coming home very late. My mother tried to give me curfew, but to avoid being locked out I just started staying over friends’ houses and I’d go days without seeing my mum. This, along with getting arrested for possession of weed, is what drove her to kick me out. After I got arrested my mother started going a bit nuts – she started panicking and getting ideas in her head that I was dealing and that I was in a gang. Her aggro made me smoke more and made me want to be out the house more. I got a YOT when I got arrested but my mother wasn’t satisfied – she wanted
me to go to prison to teach me a lesson. It’s things like this that make me think my mother wants nothing good for my life. She searched my room and found my weed box and finally decided she wanted me out, so she kicked me out with no clothes and forbade any family members from taking me in. For two weeks I was moving from one friend’s sofa to another and I couldn’t go to college. Mum wouldn’t answer my calls and when I went to the house she’d pretend she wasn’t in. If it wasn’t for support from my friends and from the people at the YOT who helped me get a hostel, I’m not sure what I would have done. There were times when I wanted to leave college as I felt I had no future anymore. Many people have told me that I should just stop smoking weed but I feel that’s unnecessary. I’ve decided to cut down and only smoke on weekends, and hopefully gradually I’ll go back to only smoking occasionally like on friends’ birthdays and New Year’s like I used to. I don’t think weed is bad in small doses – this is what my mother clearly failed to understand and this is why I have had to leave home indefinitely. I do hope one day we’ll resolve our issues. My getting a place may give us the space that we need to build a bridge and redefine the relationship we lost a long time ago.
Being heard In a series of recorded interviews, User Voice’s Ricky Sykes gets a different look at the lives of the young people he works with One of the highlights of my work with User Voice so far has definitely been interviewing young people for this section of theRecord. So often the tools people use to communicate can prevent them from being heard, but not everyone’s a dab hand with a computer or a keen writer. So to make sure that everyone who wanted to say something was given the opportunity to do so, I took on a reporter role and did some recorded interviews. I absolutely love my work at User Voice and I try to create a positive, nurturing atmosphere for the young people so they know that I’m there for them. They need to know I’m not just going to quit on them when things get tough. I’ve heard of some youth workers really getting upset when they’re not obeyed,
but you can’t take someone else’s life choices personally. If someone doesn’t follow my advice I absolutely can’t make it about me. This is their journey, not mine. I really enjoyed interviewing the participants, but it was rather strange, because it gave me a completely new perspective on their lives. I had thought it would be just like any other conversation I’d had with them, but it really opened my eyes. J, who endured horrific injuries from gun crime, asked for photos of his scars to be included in his interview to help highlight the effects of guns and gangs. I already knew about his injuries but hearing it on a recording just added another level to the whole experience. It made everything bigger and put it in a wider context. I think it was brilliant for all the young people; it was another way for them to see just how much they matter – not just to their friends and families or youth workers, but to society. Their stories, views and experiences really matter.
Zoe’s story Zoe is hoping that her new home will give her stability I’ve moved quite a number of times in my life. I’m now on my 27th time and live in Huddersfield. I’ve lived in London four times, Scarborough, Blackpool, parts of Leeds, all over the place really. All that moving felt bad. My mum said it was because of my dad, and I sometimes wondered what he had done – she said he’d been harassing us a lot. I always wanted to stay in one place, and now that I’m in Huddersfield I can. It’s quiet – except the noise of people buzzing in through the night, and from living above a takeaway! I don’t really go out in Huddersfield much – I just keep myself to myself. I know that if I meet some friends I could get back into trouble. I realise what I put my family through and it’s not helping at all. I’m frightened to get involved with people in case they’re involved in crime so I stick to seeing my best friend. We’re
really close and I can tell her anything, but we can’t see each other in certain areas because of our orders, so we have to think of alternatives or meet in private places. With all the moving, it’s always been hard for me to make relationships because I never know how long I’m going to stay. Once I got kicked out of my mum’s so I went to my dad’s, but he kicked me out. I know I’m safe when I’m with my mum though. I definitely prefer to be at hers than Dad’s. Dad says I can’t see my mum, but Mum doesn’t say the same about my dad. I’m involved in a few things – I’ve been doing stuff with the CRAE, User Voice and college and through youth work I’ve travelled around a bit, to London, Bradford and Birmingham. My life’s getting better since I’ve been with User Voice because I can talk a lot about stuff. It keeps me out the house as well, instead of being home and bored. I’m proud of myself. Better the stuff I’m doing now than I was before. I just want to say thank you User Voice for everything you’ve done.
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Martin’s story From tough estates to TV, Martin says he now feels valued and listened to I was born in Manchester, but moved to Bradford when I was a baby and have been here all my life. I have some good and some bad memories of Bradford. Times have been hard and it’s been tough to get by, but I feel I’ve now come out of the bad situations and am growing up a lot more. Moving to new estates can be tough. I’ve lived on this one for nearly ten years, which was difficult at first, but eventually people start to accept you and you make friends. When I first moved to this estate it was really hard. For the first two years people used to swear at my mum and chuck stones at my house, but when they knew we weren’t moving, we started to get on. At times it was really tough and frightening – sometimes I couldn’t walk to the end of the street without getting chased, but it got better. My first estate was like this too, with lots of segregated areas.
coming together and trying to see how to bring the YJB forward. I felt listened to and valued and met some really nice people. In my acting work, I’ve done a couple of films and have been on TV a few times. I was on Daybreak and interviewed X Factor finalists in 2010. I do feel more confident and self-assured and I’m really proud of myself. I didn’t go down a criminal path. I turned my life around. I got into acting, worked with all sorts of organisations and my family have supported me a lot. It was hard to experience what I went through, but if I hadn’t been there I wouldn’t be the better person I am today.
My journey so far has been up and down really. I’ve had lots of good experiences working with organisations, but bad times too, where I got involved with Sometimes I couldn’t crime, went to court, walk to the end of and was put on orders. It was all stuff the street without that I didn’t expect getting chased, but to happen and led it got better. me down a bad path, but I’ve come through it and am now just focusing on where I need to get to in life and who I need to help me get there.
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I want to be an actor, so I go to acting school and do bits and bobs here and there. I also work with various organisations, and spoke at the Liberal Democrat conference a couple of years ago. I’ve also spoken at the Houses of Parliament and now I work with User Voice. Last year I spoke at the Youth Justice Board conference, which was very interesting and something I hadn’t done before. It was great to see all these people
Damien’s story Damien is working with the CRAE to help improve conditions for young people in custody I got involved with the Children’s Rights Alliance because of my past experience of being in custody. I wanted to change that experience for people who go through it. I especially want to change how officers treat young people. I quickly got used to prison and felt comfortable. I got used to people opening doors for me; I felt like my responsibilities were taken away from me and I didn’t
have to think about anything or worry about what was happening every day. Some prison officers were alright, but most of them weren’t. No one gets on – there’s really no relationship there. The ones that were OK understood us and what we were going through and they showed us more care, so it was easier to approach them. I think they’d probably had similar unsteady upbringings and would have understood what it was like to be at the bottom. There is excessive force used and there’s no need for it. When they used extreme force it made me really angry. You don’t want to talk to them again after that – it causes a rift and an atmosphere and I felt like I wasn’t cared for. You have to put in complaints which don’t get you anywhere, so you feel like there’s no point trying. When I kicked off, in a way I was quite relieved to know I was keeping them away from their home at 10 o’ clock at night. It was a kind of payback. I’ve had heavy-handed prison officers and I’m not frightened, but they’re just unreasonable – there’s just no need for about 12 of them
to come at you all suited and using force. I think we need more CCTV and audiomonitoring to improve the situation and relationships. This is a proposition that’s been put forward with the CRAE, and I feel something should be done about it. I definitely think there should be more done in terms of character checking. We need to check their personal background and know that they’re people who’ve done similar roles before and have worked with young people. This way young people can relate to prison officers more and explain what they’re going through if they’re feeling low or angry, without feeling so judged. Life now is good and I’m doing well. I’ve never been out of custody for this long. It’s all much more stable – everything’s going well. I’ve had a child and that’s changed everything really. I feel good knowing I can bring my child up to have a better life than I’ve had. I’ve got lots of other things coming up too, and I’m passionate, willing and capable. It feels good to know that I’m making a difference to young people’s futures.
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J’s story J was a victim of gun crime, which he puts down to today’s street culture I got three shotgun wounds to my legs. I was on the street when a car randomly pulled up and men in balaclavas wound down the window and shot me. I started running and they chased me down and shot me twice again. What was going through my head wasn’t exactly pain – it was a strange feeling, like “I can’t believe this is happening.” I couldn’t feel pain till the next day after surgery, but while it was happening I just laid there with no real emotions about it.
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At first the doctors were saying it was life-threatening, and then it was just limb-threatening, where I could lose my limbs, but now I can walk and I just have to see how it goes. My Achilles tendon had been blown off and had to be reconnected. The bottom of both legs couldn’t ‘breathe’ so they had to open them up for the blood to go all the way down and what I’m left with are very severe scars. The healing process is a minimum of years for all I know. Only time will tell. My legs could be like this for the rest of my life.
I can’t say precisely what led up to the incident – it’s just the world we live in nowadays; it’s what the streets are like. If you’re in this kind of environment with these kinds of people, now and again bad stuff like this happens. Going to hospital and everything since has been an eye-opener. Because I couldn’t walk for such a long time, I had to take my first steps again – yeah, it was a proper eye-opener, I can’t really explain. In a way I know it sounds mad and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but
it has been sort of good for me. It’s changed my views on so many things. I recently had a daughter and I have another child on the way, and I just can’t see myself not being there for them. I’m not trying to be a big man or anything, but even with armed men chasing me down the street I didn’t fear anything, but now I’m a father, what I do fear is my kids not having a dad when they’re older. That’s the only thing that really frightens me. My hopes for the future are that soon I
can get back working at the gym and do my Level 3 qualification. I want to show people that even if you do have big injuries, if your mind is in the right place you can get through anything. It would be great to lead by example and show that injuries don’t have to hold you back. I’m only young myself but I want to let even younger people have the benefit of my experience.
you’re laid up in hospital you’ll regret it. I hope all the people seeing these pictures realise that gun crime isn’t pretty and it doesn’t pay.
My criminal past is done now. It’s not kids’ play out here, it’s serious stuff. You might feel like a big man, but when
We’re looking for a volunteer with conviction… Information & Advice Service Assistant Unlock, the National Association of Reformed Offenders
Us We are an independent and highly respected social inclusion charity based in Snodland, Kent. Established by people with convictions in 1999, you don’t have to have convictions to work here…but it helps. In this office-based role you will help to deliver Unlock’s peer-led Information & Advice Service, by providing advice and support by telephone, email, and letter, and producing information for our online Information Hub.
You • • • • • • •
A person with past convictions A confident person with experience in a customer-facing role Have a passion for making a difference and challenging inequality Love working in a small team but are self-motivated enough to excel without heavy supervision Have excellent verbal, written and research skills and are able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people Are confident using computers (including use of internet and emails) Are able to commit to volunteering 2 days per week for at least 6 months
Expenses •
Travel costs can be covered by Unlock on production of receipts (up to a maximum of £12 per day).
Interested? • • • • •
The Role Description provides more information about this position. If you wish to apply, please complete an Application Form and return as stated in the application form, along with a covering letter. Applications will be considered when received, including the arranging of interviews. These may take place before the closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible. Applications should arrive by 5pm on Wednesday 6th February 2013 Please state in your covering letter if you can’t attend an interview on any specific weekday in the two weeks immediately after the closing date.
Questions? Email christopher.stacey@unlock.org.uk / Call 01634 247350 / 07557 676433
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Lisa’s story From living alone at 17, Lisa has just won a YJB prize for her youth work I was 17 when I got my own place. I was with a few mates before that, just sofas and that sort of thing, which was horrible because I never knew where I was going to spend the next night. I felt quite unwanted and like I had nowhere to go, which wasn’t nice. My mum kicked me out which is why I ended up living on sofas. My stepdad was an alcoholic and quite pervy and when I told her about it she wouldn’t believe me, even though she was there when it happened. She just got really defensive and kicked me out. I’m gutted about the relationship with my mum because I used to be really close to her. She kicked my sister out too when she was only 16. I’m finding it hard and expensive having my own house. Budgeting and paying my bills is easy, but it’s not nice doing it, because I never had to do it before, but now I’m coping alright – although it leaves me a bit short sometimes. I have quite a bit of support. I have foundation housing and a youth service which helps me out if I need help with my money, or just someone to chill with when I’m a bit bored, so they help a lot. I suppose I am coping. I don’t feel depressed or anything, but sometimes I do wish I could go back a couple of years and change things and sort stuff out with my mum and that sort of thing. Money is really tight. The Jobcentre ‘forgot’ to pay me and gave me a crisis loan of £40 to last two weeks, but usually I get £50 a week. Out of that I pay £20 for electric and £10 for the TV licence. I’m meant to be getting a bursary from college of about £40 a week soon too. Two months ago my hot water stopped and the council didn’t really help, they just kept blaming me, saying I wasn’t around when they called, but I know they didn’t call. They still haven’t been round and I’m still without hot water. I’m coping because there’s an electric back up system, but it’s really expensive – about six or seven pounds for a bath.
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I don’t feel I’m getting much YOT support. They’re actually really starting to wind me up now! They just don’t seem to want to talk to me at all. It’s like they only want to talk to me if I’m in trouble. I’m still on an order until next April and I don’t feel I’m getting the right support. I’ve got other activities I’m involved with though. Obviously I like doing User Voice, and an education worker has got me doing a charity thing for old people – I cooked them a Christmas dinner at Christmas. I really love doing that sort of work. I had a great time at the Youth Justice Board convention too. I always do. I was presented by the YJB with an award for the girls’ group I’m involved with, which felt really good. It shows they really do listen and that the girls’ group is doing some good. I’m going to put the £500 prize towards a local community project, doing up a street. I’m going to be in the local paper again too, so yeah, I’m really proud of myself!
Aaron’s story Aaron writes about the challenges of resettlement and his hopes for the future My experience since being out of prison is that they just throw you out and just leave you, and they only step in when you mess up. They’ll then say they were there all along when they actually weren’t. I find they hold you back so you’re forced to bend to their rules. I think workers should do more followups and be like a friend rather than acting like you’re a piece of paperwork. What I wanted when I came out of prison was a place in college and a flat, but I had nothing and was put back with my parents, who I don’t get on with, but the rules are that I have to spend two nights out of the week there. I had lots of appointments that were nothing to do with my offence and it was up to me to
Everyone else doesn’t really seem to help much. I could talk to my old worker as a friend because he’s been through it and he knows what the deal is. He visited me lots in prison and talked to me about general life, not just prison things. He helped me deal with things as best as possible and I trust him. User Voice is different to a lot of YOTs because they know what it’s about. They haven’t come from a nice little posh lifestyle where youth work is just a job. People in User Voice are genuine
get my placement at college. I can’t say I benefited from any of the resettlement offering. They never put me in college when I applied for Business Level 3; the worker phoned up and told them about my offence, which I thought was a bit of a piss-take because it was nothing to do with her.
I just want the support to be there to help me get on my feet and get my life back on track, because the first three months are the worst as you’re still in routine and in the prison habit, so you’re trying to find that routine. They should give you more of a helping hand with your housing, work and signing I don’t feel I get any financial support on. They don’t really ask you what either; they don’t tell you anything. I you need, and if you tell them they just came out of prison with broken bones tell you they know more than you and that they’ve been doing from fighting in their job for a long time. there and the They seem to think more doctors just said they just throw about the system, rather I’d be fine. Five than the individual. Every months down the you out and person is different with line my injuries just leave you their own personality and are still giving me all we want is to live in a trouble, but you’re place that’s comfortable just left to your own devices – except the times when and safe – that’s all anyone wants from you want to be left alone of course. where they live. No one tells you anything; they just say “here’s your worker, here’s your Two people have really helped me: my old worker and Ricky from User Voice. timetable, now don’t breach.”
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people, rather than some YOT workers who see you as a dot in the system and expect to see you back inside. I’m told I’ve had quite an influential role in User Voice, and through my involvement in events with the YJB and CRAE. I’m making a change – not just changing myself but helping change the system and other young people.
helping them take the right direction and do something with their lives. My hopes for the future are to work for User Voice or to be a YOT worker, because I think it would be better to work within your community and provide a better service to them. BIG UP USER VOICE!
Where I grow up it’s like a big family and you’re helping young ones, friends’ brothers and sisters; it’s all about
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Curtis and Jodie’s story Curtis and Jodie are making living together work for them, but they feel they’re not getting the right support Jodie: We’ve been together a year and live together at a new place. So far it’s been alright; it gets annoying sometimes when you’re in each other’s hair all the time, but Curtis goes out and goes to college so we have stuff to talk about when he gets home. It’s good to have some space and not see each other all the time. We haven’t argued for about two or three weeks now, so it’s getting better! Curtis: I’m doing Horticulture, Maths and English exams. I got a Level 2 in English and Level 1 in Maths and I’m really enjoying Horticulture – it makes me feel proud of myself. At home, we both manage the running of the house.
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Jodie: Curtis is in charge of it at the moment though, and he always makes sure electric, food and gas have been paid for. He even puts something aside to buy me little gifts – he always puts himself last. My benefits haven’t been sorted since April because I don’t go to my appointments. When I was poorly I just couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed, and I was dizzy and scared to leave the house by myself. Now I know what’s wrong
with me I can sort out my jobcentre appointments, but I just struggle keeping them all. I find my probation ones really tough – especially because I have about three appointments a week, and sometimes I turn up at the wrong times and places and get breached. I can feel quite overwhelmed as it feels like there are a lot of responsibilities. It is hard. Curtis: We’d like to both move out of here and stay in a proper house, and start a family one day. There are lots of issues with this house, but the housing worker isn’t doing anything, even
though we said we’d pay to fix some of the problems. We’ve got a broken window, so we get very cold at night time and I’d say we’re quite neglected by our housing worker. The rules for us to move in were that we both got on courses and that the worker would come here twice a week. Jodie: This was meant to be a month long tester and we’ve now been here four months and haven’t even been told if we’ve passed yet. Twice since living here we’ve run out of electricity the day before his payday, and we’ve asked for a tenner top-up and they’ve told us ‘no’. So I see that as them saying ‘actually go
out and get your own money’. There’s a massive lack of support. They told us this would make or break us, and at first it did nearly break us, but we’ve realised we are going to argue at times but we can still get through it. Curtis: I’d say our lives have definitely improved since we’ve been together. Jodie’s kept me out of lots of trouble – she told me she won’t be there when I get out of prison, so I don’t do anything stupid! She used to be a bit of a bad fighter too, but I don’t let her get into trouble either. We help each other and really mean a lot to each other. We keep each other from committing crime. It’s definitely been a beneficial relationship
for us and I think we’ve found a good balance now we’re living together. Jodie: Social workers say we shouldn’t be living together, because we used to argue a lot, but we’re working at it, and I just don’t think they look at the positives. Yes I may have been breaching but we’re not getting into trouble and committing crime. It does my head in that they don’t see the good in us. We are thrilled to announce that since this interview, Jodie and Curtis have got engaged. Congratulations from all of us at Unlock and User Voice!
‘Is it spent now?’ New guide on ROA changes published Just before the Christmas holidays, we published a brief guide to the planned changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, as enacted by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. It’s available to download as a PDF from the ROA page of our Information Hub. Although the change to the law has been passed, it will not come into force until the necessary changes to process and systems are in place and the relevant provisions are ‘commenced’. This is expected to be spring 2013. However, in recent months we’ve been receiving more and more enquiries about what the changes will mean for specific situations, so as an interim measure we decided to publish this information. Nevertheless, please note that until the changes are ‘commenced’, the current ROA must be followed. Guidance on this is also available on the above page. If you have found this information helpful (or not for that matter), please leave us your feedback online here.
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As many regular readers (and followers of Unlock on Twitter) will already know, on December 1st 2012 the Criminal Records Bureau was merged with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to become the Disclosure & Barring Service. For some time now, Unlock has been working on detailed guidance on what was the CRB process, and as a result of the recent changes, this will be published at some point in early 2013.
well as the concept of ‘regulated activity’, which is the biggest area of roles/positions that are eligible for enhanced disclosures.
However, in the meantime, we felt it was important to get to grips with the other part of the DBS process (i.e. what was the ISA), as
As always, if you’d like to send us any feedback you have on these publications, please leave us your feedback online here.
As a result, we’ve published three linked guides, (1) Barring - An Overview, (2) Regulated Activity, and (3) Barring - Representations, reviews and appeals. These are all available to download as PDFs from a new ‘Disclosure & Barring Service’ page of our Information Hub.
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Panopticonblog.com Court of Appeal declares Criminal Records Regime incompatible with Article 8 Click here Unlock Press Release Coalition must stop minor criminal records ‘forcing people onto benefits’ Click here
Telegraph Theresa May to defy Court of Appeal over ruling which threatens to plunge CRB system into chaos Click here Probation Journal The marketization of the Criminal Justice System Click here
BBC Radio 5 Unlock response to Court of Appeal Ruling on CRB Checks Click here
Inside Time Banking before release Click here
TheJusticeGap.com Unlock on CRBs and second chances Click here
BBC Radio Wales Court of Appeal rules on CRB checks Click here