15/07/2013
The first
week I joined User Voice I went to a staff business development day. At the
start of the day everyone introduced themselves and talked about their previous
offences openly. This was unlike anything I had experienced before and when it
came to myself I shared my background in Youth Offending teams and the Youth
Justice Board from the delivery as opposed to the service user perspective.
I
did though share the two offences I had committed 46 years ago as a 13 year old-
producing a mix of astonishment and wry amusement among the people there as the
offences were so minor. Did they count I wondered?
Several
months later I had to resign as the Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for
Avon and Somerset because of those two offences. This was when it hit me that yes those offences did matter, and 46 years later were still capable of stopping
me doing something I felt passionate about.
I then remember
coming into the office just days after I resigned and was cheered by everyone for
being so public and campaigning against the injustice which affects everyone
with a criminal convictions.
Last week I
found myself sharing the platform at the Criminal Justice Conference 2013 with
Jude Jubey, a young man who has been a member of Southwark Youth Advisory Group which
has been facilitated by User Voice. The subject was the impact that criminal
convictions can have on employment prospects.
Jude spoke eloquently on his own
experiences as a young black guy from Southwark, the problems he had and
the aspirations he held. I then spoke, a middle aged, middle class white guy,
on my experiences and those of the many hundreds who have contacted me with
their own personal stories which have come about as result of their criminal
convictions.
The contrast couldn't have been greater between the two of us, and
yet in many ways the thing that joined us together, and the many others who weren't in that room, is the way society sees the offence and not the individual
behind that offence.
That is the real tragedy and why together with User Voice
we are challenging and changing perceptions and practice. That’s why it means
so much to me to be a part of the team.
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