- Before contacting us…
- Latest news & tweets
- Contact details for our helpline
- Frequently asked questions about contacting us
Before contacting us…
Our helpline is run on limited charitable resources and can get extremely busy. To try and make the best use of our resources, we encourage people with a criminal record to try some way other ways before contacting us directly…
Is the answer on here?
We maintain this self-help information site as a way of people finding answers to questions for themselves. It’s easier for you (and us) if you find the answer to your question on here.
We have a full index on the information we have, and we also have a ‘top 10 things to know about criminal records‘ page, which covers the key areas that we receive a lot of questions about. These include:
Try our online forum
We run an online forum for people with convictions. It has many members (who themselves have a criminal record) that regularly give up their time in helping others who are looking for information or advice.
theForum has many questions and answers, or if you can’t find one that answers yours, you can post it and see if anyone has had a similar experience or can share any useful information/advice.
Contact details
We run a confidential peer-run helpline that supports people in overcoming the effects of criminal convictions (find about more about how the helpline works here).
There are a number of ways you can contact our helpline (and there are FAQ’s about the different ways of contacting us below)
Call: 01634 247350 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm)
Message: Text or WhatsApp us on 07824 113848. Find out more about using WhatsApp to message us.
Email: Fill out our online contact form
Online: Webchat (a pop-up will show when webchat is available)
Write: theHelpline, Unlock, Maidstone Community Support Centre, 39-48 Marsham Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1HH
Deaf and speech impaired callers can access our helpline via the Relay UK Service. Textphone users should prefix their call with 18001.
If you’re feeling desperate and need to speak to someone outside of our opening hours, you can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 for the cost of a local call. You can also email them at jo@samaritans.org.
Details of other crisis services offering urgent support can be found here.
Who should contact us? We ask that individuals contact us directly if possible. If a family member or an organisation working with you contacts us on your behalf, we will normally ask to speak to you.
For more details about how our helpline works, and what issues we cover, click here.
Frequently asked questions about contacting us
Calling us
Please note: Our helpline is closed on public holidays (e.g. Bank Holidays) and over the Christmas break. The status bar above will be updated accordingly.
We promise to respond to every enquiry that we receive. We try to respond to queries as soon as possible, and are normally able to do so within 5 working days, but sometimes this might be longer if we’re busy.
In the meantime, you may find the answer to your question on this self-help information site. In particular, check out our quick links section which has answers to some of the most common questions we get. Or you might find the answer on our online forum.
If you’re calling us, you can dial 141 before you dial our number. This will hide your number (please check with your network providers as this doesn’t work on some mobile networks.
Our number will appear on your itemised bill – if someone else will see your telephone bill and you don’t want them to know you’ve called us, you may prefer to use a public telephone or pay-as-you-go mobile.
Emailing us
The details you might want to include in your enquiry are:
- Your name
- A contact telephone number
- An email address (if you have one)
- Whether your contacting about yourself, a family member/friend, or somebody you’re working with
- The details of your criminal record
- The specific question that you have
- Any relevant background information (including how you have tried to resolve the problem so far)
- Whether there’s anything in particular that you would like us to do to support you with in regards to this situation
- Any accompanying information (e.g. copies of letters, documents etc) – please do not send originals as we’re unable to return these.
Texting us or contacting us by WhatsApp
Our WhatsApp number is: 07824 113848.
Copy this number and create/add us as a new contact. Before sending your first message, please check that you can see the Unlock logo as the profile picture.
By sending a message to this service you are confirming that you’re happy with the way we’ll collect, store and protect your personal information. You can can find further details here.
Please send us a message containing a brief outline of the problem. One of our advisors will respond to you during theHelpline’s opening hours.
Contacting us by Skype
General
Where you have a problem but it’s not linked to you having a criminal record, we’ll try to point in the direction of other organisations that might be able to help.