Charities for people with a criminal record

Which charities help people with a criminal record change their name?#

Unlock, the independent charity for people with criminal records, publishes the fullest guide to changing your name with convictions, and Nacro covers a change of name in its advice on removing old stories from search results. In Scotland Sacro, and in Northern Ireland NIACRO's Disclosure NI service, advise on criminal records, and the Prisoners' Advice Service helps people in prison.

Both guides start from the same point. A new name can reduce what Unlock calls informal disclosure, such as a newspaper report or a search result a new neighbour or colleague might find. It does nothing to formal disclosure on a criminal record check, and it adds duties for some people rather than removing any.

What does changing your name involve with a criminal record?#

A criminal record does not stop you changing your name. Can I change my name if I have a criminal record? sets out each rule in full; in brief:

• Registered sex, violent and terrorist offenders must tell the police within 3 days, GOV.UK says, at their local prescribed police station. Section 84 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 counts the 3 days from the day you start using the name, and GOV.UK says failing to notify is a criminal offence.
• On licence or probation, Unlock says you must tell your probation officer, and anyone facing a pending prosecution must tell the police.
• A criminal record check asks for your previous names. GOV.UK explains that an unspent conviction is on a basic check, and a spent one appears only on a standard or enhanced check unless it is filtered. A transgender applicant can ask DBS not to reveal a previous name or gender: see what DBS asks for.
• Passports and other Home Office documents. The Home Office's guidance on names says it reserves the right not to issue a document in a new name to a registered sex offender, or to someone convicted of an offence involving false documents, depending on the purpose of the change and the offence.

Charities that can help#

What each kind of charity can help with#

Advice on records and disclosure

• Unlock covers England and Wales. Its guide explains why people change their name, who must be told, and the evidence routes: a statutory declaration, a newspaper notice, a deed poll, enrolled or not. It notes that enrolment makes the change public in The Gazette; for the cost, GOV.UK lists £53.05. Unlock also runs a helpline and guides on what each level of check shows.
• Nacro suggests asking search engines and publishers to remove old links first, and a deed poll only if that fails. It warns that a new name will not hide unspent convictions, a licence or MAPPA arrangements.
• NIACRO runs Disclosure NI, a confidential helpline for people with convictions in Northern Ireland, with guidance on disclosing a conviction and help with AccessNI applications.
• Sacro runs justice and rehabilitation services in Scotland. Checks there are made by Disclosure Scotland, and mygov.scot says the lowest level, once called basic disclosure, is now a Level 1 disclosure.

What to ask: whether your convictions are spent, what the job you want will check, whether a new name would help with what turns up in searches, and who you must tell before you start using it.

In prison or just released

The Prisoners' Advice Service gives free legal advice to adult prisoners in England and Wales about their rights and the conditions of imprisonment, by advice line, letter and clinics inside prisons. The Prison Reform Trust offers information and advice about prison to prisoners and the people close to them. A change of name in prison goes through the prison's own procedure, described in Can I change my name if I have a criminal record?.

Work and a fresh start

Working Chance helps women with convictions into work and education, including help with disclosing a conviction. Clinks supports the voluntary organisations in England and Wales that work with people in the criminal justice system and their families.

If you were a victim

A change of name to stay safe from someone who offended against you is a different situation: see charities that help after domestic abuse.

How do I reach them?#

Use each charity's own website for its helpline, email or contact form. If you are under supervision, it is sensible to tell your probation officer or offender manager what you are planning before you change anything, and if you have a duty to notify the police, to do it in time. If you are unsure whether a duty applies to you, ask a solicitor or an adviser at one of the charities above before you use the new name.

Can I make the deed poll myself, for free?#

Yes. GOV.UK publishes the wording of an unenrolled deed poll, which anyone aged 16 or over can write out, sign in front of two witnesses aged 18 or over, and use at once, at no cost. Its wording includes a line confirming, where applicable, that you have told the police. The deeds we draft use the traditional wording without that line, but the duty to notify comes from the law, not the deed, so it applies whichever you sign.

A paid deed poll adds a checked draft on certificate paper, optional certified copies, and a refund if an organisation refuses it. These charities are listed for the help they give; a listing does not mean any of them recommends us, and none has reviewed this page.