Each of the four speakers we invited brought their own unique experience and perspective, but they are united by one common theme: a childhood criminal record is holding them or their loved one back unjustly and making it unnecessarily difficult and painful to move forward (for some, decades after the offence).

I want to say a massive thank you to the four who joined us, your testimonies were personal, powerful and certainly impactful – we appreciate your bravery. A big thank you also to everyone else who filled out the form to apply to join – I’m sorry that we didn’t have room for you all.

The Minister was very engaged with the discussion and assured us the government will be consulting on some proposed changes to childhood criminal records soon. We will continue to monitor this closely and will keep you updated.

A note on writing to your MP

We’ve long advocated for writing to your MP as a method of progressing the campaign forward. In the meeting, Minister Richards backed this up – he even suggested our guest speakers write to their MPs encouraging them to write to him. It’s all about making sure the relevant ministers have as much demonstrable pressure as possible from other MPs, so that support is clear and they can more easily push change forward.

So, if you haven’t already, now’s the time to write to your MP! Momentum is building, and the more MPs we can get on board, the better. Use our easy online tool below