One of the main reasons ex-prisoners struggle to get jobs is due to them having criminal convictions and the frequent requirement for them to disclose those convictions. Many find themselves turned down from all manner of jobs, which they have had previous experience doing. This approach has obvious merit if the disclosure is restricted to certain types of offences and jobs that involve a large temptation for the person to re-offend. For example, someone previously convicted of fraud applying for a position of trust that involves cash handling. But for a large part, disclosing all criminal convictions fails to protect ex-offenders from unfair discrimination.

Imagine for a moment that you had to write on a piece of paper the most shameful thing that you had ever done in your life. Then imagine that at every job interview you attended you had to hand that piece of paper to a complete stranger. You would already expect that person to judge you harshly, and it wouldn't matter if you had learned your lesson and would never again repeat the mistake.

In answer to this problem society has adopted Equal Opportunities Legislation that makes it illegal to discriminate against a person purely because they have a criminal record. But this approach belongs to the ideal world where everybody obeys the law and it is transparently policed. In the real world an employer may be about to employ someone who has the right skills for a job, only to discover the applicant has been previously convicted of a criminal offence completely unrelated to the position they are applying for. The employer may emotively think to himself, There’s no way I am employing someone who has done such and such. I don’t want them in our team. Then they might say to the applicant, “I’m sorry but your skills aren’t exactly what we are looking for.” It becomes obvious that such anti-discrimination law is largely ineffective for the reason it is impossible to police. In fact a survey of employers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development showed that 60% deliberately exclude applicants with a criminal record when recruiting.2

Another reason ex-prisoners find difficulty getting work is because an estimated 65% of all Britain's prisoners have reading, writing and numeracy skills at or below that of eleven-year-old school children Only one in five prisoners are able to complete a job application form and half don't have the skills for 96% of jobs.3

As a result many ex-offenders are forced into poverty as they simply can’t get work. They are often left idle with much time on their hands to sit and think about all their problems. Their dreams of making something of their lives can easily give way to despair and dark shadows of self-doubt.

A high percentage of prisoners are imprisoned on substance abuse related crime, whilst roughly 80% of prisoners become involved in taking drugs whilst in prison. If they are left bored and impoverished with little hope, is it any wonder that they eventually give in to temptation and visit their local drug dealer or off-license to acquire relief through a chemical means of escaping this reality? Once they are again trapped in the vicious circle of substance using it may then become only a matter of time before their lives once again descend into thoughtless criminality to pay for their habit.4

We at the Tree Planting Employment Scheme believe in justice. We believe that is unfair to punish someone after they have served their sentence by condemning them to a life where they are forced into being made to be outsiders to normal society. We believe that everyone deserves a chance to change their lives for the better. We believe that everyone should have equal rights to live, work and grow within society no matter what mistakes they have made in the past that they've been punished for.

To put our beliefs into action we dream of employing ex-offenders to plant trees in beautiful wide open spaces, far away from the temptations of cities, whilst giving them fresh air to breath and a fair wage. We dream of helping them awaken in themselves long forgotten dreams of turning their lives into something they can be proud of. We dream of waking them up to the fact that they are valuable human beings with equal rights and not the worthless people that society often teaches them they are.

We dream of helping many ex-offenders to feel what it's like to contribute to society rather than to work against it by constantly reminding them that they are working to recover humanity's very future, and that they will one day be hailed as heros of society rather than ex-villains. We hope to reward many who rise to the challenge by offering them training in new careers helping to run renewable energy projects.


Due to current Employment and Benefit Legislation we can only employ ex-prisoners if they are staying in a Bail Hostel. If they are homeless or on benefits and housed by public authorities in hostel accommodation, we are prevented from hiring them. To read about the simple legislation we need to resolve this issue, as well as the changes to the Criminal Records Disclosure system we are advocating, please click here.

1. Most of the statistics quoted have been sourced from the Prison Reform Trust's Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile, 2010. Pages 19, 48-49.

2. The Prison Reform Trust's Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile, 2010, Page 49,

3. According to the Prison Reform Trust's Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile, 2010, Page 50, '48% of prisoners are at, or below, the level expected of an 11 year old in reading, 65% in numeracy and 82% in writing.' We cite 65% as an average of these three percentages.

4. Prison Reform Trust's Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile, 2010, Page 45