Ask the Expert: Volunteering with a conviction

I want to volunteer to work with young people in a local youth project. However, I got a criminal conviction as a teenager for assaulting another woman when I was drunk. Does this mean I can’t volunteer?

Having a criminal conviction doesn’t necessarily exclude you from working with children and young people. Whether or not you can will depend on various factors, including how long ago the offence took place, if you have reoffended, and if the offence would directly impact on the type of volunteering you wanted to do.

All agencies working with volunteers who have access to vulnerable groups must carry out their own references and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. If they can obtain positive recent references about you then this will help. The DBS check will make them aware of any past convictions in any case, so it would be wise to inform your prospective agency when applying. As of December 2012, we are only permitted to ask someone to undertake a DBS check if the work they will be undertaking requires it. This depends on the activity of the volunteer and the service or department they are working in.

Answered by Jeanie Lynch, who works for Barnardo’s and has 25 years’ experience of working with vulnerable children and families