Anthony came to Offploy through the National Probation Service in Hull. He had a lot of life experience and had previously owned his own business but he had faced challenges which led him to take actions resulting in a criminal conviction. Due to the nature of his offence, Anthony was facing severe barriers to employment despite having a wealth of knowledge and experience. Anthony had displayed how eager he was to maintain employability throughout his sentence. He seized every opportunity including taking on jobs whilst inside prison such as running courses for other prisoners and joining our employability course, showing willing, but also providing support for other candidates on the course. Since Anthony was clearly very qualified, Offploy’s main focus was to support him directly in to employment as he had no barriers other than his conviction holding him back. The Offploy team supported Anthony with job searching and dedicated time around disclosing his conviction to employers. With this extra support, he applied for a role as a Sales Assistant at a local flooring retailer he had set his sights on. He was nervous to disclose his conviction and made the bold move to disclose via email, ahead of the interview, to prepare his potential employers ahead of time. Anthony’s decision paid off, he attended his interview and was offered not only employment, but the role of Assistant Manager at the store. Anthony’s hard work and tenacity got him into employment and he continues to be a champion of Offploy in the community and supports the work we do. Alongside the National Probation Service, we will continue to support people like Anthony into meaningful, mentored and sustainable employment.
