Hello all,
I have been going through a bit of a tough time, so felt that I would add to the positivity of this section.

I am writing this for my own wellbeing/ therapy. Sorry f it drags on but I need somewhere to vent!

About 15 years ago I was arrested, charged and found guilty of an offence. A follow-up conviction followed. It was pretty widely reported, and although I am deeply shamed and sorry for my actions, the convictions and the following media coverage were far from representative. My actions were made to seem magnatudes more horrific than they were. It was a tough time, but thanks to a strong family I managed to get through it and found a job.

I done all the things one should, complied to the letter. People I dealt with from social workers to Police officers from that point were hugely supportive - one police officcers even stated that it was a "waste of their time" coming to see me, but despite enjoying a chat there were better things they could be doing with their time.Work was basic and repetitive to start, but managed to work my way up in the company to something more intresting and representative of my skills. I applied for a middle-managment job elsewhere and got it. I stayed at that organisation for just over a year before being asked to apply for another at a rival employer- I did and got that job.

This is when a few strange things happened. I got called into a meeting with my line manager and HR director (terrifying!), they stated they had been sent information regarding my convictions from an 'anonymous source' and asked if it was true. I stated it was and offered to answer any questions they had. My managers response was "No, it's fine. We are more than pleased with the job you are doing." They went on to state that they had wondered whether they should tell me about this, but decided it was fair to do so. So life continued as normal. There came wholesale change - and as a result after 4 and a bit years my job changed, and my team moved on. I was asked by another company to apply work a job with them - so I did. I got the job.

Furig this time odd things started to happen. One day the police called me to ask if I was OK. It turned out someone had called them to saying I was bout to take my own life - the police were even at my home although I was on holiday. Other malicious things started happening too. The police seemed unintrested and done nothing.

The new job was going OK. I had relationship issues with my line manager, but was working over these. I had went on holiday for a few days, came back to find my probation was being terminated due to my past. Ofcourse, this changed pretty quickly to "performance issues", no doubt when HR thought about the RoOA. Because of my conviction type, the Union were unintrested too.. Moreover, news of my conviction has spread somewhat through the sites of my previous emplyers and my work-based friendship circles. I have literally lost everything I worked hard to rebuild.

So, I have been unemployed for the last few months. My finances are absoluetly shot - I believe I can survive for another couple of months on savings etc. I have debt - it was all easily managable on my previous wage, but not now. I am massively isolated, my mental health is not good. I keep applying for work, but I can't apply for anything with a CR check (almost everything seems care based at the moment), or anything that relies on my previous employer to give a reference - because of the situation. I want to work, but the sutters have totally come down.

Anyway... on a positive note, at least the rain has stopped