>>>Not all employers are entitled to ask for DBS checks
Agreed, PIxie, but any employer can include a question on their application form asking about unspent convictions. Anyone lying on such a form risks up to 10 years imprisonment. There has been a post, here on AB, from someone who got a job by 'forgetting' about his conviction. He only did the job for a week but over a year later the police arrested him for making a fraudulent employment application and he ended up being sentenced to 2 years in prison.
>>>every door has been shut in my face because ive got 'recent' convictions
Are you aware that the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act was changed in March, making rehabilitation periods far shorter?
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/reforms-to-help-reduce-reoffending-come-into-force
Also, have you asked yourself what skills you have, Nailit, and considered self-employment, perhaps as a gardener or odd-job man?