A window into LandWorks

“I’ve come to terms with it and I’m getting on with my time and I’m doing it,  the jury’s found me guilty, let’s get on with it and charge forward, I mean some people are depressed and some have done this that and the other, just get on with it, I mean really it’s my family doing the prison sentence now, it’s not me, in fact if I didn’t have a family life outside, prison life would be easier, but when you’ve got all those pulling factors on the outside… every night (I phone home) speak to my son, sometimes he wants to speak to me, sometimes he doesn’t, you just got to deal with it haven’t you… it is what it is… like I say I put myself in this position, you gotta get on with it, and even being out here at LandWorks, you can remember where you are, but really you’re still in prison, so if you dish up soup or dish up water, then I’ll have whatever’s going…

…for me I’ve gotta be busy and my time goes quicker I’m not one to be sat around doing nothing, because I’ve gotta be active, even when I was in the prison, if I had an easy day I’d have to be something in the evening, go to the gym in order to sleep that night, and just keep yourself busy, ‘cos people just sit around and just talk, gas…

…the only thing I didn’t look forward to is being claustrophobic in that cell, I mean that door being slammed, from all of a sudden being active to nothing, 23 hours bang up, I don’t like my own company… I don’t watch television either, if I watch television I fall asleep, I was thinking gee, I couldn’t handle this, I don’t know how I’d handle it,  lucky that only lasted two or three weeks, before you’ve done all your checks and your inductions and that, before you get jobs, but I did my research on the prison, spoke to people who had been in prison before, went on the internet, found out what it was all about, so I was prepared for it…

…I’ve done the pottery with Sarah, I’ve done the cooking with Sue and with you, I’ve done working with Martin, I’ve done working with Graham, working with Mon, I’ve done it all really, favourite things would be, I prefer doing the woodwork, working with Martin, surprisingly I don’t mind the cooking, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be, I quite enjoyed that, and the pottery, the only thing was the wheel, it was a skill to keep it going, but Sarah said the electric one’s coming, then your hands will be a lot steadier, because when my leg was going, it’s hard to keep your hands still, it was distorting the pot, I screwed one up which was a bit demoralising after you’d spent an hour on it, but that was only down side, so I quite enjoyed that…

…it’s a privilege being here because time does go a bit quicker and you’re out of prison, any small incident in that prison you could lose all your privileges in one swoop, at least being out for 8 hours here, taking 8 hours away from that influence or the potential problem, association, suspicion, but I’ve never had any of that, I don’t drink, I don’t take drugs, don’t smoke, but you can actually see why people do it, if you’re wife and child is on the out, and they’re struggling to pay the mortgage, and you’ve got opportunities to earn money in the prison, you would do it, everybody’s circumstances are different, and people need to survive in the prison, if you haven’t got the financial support from the outside and you don’t get any money sent in, and you’re on the minimum wage it could be a struggle…”