“I’m more confident, a lot more confident, yeah, yeah. I’m more confident standing up in front of everyone … my own opinions. I’ve never really liked speaking about my own opinions and things. I didn’t like the reaction of people, but now I kind of think … I’m free to say my own opinions aren’t I, I’m free to do it, everyone is really. So, I kind of fit into that because that’s what you want … well not what you want, but you know what I mean, obviously with limits. I kind of have a free speech and I’m a bit more confident about that. I’m a bit more confident probably standing up on stage. Like we went to that open day, I was able to stand up and you know, talk. I probably wouldn’t be able to do that at the beginning of my time here. I was a bit anxious, and you know, obviously now as the months go past, I’m a lot more confident…
You look at these people outside of LandWorks, you look at them as criminals and horrible and nasty people, but when they’re here you’ve got a good environment. I think being in prison is very different. A lot of people here have been to prison, and you look at them in prison and you think they’re different. You look at people in prison and some are a bit nasty, a bit horrible, a bit scruffy looking, but when they actually get the facilities and they’re treated fairly, I think their true side comes out. A bit of respect they could always probably do with anyway. Everyone’s respected and that’s what I like about it. So, I think that’s how a lot of it is … my confidence has gone up through that. It’s not like school, it’s a bit different. You treat everyone with respect, everyone’s a bit older, everyone understands the principle, you want respect, you treat other people with respect. So I think that a lot of it is what it is … treat everyone nicely. No-one’s further down, no-one’s further down than anyone else, everyone’s equal, which is what I like. That’s probably built my confidence the most. It’s the people, the people are very nice.
So, when people walk through the gate, they don’t judge you what you’ve done in the past. There’s no he’s done this before … no, everyone’s like ok, we give everyone a chance here, if you’re going to be horrible to people, we’ll separate ourselves from you, we’re not going to go around and do stuff to you, we’re going to separate ourselves from you, but no-one does that, everyone thinks ok, everyone’s to be treated fairly, so everyone does that. That’s what I like. When you walk through those gates everyone’s like you alright mate? It’s been a week, you’ve got new mates. You might not talk to them after, but when you’re here they’re your mates. Nobody talks badly about anyone, they just get along. That’s what I like. That’s one of my biggest things here that I like, it’s the people. That’s one of the big things here. I respect a lot of people who do that.
Obviously with you, I’ve learnt quite a lot of cooking skills. I’ve done cooking in the past, but not like I could do it myself, but now, thanks to you and other people, I’m able to get in the kitchen and pretty much cook my own … not just make some random stuff, I could probably have a meal and I could probably make it. So, thanks to you guys, you know, I feel more confident in the kitchen and able to cook meals and remember all the recipes and stuff like that. I’ve got quite a good routine with that. [Cooking] I’ve done a bit at home, a little bit, yeah, a tiny bit. I don’t do much at home, but it just makes it easier for mum to do it because she’s got it all planned out. [Roast] Yeah, I know how to do it, yeah.
A lot of it’s to do with trust. I think a lot of it now is to do with trust, you know, just little things that I picked up. I was going to say it, but little things that I’ve picked up around … hang on a minute, they trust me, he trusts me, she trusts me. It’s quite nice to be trusted. It’s really nice to be trusted. It’s like in the workshop, I was down cutting some bolts off of the … the saw, the metal saw, it’s called, and thingy just let me go on it. I was like … I thought that’s trust that is. He trusts me to pick that … this is how to use it … thank you … I take responsibility and obviously wear my goggles … but I was like, he let me use that. Five years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to have that opportunity. Everyone would’ve been like don’t do this, don’t do that, make sure you do this, I’m going to watch you do it. He was like just go and do it because he trusts me. He knows I’m not going to run around chasing after people with a bloody saw in my hands. So, it’s quite nice being trusted. I think it’s really nice being trusted…
It’s nice to be part of something. It’s always quite nice to be part of something…”
A window into LandWorks 