“I’ve done quite a lot of stuff here like. It made me feel a lot more like … it changed my way of life … there’s more to life and that. It makes you feel more like part of the community and makes me want to be able to do something with my life. Before I thought like I ruined my life, but I’ve seen, just coming to this place … but I haven’t had chance really … because they give me a chance and I think that’s all some people needed like, it’s just that chance. I feel like … yeah. I’ve done like pottery. I’ve done everything … woodwork, pottery, gardening. January, I did maintenance to the place. I had to build a pond. I built a pond at the back … named it after myself.
But yeah, met so many nice people here as well like. That’s the thing I used to struggle with … friendship. Like I always meet the wrong crowd and I’m easily led, and I class them as my mates, but they’re associates like. Do you know what I mean? They only want one thing and it’s just to get drugs or to get off their face and not do better with their life. Actually, coming in here I can see people trying to better … they do better their life and you feel like you’re achieving something here, where before, my life was over like. I didn’t know where I was before like. I feel that I can actually do something for myself now. Like I say, I signed up to college, where before, I’d never have done that like. It’s something I wanna do, like yeah, where before I wouldn’t have done something like that if I had to. If someone was telling me I had to do that, like this is going to happen … that’s my own choice like, doing that. Definitely made me look at life a lot different by coming to this place like.
[Food] That’s another thing I love here as well like, just the general … you can have good conversation at the table eating your food and that. That’s a great thing like and the food’s just so tasty here like. It’s so great food here, yeah.
The health benefits as well, since I’ve been coming here, well I didn’t really notice my diet was quite crap before … all processed rubbish and that like. I never took notice of that before, until I come to this place. I just used to eat it and that was it like. But now, I actually take notice of what I’m eating, and I do try to eat healthy if I can like … always go for the healthy even if it’s dearer, I’ll go for the healthier option because I realise now, like eating good food and that it makes you feel a lot better in yourself. If you’re eating crap all the time it just makes you feel like crap all the time … like no energy. So, this place has just changed so much for me. I’m not just saying that. Just by eating healthy food it makes me have extra energy. Like getting out of bed in the mornings, like before I did not want to get out of bed like. I feel like when I come to this place, I feel like I’ll have something to do, so I’m up before my alarm and I’m looking forward to coming up here like.
I’ve never been forced to come to this place, and I think for me that’s a big thing. Someone trying to force you to do something, you feel like you have no choice, but this place I always feel like I have a choice. This place has never been forced onto me. It’s always been at my own pace. Like with probation, you had to go probation, but this place, it’s always been like … I always feel that this place is just so welcoming. Probation and that, I used to be scared. If I missed an appointment, do you need to say I was ill and that like, but this place, I know for a fact that Chris wouldn’t get upset if I was ill one day like.
Truth like, like honesty … this place taught me to be truthful and to say how it is, even if they’re not gonna like it. At the end of the day, it’s the truth and the truth will do that sometimes or maybe a lot of the time it hurts, but it’s variety, it’s the truth. Like the only thing you can do is … your word is your word. That’ll always be something to me anyway, but I like coming this place and I see other people … like I see people … I feel I’ve changed myself like. I can see like how much it change people’s lives as well and it’s just so beneficial.
Like I say, if it wasn’t for this place now, I don’t know where I’d be. Like I don’t know if I’d be in this situation I’m in now. I doubt I will be because this place led me on the right path like. It’s opened up opportunities. I think this place open up opportunities where you might have loads of doors closed in your face all your life and this place can actually open them doors back up for you and that is just really, really beneficial on so many levels.”
A window into LandWorks 