“I got in trouble in London. I got stitched up in London. I fell in with bad people mostly and although I didn’t say I did it, the police decided to arrest me and charge me, and then took me to court and then them not letting me back to the house, they said you can’t live there no more. Then put me in prison for a couple of weeks coz I got no place to go, it was not good there. I’d take my life in there. It’s awful really. It was my first time in there, you know, like it’s scary. A London prison, yeah. After that I went to court again and then the courts were gonna … but my care workers arrived and said that I could be moved back to Devon as an option. Then the court decided to move me back to Devon and that’s what happened. I moved back to Devon. I went to … I can’t remember … I came here to serve my time…
I get on with loads of people here … good friends and that, good people, Chris and that, yeah, I love being here. They’re all lovely here. They’re lovely here, to do my hours and that, you know, they want me here. It’s really nice.
I’m from Yorkshire actually. Yeah, I was born up in Yorkshire. I got in a bit of trouble up there, my past and that. That’s why I like this really. Yeah, my past … that’s why I did all the things I did really, all the things what happened in my life and that, you know.
Yeah, this has helped me a lot, being here, coz it’s nice, quiet and busy, a lot of things to do, nice people, it’s nice. I’d like to do more hours here. It’s a good choice really coz they understand my needs. They understand what I’ve been through, things like that. The courts have been really nice about it and say yeah, move back to Devon and serve, I think, about eight months here, I think, is it … well serve a few months for my punishment. It’s actually been alright really. It’s been really nice here, really nice here, you know. Basically, my thing’s run out … that’s good coz I’m not getting in trouble again, I’ll tell you that. Yeah, it’s been really good here.
Before I got in loads of trouble. Well, I got an anger problem and that. I can’t control my emotions. Other people, some would be nasty to me, I would tell it back to them and that got me in trouble a lot.
I try and it’s helping a bit coz my care workers now, they help me a lot. I’ve got better. I’ve got better at controlling my emotions a bit. A bit of time and it’s sorted. It’s just some people who I’ve got into, say nasty things about me and things like that. I was in the wrong spot, you know. I just move my life over again and start afresh and make everyone proud.
I’m a kind person. I’m a really nice person. I respect people. It’s just some people … I get involved in people, like bad people and I know, you know, some people, and I like trust them, but obviously they get…
Yeah, that’s why I copied my dad a lot, be violent and other things, the sort of things I would do really, it’s not good really, it’s awful, my childhood and that.
After that I went in care coz my mum basically couldn’t care me. Yeah, after, my mum fought and got me out. Yeah, my sister and that went in care after my dad left.
I’m lucky coz I’m a lucky kid, to be fair, coz I believed I’d be years in prison, what happened, and luckily, I didn’t really. I went down to Devon and that’s obviously lucky really coz you don’t get chances like that, you know, in court, you know. The court was a bit sorry for me and all that … I think I suffered enough, yeah, I think.
It’s a challenge, it’s a challenge. I’m doing a bit of work with it. It’s getting there. I’ve sorted it out a little bit… someone can annoy you and the streets… I react to rules, I can’t help it, like I used to do it when I was a little kid, somebody be nasty to me, I’d react, and it was getting me in trouble. That’s why I do my work to be fair, coz I see some people I don’t like and obviously I walk away. It’s hard. I walk away sometimes as well. That’s hard…
Like about here? The people. I like the people here, really nice, really nice people and all the activities here and the project I’m doing, make it all really nice, you know, coz I love doing construction work, I love doing it, you know. Basically, I saw this garden bit, it was like a mess, I saw it, so I think to myself I want something really nice there, I said to Chris is it alright …
I told him about what I can do, I can make a nice bench area. I start weeding it, fastening it down, getting all the stones out, make a little pathway, I’ve got good ideas what I’ll do, and I’ll start doing it, and it’s gonna be nice. I designed this, yeah. I did all of that. It’s gonna be really nice actually, to be fair … a bench up there, plants down there, it’s gonna be lovely, it’s gonna be nice. it’s really nice now coz last time it’s a mess, it’s a mess, everything there, junk things, not now, it’s actually really nice now. I made it really nice, cleared everything up.
LandWorks, it’s an honest place. It’s a nice place to come. It’s actually nice here, you know, you can chill out and relax and that and do things. You learn all about things here. I’d say it’s a really good place to come and get away and do things and help yourself.”
A window into LandWorks 