“I think the key thing that you get from LandWorks, and I say this to everybody, you know, I think the reason why you’re so successful up there is because of how honest and open you are, and you share your own stuff. Once you do that with anybody, it doesn’t have to be LandWorks, it can be anywhere at all, it makes a point of like you make a connection a lot more easier and once you make connections with people … do you know what I mean? I think you become non-judgemental then as well because you know, like I remember like police officers and that, once police officers start sharing personal information you see ‘em as more like human-beings than what you would like normally. Do you know what I mean, instead of just seeing the uniform or whatever. So, I think that’s where it’s so successful.
Do you know what I mean, because most people that go up there, yeah, have come from broken backgrounds or whatever or broken whatever is broken, you know, in their life, yeah, and it’s about putting pieces back together, and I think they’re really successful in that, you know, like take me, I couldn’t cook or anything, so people, you know, started helping me to cook. I couldn’t even use a washing-machine. I couldn’t even use silly little things like that, and just the basics that I just didn’t even know and that’s partly our fault because you know, like especially at my age, I’m like nearly 60 now and I was brought up where the women looked after the men. Well actually, that’s a nice thing to do but when they become on their own, they don’t know what they’re doing. So yeah.
I believe everybody that goes through LandWorks takes something from it anyway, no matter what it is, no matter how small. It will work in every area but how much is taken from that and how much they use with people is on a different level really. So, you give us the tools up there to do what we need to do and then it’s down to the individual, and also I suppose it depends why people are there. Do you know what I mean? Some people might think I’m gonna go there coz it’s an easy ride and I don’t have to report to probation, which I know they do but they don’t always have to, yeah, so they might look at it like that rather than being on the road picking up litter and all that sort of stuff. So yeah, so I think it helps everybody in some sort of small way, no matter what it is. I don’t believe you can go through LandWorks and not take something away from it and actually it improves somewhere along the line.
I was quite lucky I spent a long time in therapy in the jail systems anyway, so I know myself really, really well. I didn’t know about normal life. I didn’t know how to … I used to give my wife the money to pay bills or whatever, so I didn’t really know what I was doing. So, LandWorks gently … if you want, they gently eased me into sort of like just normal stuff. Like I’d never really been shopping before. Do you know what I mean? I remember going shopping with Graham once and you know, I was just looking at the jar that I wanted and instead of looking at Nescafe, you know, decaf, or whatever, I didn’t even realise, and they might sound really basic things, yeah, but that’s what it was with me. Do you know what I mean?
So, it’s very important who you socialise with, you know. If you’re mixing with people who are taking drugs or drinking or thieving or something, especially if you come from that background, it’s like being an alcoholic innit, if you keep going in a pub you’re gonna have a drink eventually. So yeah, so all the people around me are all positive, either doing the same sort of thing as me or are involved in charities, same sort of stuff really.
So yeah, so when you do stop or whatever you wanna call it, yeah … I suppose that’s another thing that LandWorks can do, so what it’s quite clever at doing is finding different avenues for you to do different things, yeah, because you have literally got to change your whole lifestyle, yeah, you know, so they’ve got access to all sorts of different work prospects, courses, you can go to college, you know, they’ll sort out all that sort of stuff and they’ll support you in so many different areas, which you don’t in most places, like you come to the end of it and that’s it. Well, I’ve still been having contact with ‘em for like years and years, and most of the lads still do, you know, and that’s really important for ‘em. There’s not an end-end and I know people say, you know, you do get an ending, and you do get endings but if something’s real actually, no matter how you look at it, if something is real, even if you do get an ending, yeah, you must’ve built a relationship up with some people mustn’t you, no matter how you look at it, you know.
…everything takes time doesn’t it, you know, and over a period … like it’s 2025 innit, it’s nine years ago since I first came across LandWorks and you know, just friendship, your kindness. Do you know what I mean? I’m not being funny, like who do you know that goes to like Venice or something and texts you … Chris. He’s the only person who could do that. No, but from the other person’s perspective that’s really, really nice. Do you know what I mean? You know, it’s not just work. They put that time and effort, yeah, they put time and effort into it.
So, the bottom line is it’s a bit of kindness, a bit of care, a bit of love, yeah, and knowing the right people to put you in the right direction, yeah.”
A window into LandWorks 