“My first couple of days here I relapsed and I was back using drugs again after being clean like all year, I’d relapsed. I was trying to hide it and me and ‘big man’ got in an argument in the van, yeah, to the point he got really angry and was like slapping the steering-wheel. … More Jax says: “I like being at LandWorks coz I feel like it’s my safe space.”
“Jarvis brought me to LandWorks. Now, it’s gonna sound quite weird but at first they were like how about you go LandWorks, you try this, you try that … I was like nah, f*** it, that ain’t for me because it was like woodwork, gardening, pottery, I was like no, I don’t like getting dirty, … More Jax says: “LandWorks is doing something right. It’s gave me a new purpose…”
“I’ve still been coming here twice a week, which I love coming. Yeah, I do like coming here because it’s something … what am I trying to say? It’s something positive in my life coz where I come from. I’ve gotta try and do more positive things, plus I’ve been doing a lot on my … More George says: “When you’re in a rut and you’re taking drugs you don’t do things like that, you don’t hardly eat anyway, so doing this is like getting back to normal…”
“I was on bail for like a year-and-a-half, so by the time it actually come to going to court, going through it all, it was just … the whole situation … I couldn’t explain what had happened, especially from me abusing the drugs and everything like years afterwards, how long it took to have an … More Clarke says: “having somewhere you can come, not get judged … I think that’s just what everyone needs when you have been in that shitty situation…”
“So, what brought me here was I didn’t even know that this place existed until my probation worker mentioned it. Well, I was supposed to come here the beginning of last year to do unpaid work, but then stupidly got in trouble again and went to prison, so when I came out of prison I … More John (2025) says : “When I know I’m coming here I wake up in the morning and I’m looking forward to getting here and cracking on…”
“I ended up here because drugs… Yeah, when I came here … yeah, it was mainly to do with drugs and stuff and just hung around with the wrong people. Yeah, if it wasn’t for this place, yeah, I’d be lost… Yeah, first time I’ve ever been with probation. I was smoking weed for … … More Jack (2024) says: “…people here see that I’m actually worth something, that I could do well and do good in life…”
“I was going downhill. I’d just come out of prison, and I was sort of going downhill taking drugs and alcohol again, and then someone said would you like to work at LandWorks? I goes yeah, I’ll give it a go like, see what the buzz is about … started coming here and I enjoyed … More Clive says: “If I weren’t ‘ere, I would probably be dead by now … Coming here has changed my life”
“I’ve been on a journey … still on a journey of recovery now. I was just … actually two weeks ago I finished my mental health order, which I had for six months. I got a certificate, which I haven’t had for years. My mental health’s a thousand times better than what it was. I … More Sam says: “I’ve been on a journey… still on a journey of recovery now”
“I was talking to my probation officer one day and I weren’t in the best of moods. He was asking me about what’s the matter and stuff like that, so I explained to him I’m just bored all the time and I just had too much time on my hands because I just didn’t do … More KJ says: “It always makes me really happy when everyone likes the food…”
“…my probation officer, she was asking me to start coming for like a good six to eight months before I actually did, yeah, because I never used to really go out anywhere or do anything and I didn’t like going anywhere, so yeah, she kept saying that I’d really enjoy it and it would be … More Amelia says: “It’s given me routine, structure, discipline and like friends…”
A window into LandWorks 