“My time in prison has been an experience, one I could’ve done without… Do you know, LandWorks has been a godsend to me, it really has, and you need more of these units around the country, definitely. They get you in touch with humans again, instead of people in bloody black suits. You’re just like … More Matt says: “my time in prison has been an experience, one I could’ve done without”
“I phone my wife probably four times a day. I always call her in the morning to make sure she’s got to work. I like to know she’s in work. When she’s gone to work I phone her mobile, but in the evenings, it’s on the landline. I put so much money on phone credit, … More Matt says: “I always say it’s worse for them on the outside, definitely worse for them…”
“It’s like in Prison, you start talking to someone, you know within a few minutes whether they’re full of shit, whether they’re telling the truth, whether they’re making up … you know, everything comes in that first few moments and it’s “bye” or you keep talking. Those are the options. Going home’s going to be … More Lee says: “It just took a little bit of time for me to realise that there are nice people in the world…”
“I was on bail for 18 months and I couldn’t take a contract on because it would’ve been in excess of 12 months. I’d already put a tender in, I’d got a job basically, but I couldn’t take it, so I had to sit around doing bit-part jobs while I waited to go to court. … More Lee says: “but it’s like when the judge says four-and-a-half years, you think “oh shit…”
“It’s a learning curve. If I was bitter and angry, I wouldn’t be on the resettlement wing and coming out here. I’ve come through the whole system, not one nicking, haven’t even said ‘boo’ to a goose… When I actually get released in December, I leave on the Friday and I start work on the … More Lee says: “As soon as you say you’re an ex-convict, “next”, that’s the way it goes…”
“There are the things that the courts never gets to hear, because the police say you are this, this is what you are. I’m a hard-working person and this is what I do, but all they heard was ‘this is what he is’ and ‘that’s what he is’ and ‘this is because we think this’. … More Lee says: “For 18 months I’ve been sat in that prison with a stagnant mind. I need something to do and here it is…”
“Christmas was just a couple of telephone calls home and before you know it, it was here and gone, wasn’t it? There were no parties going on, but most people just locked their door and the odd person would go and bang on the doors and wished people a merry Christmas and a happy new … More George says: “It is hard to go through prison.”
“I’ve been coming out to LandWorks for a couple of months. I’ve now been released from prison on a Home Detention Curfew (HDC/Tag), but I’m still coming out here to volunteer. I’ve found it really useful to re-humanise myself and gain some skills that I can use when I get out. It’s a nice environment … More Tarquin says: “it can be pretty scary getting out and then just ‘bang’ into normality.”
“I’m coming out to LandWorks on the understanding from the prison staff who have said it will be very beneficial for me. I class myself as a hard worker, but I wanted to explore a bit more about LandWorks and I’ve heard of opportunities of work on release, contacts that you lot have, the work … More Eric says: “I need to get back in the swing of things for work”
People say to me “why did you do it?”, I said “greed at the end of the day”, that’s the bottom line, didn’t have to do it, but the opportunity was there. But, I’m not coming back to prison. No chance. but I never knew the implications, how long you’d get… I’ve done what I’ve … More George says: “Are people going to want to talk to you if you’ve been in prison?”
