“Obviously, I’m here doing my hours that I was given by probation for a car accident that I had back in October last year… I actually came for a little walk round, just to meet everyone. I was very nervous about coming here. It sounds awful, doesn’t it. You have an image in your head, … More Aaron says: “I’ve been surprised by the people I’ve met…”
“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…”
…the judge said… he was like, if I see you in this court again, you are going down. I was like, thank you. I went into that court with a bag packed and everything thinking I was going. So yeah, better make the most of my last chance. I haven’t been inside yet and I … More Ben says: “that one person can actually give you a lot of your spark back. I think this place is brilliant for that”
“I think most of the anxiety about coming here to LandWorks was based on not knowing what I was going to do. I didn’t know how things worked, where stuff was or who anybody was. More than the fear of Chris or the place itself, it was more the routine and tasks… It felt like … More Cassandra says: ‘Rebellions are built on hope…”
In prison I kept myself to myself. I just stood back and done my time. I saw it as a golden opportunity. I wanted to go to prison. I got stuck in a rut. I lost my job due to alcohol and drugs. Slowly, accommodation started to grind to a halt […] Where do you … More Eric says: “I used to thrive off the narrow escapes of my own recklessness”
“When I first come out, I was anxious, really anxious, because I thought to meself, I don’t know nothing other than what I’ve been doing all my life. I’ve had to change everything. The way of thinking. I’ve had bad thoughts, don’t get me wrong, they’re fading away now, yeah, not so many at all. … More Finishing Time: Glyn six months out
“I class myself as a gentleman really, literally, always have done. Then a load of crime got involved from a very young age. So, I ended up doing 40 years in different institutions, incarcerated all over the country, leading up until now… Life in prison? I don’t have anything else to talk about. The next … More Glyn says: “It’s like you’re on a track and you come to a fork in the track. All them years ago I took the wrong fork. This time I’ve got out, I’ve took the right fork…”
“Since I’ve been here, because I’m a qualified gardener, I’ve got a City & Guilds, I started off … I did a couple of days in the garden. Then because I was interested in art, Chris suggested I go and try some stuff with Sarah. I went in there and I did a little … More Jake says: “It’s not like I come here, and I’m being punished. I’m coming out and I’m learning something new…”
“I’m coming towards the end of my sentence and felt that coming out to LandWorks would give me a very good introduction into future employment and future understanding of how life is going to be for me post-release. I turned it down [before] and I used to have a laugh with the boys and give … More Billy says: “without time in prison… you’d have never got me here in a million years”
“I’ve been coming out here for a few months. I was unemployed. I was on the streets. Then I went into jail. Discovered LandWorks and then I made enquiries about it and the prisoners from in the prison said it was rubbish, but I thought I had to go out and try it for myself. … More Terry says: “The best bit of LandWorks would be like they actually took a bit of interest in me…”
A window into LandWorks 