“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…”
“I just work now. That’s it really. Come here. Do my snizzel. Play around in the workshop. Build a load of random things for random reasons. Yeah, I’m quite happy then. I don’t know why I decided I wanted to build a pool cue box, but yeah, I built a pool cue box. I made … More Mark says: “It’s just kept me out of trouble. It keeps me on the straight and narrow really.”
“I’ve never been to a place like this before. I kind of ask [myself] will I fit in, settle in. I like everyone here, everyone’s as good as gold here. Everyone respects each other. As soon as you walk through that gate, you’re like a whole new person. It’s like just coming to work with … More Dave says: “It’s very social. It’s not anti-social. I like that. I’ve had too much anti-social in my life…”
Since from October until now, I’m doing even better. I’ve got some structure in my life. Coming out here five days a week, doing gym, which is nice and healthy, a good lifestyle. I’m enjoying that. I’m doing my football still and seeing my daughter every week. So yeah, it’s pretty good really. Yeah, life’s … More Tony says: “this’ll be a part of me for life now, even when I’ve left, because without it, I don’t know where I’d be…”
I’m Doris. I came to LandWorks about eight/nine weeks ago, not through community service, but through volunteering. I got a suspended sentence. My probation officer, who I’ve worked with for ages, he knows me really well … I was talking to him about going back to work. I wanted to start getting focussed and get … More Doris says: “You can’t just expect broken people to fix themselves. It doesn’t work like that…”
“Since being here I’ve been working on the veg patch, harvesting veg, which is pretty cool and interesting. I’ve learnt quite a few things … harvesting different things … like kale and stuff, knowing where to cut it. I’ve never done that before. What else? I’ve done a bit of woodwork helping Graham make benches. … More Robin says: “It took getting into trouble to really get some help”
“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
“LandWorks gives me the enthusiasm to change. Otherwise, if I didn’t come here, I’d probably be doing the same stuff I was doing when I wasn’t here. It helps me look at things differently. Certain situations, like instead of getting stressed and getting angry, I can now think of different strategies to get out of … More Rich says:”You don’t need to lie to get far in life. Tell the truth, you get further.”
“It’s quite a weird feeling coming out and just literally being out here. It was quite nice to be able to just… I didn’t find it daunting coming out. It was a little bit exciting at first, if you know what I mean, to be able to come out here… I feel like I get … More Tom says: “you don’t really appreciate things until you haven’t got them…”
“Coming here, you’ve got to want to change. If they don’t want to change, you will change no-one. You can get a 100 people out here on this programme. If they think they’re going to want to get out and get involved in different shenanigans that could lead to this and that, you ain’t going … More Billy says: “Coming here, you’ve got to want to change…”
A window into LandWorks 