Hello,
Maybe it’s the time of year, the equinox almost upon us, Christmas just days away – but I’ve found myself doing a lot of reflecting. This year more than most.
Alongside LandWorks running ‘normally’, we’ve been working to build the case that the project could be replicated. For me, this has involved a lot of thinking, and some of it has been quite difficult. Reliving 250+ placements at LandWorks, reflecting on those relationships, and facing the parts of myself that require honesty and self-reflection.
The other morning, I got a real fright. Deep in thought, trudging through the dark, I was walking past my old office. Emma, our new Operations Manager, has taken it over and much like the way she’s doing the job, the office is now transformed and very organised, it’s just great.
Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw an old man, head down. For a moment, I thought it was my dad. It wasn’t, of course… he died 25 years ago. Emma now has the CCTV screen in a new place, and the camera had caught me unawares, the time-lapse replaying my image just as I passed the window.
I’m in my new office, just slightly away from the main hurly-burly of the site. It’s become a good place to think, read and write. I’m here now!
I’ve been reading the latest PeN blog from Jak, and it’s fascinating. We’re so fortunate to have this level of qualitative information, a real insight into people’s lives, and vital material as we build our case for replication.
At one point, Jax is reliving a conversation we had… “I jumped straight into using again […] so I needed to get off it all again and that’s when big man said to me that I either get myself clean again or I don’t come back to LandWorks. I had a week to think about. I had to come back on the next Monday.”
I remember it well, and the other conversations we had! He did come back, and he’s still doing well.
Those conversations, holding somebody to account, maintaining boundaries and reflecting back what they really don’t want to see – are both necessary and hard.
In those moments, I sometimes do feel my father’s presence.
As we work on replication and identifying the fundamentals of the LandWorks model, I have a strong conviction that he would understand LandWorks and what we are trying to achieve, he’d get it.
The New Year holds a lot to look forward to, not just the light coming back.
Happy Christmas
From us all.
18th December 2025