Hello,
I thought you might find this quite interesting. We have drilled down into all our statistics from over the last 13 years and have found some interesting representations for an average placement here.
Over the years, I have written about “Average Joe” and he’s back again, but now in more evidenced detail…
A typical “On Licence” (released from prison) placement is…
- White British male aged between 21 and 40
- With high Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), adult trauma, and vulnerability.
- Lifestyle risk is high, and probation risk is usually medium.
- Most serve sentences for violence or robbery, often with multiple previous offences.
- Accommodation is often unstable, and no employment history is common.
- Substance misuse, primarily drugs, is prevalent.
- Average time on a placement at LandWorks is around 32 weeks.
Meet average Joe…
Joe is 31, he grew up with significant adversity, including domestic conflict, substance misuse in the home, and periods in local authority care. Education was disrupted and he left school with few qualifications.
Adult Trauma & Lifestyle
Joe experienced high adult trauma, unstable relationships, and periods of homelessness. His lifestyle was high-risk and crisis driven.
Housing
Joe has had long periods of being homeless or in temporary accommodation. He has a history of sofa surfing and rough sleeping.
Employment
He experienced long-term unemployment before his offence, with only occasion short-term manual labour jobs.
Substance Use
He has a history of drug and occasional alcohol misuse, consistent with many licence participants.
Offending History
Joe index offence is robbery. He has 6 previous offences, showing a medium-level offending pattern.
“That’s how it all started. When I got bored, I had nothing to do, so the only way I could pass the time was getting into trouble…”
“… having to change my mindset. I had to realise that I had to do something to change or accept the fact that at least that alcohol was no good for me, I came to LandWorks…”
He was released from prison and was referred through his probation officer. He started by coming out to LandWorks (LW) once a week.
This was difficult as he had been placed in an Approved Premises (AP) outside of the local area and must catch two trains to get here. A condition of his early release was an alcohol tag and a home detention tag. This makes sure he is at his AP at certain times and literally keeps tabs on where he is, as he has an exclusion zone, and is not allowed near his former home address. He therefore has a tag on each ankle.
Joe has been on quite a journey. He arrived at LW with few social skills. He found conversation and eye-contact difficult. Instead, he tended to sit quietly at the end of the table during lunch and break times and struggled to eat.
However, as time progressed, he increased his days here. Then after a few weeks, he had what he refers to as a breakthrough when he started to feel confident enough to make his own sandwich snacks at breaktime. He had previously been too anxious to do this and instead had just been occasionally eating fruit. He also started to follow instruction in the workshop and was slowly learning about each of the tools available to use in the wood workshop.
“Everyone’s just very supportive and there’s always help there if you need it … you ain’t afraid to ask for help … the positivity … the people here are good … to be in an environment with positive people helps.”
Joe starts to increase his days on site as he needs to get out of the AP during the day, because others start asking him to do things for them! He spends some time with a housing officer who visits LW weekly and together they start to develop a plan to secure him some more stable accommodation.
After several weeks working in the wood workshop and on-site maintenance his confidence and belief in LW has increased to such an extent that he is able to engage in counselling. He also starts applying for jobs.
He manages to secure a job in traffic management and his time on placement ends. The work means he is less reliant on benefits and others for financial support, and he can start to see his children again.
“I just like it. It was alright. People actually did care… I just worked, got a bit of self-worth back, time to think…”
Six to eight weeks after the end of his LW placement, Joe contacts LW to organise a visit. He arrives in his traffic management work gear (Hi-Viz) and enjoys a day’s work, interacting with everyone and joining in at break and lunch times.
He meets with the LW health and wellbeing lead to plan how he might be further supported in repairing his relationships with his boys. A meeting with Only Dads is arranged for a few weeks’ time.
Six months on and Joe is coming to the end of his licence conditions. He is managing his drinking, seeing his boys regularly and is actively looking for accommodation.
Twelve months later and Joe is no longer on licence. He has secured suitable accommodation where he can have his boys stay overnight, every other weekend. He has been promoted at work and is taking on more responsibility. He keeps in touch with LW and attended the LW Christmas meal, where he serves as an example to other people on placement of what can be achieved with support.
“LandWorks put me on the right path. My confidence has got more. Yeah, and like routine, my routine’s better like. Before I would make excuses. I can’t go today, this and that. I’ve done none of that like… if people had the opportunity like LandWorks has given me, then the community and people would be paid back in the long run ‘cos they’d get stuff back and at the minute they don’t give you that chance…”
Chris
12th February 2026