Chris Parsons’ Blog

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…

Hello, Mr Potato Head and Jessie think I’m more Woody than Buzz. These “which character are you” games often crop up after lunch – they’re good fun and can be surprisingly revealing. There’s a lot going…

Hello, So many people have been in touch over the last few weeks. It has been wonderful, humbling, inspiring, and motivating, and it has really helped build our enthusiasm for the year ahead. Thank you to…

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…

Hello, “You have to find joy where you can.” Joe and I had been watching goldfinches on the teasel plants, swaying on the seed heads as they searched for food. He was sharing snippets from his…

Hello, Someone recently shared this reflection with us about LandWorks… “In many situations, we tend to judge the behaviour of others before trying to understand it.” One of our guys here, now 115 days clean, connects…

Hello, “Yeah, I’m not saying I want to go back inside, but I don’t really care, Chris. I’ve got f*** all in my life.” He pauses; he’s just finished a four-year stretch. I think we’re both…

Hello, Last Wednesday, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne visited LandWorks – and yes, we were expecting her! It was a wonderful day. Barry, who has been on placement here for a few months, told me it…

Hello, I’ve just been reading a newspaper article – Ministers are pushing through powers to photograph and publicly name and shame people in the justice system who have been ordered to complete unpaid community work in…

Hello, We’d been chatting about a dog that had come into her life. Her life had been a bit up and down since leaving LandWorks, and this small (clearly adorable) sentient being was life changing. “Chris,…

Hello, A few weeks ago, I asked Gary Fulton (here at LandWorks in 2017/18) to write a blog. Gary has written a brilliant and a hard-hitting piece, perhaps slightly longer than our usual blog, but all…

Hello, The first lunch was on the very first day, 12 years ago. There were five of us: three men on day release from prison, one on a community sentence, and me. We sat around a…