Chris Parsons’ Blog

Hello, A couple of months ago I quietly fixed a small sign close to the entrance of our main building. A couple of words carved into a piece of slate, and then waited for a reaction….

Hello, 8.36 am… “Mate, it’s Mark. I think I ate a dodgy takeaway last night, not going to make it in today.” Call me an old cynic if you like, but if I had a prawn…

Hello, LandWorks on a Sunday, a different place, a quiet time for reflection on something previously said… “Thing is Chris, you can’t just expect broken people to fix themselves, it doesn’t work like that.” Doris, LandWorks…

Hello, “Mate, it feels like I’m running at the edge of the world, criticised and they just can’t understand me.” Jake (21) is in his 4th week with us and I actually do think I understand…

Hello, It’s 2015, a grey wet morning at LandWorks… “I don’t want anything to do with that Hippy-Dippy Totnes sh#t”. I’d only wondered if he would like to do a bit of counselling work. “Mumbo-jumbo, airy…

Hello, I’ve been recovering from Covid for a few days, and this is one of the conversations I had over the phone during that time… “Chris (I can tell he’s close to tears) will I ever…

Hello, This week, voices from beyond the LandWorks gate. Monday AM: “Chris, it’s Seamus here…” Err no it’s not, great accent, but it’s Paul (LandWorks 2014). Just checking in, as he often does using a different…

Hello, Meet Dave*, he started here 7 months ago, but this recounts the first time we met… Dave’s got that particular look (so often our guys have it) and once you’ve seen it, you don’t forget…

Hello, “Anyone seen my hammer?” I think I’ve written about this before… people (mostly men [commonly me]) putting down a tool, wandering off and then believing that somebody has lifted said implement. Visitors seem fascinated/occasionally slightly…

Hello, The wheels on the bus, go round and round, round and round, round and… Well, frustratingly not as often as they should. Recent local bus driver shortages mean buses sometimes just don’t appear. Leaving our…

Hello, I would like to tell you a bit about my neighbour, John ‘The Frog’ Bale. I am proud to call John my neighbour, not just because he’s everything a good neighbour should be. Err, although…

Hello, 9am Monday morning, the guys are just starting to arrive… “Alright Chris, you seen Johnnie?” As it happens, no I haven’t and I am bit worried about J, perhaps it’s obvious to others, hence why…

Hello, The ball is in the centre The ball is in the net Poor young football star is lying in the wet Guess how many former professional footballers have attended LandWorks on a placement? The answer…

Hello, “Cut, let’s go again… and take 6” A film was being made about the PeN project at LandWorks and ‘Moving On’. I had been given the important role of ringing the bell to call us…

Hello, Mostly this week we have been… Well, getting a little concerned about a vole or a mole or possibly a clan of shrews, either way, somebody’s being a right nuisance under the spring onions, not…