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Hello,

I ran to our shop, clutching a box of freshly laid eggs. These were for a waiting customer, who told me (in a strong Geordie accent) “Chris man, you’re not quite as efficient as Stephen are you?

To be fair I got side tracked. Some other business issue had popped up, I momentarily forgot about the eggs and ‘superman’ Stephen was busy preparing a delivery of garden benches.

I explained to our lovely patient regular customer that business was brisk that morning.

Then (to fill a slightly awkward silence) I explained that our hens were the very spirit of LandWorks. We started with 4 hens (2013) and soon we were selling our surplus eggs. This was our first LandWorks enterprise.

The customer was now just staring at me…

I suddenly decided to explain that LandWorks itself was like an egg!

The yoke… well, that represents the business. All the various enterprises, the money flow, bookkeeping, charity management, human resources, health and safety etc. Yes, the business.

She raised an eyebrow, so I continued…

The white… Surrounding the yolk, that is in effect our resettlement practice. How we deliver our ethos, our guiding principles, our theory of change, practical and life skills. Also, how our evaluation and the PeN project provides feedback from our trainees and graduates, which informs how LandWorks develops.

Putting the eggs into her bag, she sort of smiles sympathetically.

I push on into the silence.

The shell…  This is the overarching LandWorks approach that surrounds everything that we do, person-centred, humanistic, seeing individuals for who they are today. The LandWorks approach/theory holds the whole project together and defines our form of resettlement. It is this, that more than anything, I think, attracts volunteers, supporters, funders, and partners.

I stop.

“Well, that’s all very interesting Chris, but I was hoping for a dozen eggs… next time I’ll just try and get Steve’s attention!”

Chris

12th September 2024