Hello,
You know what’s it’s like, wee small hours, drifting in and out of sleep!
Then I’m listening to the wild wind blowing.
Then I’m worrying about an old oak tree at LandWorks. Not sure how many more storms it can take. It’s already at a rather jaunty angle, possibly defying gravity!
Then I’m thinking about a message from Rob (here in 2013), he told me today… “It’s been the best thing I ever done. But then I’ve felt lonely when not part of it, if that makes sense. Well to start of with it was the first time I ever done anything work wise as a team member. It showed me how people live their lives away from drugs and crime. And gave me the chance to trust people in power if that makes sense. It’s had its ups and downs, but it’s definitely helped me live a better life since leaving LandWorks. And look, 12 years later we’re still in contact and something must of worked as still not been In trouble with the law.”
Then I think about the old oak. Maybe it needs a bit of support.
A recent PeN interview creeps into my head, it was a lovely interview with Jarvis (worth a read), I’ve known him 9 years. He said… “I think the key thing that you get from LandWorks, and I say this to everybody, you know, I think the reason why you’re so successful up there is because of how honest and open you are, and you share your own stuff. Once you do that with anybody, it doesn’t have to be LandWorks, it can be anywhere at all.”
The winds a whipping and I’m wide awake now.
I’m pondering about some more acorns from the oak, more young saplings on the way.
Then for some reason I’m back on the stage at the Charity awards (my mind often trundles there, eventually), and Julie is stood beside me. I cringe as I re-live being stunned that we had won the overall award for excellence and lost for words in front of 400 people. I felt very far away from our old oak tree.
It’s quite a reassurance, that old oak. I think about it a lot and everything’s going to be alright.
The award judges made it quite clear that we know what we are doing, it clearly works, we should tell people about LandWorks, and how others could do the same.
Couple of years ago I planted a few of the saplings around the site. Thinking they will provide reassurance for others, as they become less reliant on the original.
The wind’s dying down, sleep is coming, and I am comforted that I know we have a few ideas of how to take this all forward. I will tell you more in the next blog. But for now, I’m drifting off thinking about the oak…
Chris
30th January 2025