8 August 2025 –
When LandWorks won the ‘Overall Award for Excellence’ at the Charity Awards in July 2024, it marked a major milestone ̶ not just in recognition, but in momentum.
“The timing couldn’t have been better,” confirmed Project Director Chris Parsons. “It was our tenth anniversary year and having proved our staying power, the award gave us a real push. The judges went through absolutely everything ̶ it was intense but deeply validating. It felt like they were saying, ‘We get LandWorks, we believe in it.’ It was huge.”
Based on the Dartington Estate in Devon, LandWorks provides wraparound support, hands-on training, and a nurturing community for people leaving prison or at risk of offending. Its approach is personal, practical, and proven. Participants, called ‘trainees’, take part in horticulture, woodworking, cooking, art projects, and well-being activities. They also receive counselling to help understand the causes of their offending, therapy to help address substance misuse or mental health issues, and tailored resettlement services and peer support, all while being encouraged to see beyond their criminal identity and build new, meaningful lives.
“They are doing everything right,” said Martin Edwards, CEO of Julia’s House and a member of the sixteen-strong Charity Awards judging panel. “The way they treat people with dignity and respect is so important, and they have a model that works. It seems to me that if you were just out of prison, this is the best place you could land.”
Since winning their award, the ripple effects for LandWorks have been powerful. “Everyone felt lifted by it ̶ the team, trainees, trustees, supporters,” said Chris. “Seeing the award on our wall means something.”
Recognition has boosted staff recruitment and helped attract new funders -̶ LandWorks was recently awarded a £30,000 grant having been invited to apply by the funder precisely because of the Charity Awards.
Perhaps most excitingly, the award helped to kickstart ‘Reimagining Rehabilitation and Resettlement’, an ambitious two-year project to capture LandWorks’ learning and develop a replicable model for wider use. The project is building the case for wider roll-out of the LandWorks approach, underpinned by robust cost-benefit analysis and evidence-based practice.
A year into its second decade, LandWorks is using its award-winning credibility to push for policy change, making the case that rehabilitation is not just a justice issue, but an economic and – importantly – a public health one. The future? Scalable, evidence-backed, and rooted in human dignity.