In the UK, reoffending costs us all around £43 million per day. But what if there was a way to change that?
“If you look at it like an opportunity, rather than a punishment, you can get as much out of it as you need to turn your life around,” says Steven Westlake, a graduate from Landworks.
In the heart of Devon, lies Landworks. A community-driven charity dedicated to reducing reoffending within the criminal justice system. Established fully in 2013, Landworks ‘model of approach’ aims to improve resettlement support, reduce reoffending and increase employment rates.
The staff there focus on helping individuals, and their surrounding communities, restoring broken lives and saving public money on reoffending costs; ultimately creating a greater feeling of acceptance and support for people leaving the prison system.
Currently, the rate of reoffending within one year of graduates finishing their placement at LandWorks is only 5.2%. This compares with the Ministry of Justice statistics published in July 2023 which indicated a reoffending rate of 37.4% for adult offenders released from custody.
To understand Landworks fully, you have to be there. This is why I travelled down to Devon to see first-hand what makes Landworks so special and why their model has seen such success. Surrounded by trees, fields and endless beautiful nature (almost) in the middle of nowhere, I begin to understand why this place brings such a feeling of tranquillity and peace to those who go there.
I interviewed Chris Parsons, the founder and project director of Landworks to understand the essence of it and how an initially ‘small’ project became such a large success. I also interviewed one of the trainees, Jack, and one of the graduates, Steven, to hear their experiences, and why they feel, this time, they actually have a chance to turn their life around or already have done.
Tony’s ‘Cycle of Change’ is a representative timeline of one man’s journey after prison, created in his time at Landworks.
So, could Landworks model of “holistic, person-centred, relationship-based, sustained practical resettlement support” be a new approach for other such institutions in the UK, to reduce reoffending and provide ex-prisoners with a supported route back into employment and the community?
The poem Prisoners was displayed at Landworks whilst I was there, and presents a poignant message about our attitude to prisoners in the criminal justice system, hinting at where we might be going wrong.
‘Prisoners’ – by Judge Dennis Challeen
We want them to have self-worth, so we destroy their self-worth
To be responsible, so we take away all responsibility
To be part of our community, so we isolate them from community
To be positive and constructive, so we degrade them and make them useless
To be non-violent, so we put them where there is violence all around
To be kind and loving people, so we subject them to hatred and cruelty
To quit being tough guys, so we put them where the tough guy is respected
To quit hanging around losers, so we put all the losers under one roof
To quit exploiting us, so we put them where they exploit each other
We want them to take control of their own lives own their own problems
And quit being parasites, so we make them totally dependent on us.
To find out more about Landworks see the links below:
- Landworks website: https://www.landworks.org.uk/
- The PeN project: https://penprojectlandworks.org/
A final special thank you to all the staff and trainees at Landworks who made my time there so special whilst filming and creating this project: Chris Parsons (founder and director), Jack (current trainee), Steven Westlake (graduate of Landworks), the ‘Acceptance’ book created by Landworks for providing statistics and research, along with the Ministry of Justice.
