MORE than 100 guests heard how a pioneering criminal justice charity has achieved “extraordinary” success in reducing offending and transforming lives.

To celebrate it’s ninth birthday, Dartington-based LandWorks held an open day, where it showcased a new film highlighting its work helping offenders find jobs.

Totnes MP, Anthony Mangnall, dropped by to watch the premier of ‘One Day,’ filmed and produced by Jennie and Graeme Montgomery, and which highlights the charity’s success.

Last November, the charity won the Outstanding Local or Regional Organisation award in the national Criminal Justice Alliance awards 2021 - designed to celebrate the outstanding individuals and organisations who help make the criminal justice system fairer and more effective.

Speaking at the event, project director Chris Parsons said: “We are very good at acting in the immediacy of somebody’s crisis, at getting support in place, when it matters, before the crisis has escalated.

“Not only does our offending rate remain low at around five per cent, but increasingly we are building evidence that a community sentence placement here does remove the prospect of a custodial sentence.”

LandWorks provides a supported route back into employment and the community for people in prison or at risk of going to prison, and works closely with local probation services and Channings Wood prison.

The one-year reoffending rate for LandWorks is just five per cent, compared to a national reoffending rate within one year of release from prison of more than 40 per cent. And more than 95 per cent of former LandWorks trainees who are available to work are currently in at least part-time employment.

The charity provides intensive worked-based placements, with participants taking part in a series of enterprises, including a market garden, pottery, and wood workshop, all providing produce for sale to the local community.

LandWorks graduate Darryl told guests how the charity had turned his life around after a long ‘career’ in crime. “LandWorks commitment to me has been unbelievable, they have been there every step of the way, supporting and encouraging me,” he said.

“I now have a job with NHS Reconnect, working within the criminal justice system to help people with mental health problems who are coming out of prison, so it is really nice to give something back.”

LandWorks trainees also receive a wide range of additional support to aid their resettlement and reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

This includes counselling and practical assistance with issues such as finding accommodation and seeking employment. After placements end, LandWorks remains in contact and provides a range of ongoing support for its former trainees.