LandWorks, an award-winning charity based in Dartington, is celebrating after being awarded £20,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund.

The funding will support the charity over the next 12 months and help LandWorks continue running its programme of intensive placements for people leaving prison or serving community sentences and at risk of prison.

Established in 2013, LandWorks provides a supported route back into employment and the community for people in the criminal justice system.

Its placements, typically lasting between six and twelve months, combine real work experience and training with comprehensive practical support to aid rehabilitation and resettlement.

The National Lottery grant will make an important contribution to the charity’s running costs and in particular the costs of employing its Health and Wellbeing Lead.

From its base on the Dartington Hall estate near Totnes, LandWorks runs a series of enterprises including a market garden, pottery and wood workshop.

These provide opportunities for participants to gain vocational and social skills while producing goods for sale to the local community.

Alongside this, participants receive practical support with issues such as finances, accommodation and seeking employment, as well as access to one-to-one counselling.

All referrals to the charity come from the probation and prison services with participants living across the local area, including Torbay, Newton Abbot, Exeter and Plymouth.

LandWorks has consistently recorded very low reoffending rates and high employment rates for former participants.

The charity was awarded the Overall Award for Excellence at the Charity Awards 2024 and has previously won Best Local Organisation at the Criminal Justice Alliance Awards, as well as receiving two High Sheriff of Devon awards.

Chris Parsons, Project Director at LandWorks, said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way.

“LandWorks works with people who are often among the most socially excluded in society.”