Tony described his time in custody as “terrible”. He served 11 years before coming to Langley.
“Staff here put me at ease… my keyworker is dead strict, but I like it, keeps me on an even keel… I know where I stand.” Grateful for everything, Tony feels treated with respect and values the way staff “always ask me how I am”. Despite this welcome from staff and his genuine gratitude, Tony struggles to manage his emotions at times and can lash out.
When you are doing everything you can to help someone it can be hard not to be appreciated and to be verbally abused, but Langley staff are extraordinarily kind and understand the importance of showing forgiveness. Time and again, clients like Tony will need to experience compassion, to know they are forgiven, and that tomorrow is a new day. A day to start again, with a clean slate… genuinely forgiven.
Note: Names and faces have been changed
Watch Tony’s Story
We all want to be accepted for who we are, but some of our clients’ behaviour isn’t easy and who they really are can be quite challenging to work with. We believe that everyone is worthy of acceptance, and we ensure our clients know that they can be themselves, whatever that looks like.
Experiencing forgiveness is an important part of their journey and may be unfamiliar for some of our clients. But our staff and volunteers are both professional and kind… as Tony has discovered during his two and a half years at Longcroft.
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I'm thankful for my life. I'm thankful for Langley. I think Langley has really helped me an awful lot.
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