The Power of Storytelling: Giving communities a voice

Kingston Council's Library Service has been awarded an Arts Council grant of more than £40,000 to create community connections, develop story exchange skills and produce exhibitions and books.

Collaborating with community organisations across the borough, Kingston Libraries will work with storyteller Richard Neville to encourage our most vulnerable residents to build sustainable community connections. Residents with learning disabilities, asylum seekers, older residents and those experiencing mental health problems, will be able to come together, share stories, exchange skills and create lasting connections.

The council will work with experts from Kingston University who will research, analyse and report on the outcomes of the project to create a toolkit that can be used by others to build communities through storytelling.

Cllr Rebekah Moll, Portfolio Holder for Culture at Kingston Council, said: “Here at Kingston, we are committed to enabling the community to find solutions and support each other. The aim of this new project is to empower communities who might not regularly access cultural events to work together, meet new people, exchange ideas and create events. Stories help people relate to each other and share things in an authentic way that they might not have shared otherwise.

“This grant will help us carry on the work started through ‘Reimagining Kingston Libraries’, the transformational review aimed at putting our libraries at the heart of the community, and supporting our residents the best we can both now and in the future.”

Professor Maria Chatzichristodoulou, Associate Dean Research, Business & Innovation at Kingston School of Art said: "Stories are everything – they tell us who we are and where we come from; they help us imagine the unimaginable, inspire the next generation, connect with each other, accept the challenges thrown at us, find our voice and grow. Telling stories together, to and with each other, is the basis of community. Kingston University will be evaluating the project and co-creating a toolkit of methods for community storytelling, which will hopefully assist people to tell more stories!”