Overcoming difficulties
Based upon the premise that “Everyone has a story to tell”,
these hands-on workshops harnesses the human love of TALK, and
are customised to gently lead the participants towards an experience
of encounter and self expression that is both open and relaxed.
I carefully facilitate these workshops responding with
sensitivity to the shifting realities as they arise through
each new situation.
They have often been effective in settings involving adults
or children whose confidence has, for whatever reason, taken
a nosedive – some schools, some closed institutions, some
mental health recovery programmes…
Anecdote Hour
(or Family Hour)
An inclusive and informal gathering in which oral storytelling
functions to inspire and embolden participants in the sharing
of tales, memories, dream…whatever can be spoken or heard.
This is facilitation has been particularly suited to hospices,
hospitals, day-care centres, homes for the elderly, reminiscence
groups and family learning settings.
CLICK
HERE to read excerpts from a related project report.
Specific references to names and places have been disguised
or omitted in accordance with codes of confidentiality.
CLICK
HERE to read an excerpt from a report and some poems
written from a collaboration between Lenny in a series of ‘one-to-one’
sessions with people suffering from various stages of Alzheimer’s
Community oral Storytelling
Project – With youngsters and the elderly
Based in one (or more) specific school and using its neighbourhood
links this project involves workshops and visits which culminate
in a public event that features performances, activities and
exhibitions and ideally draws upon the whole gamut of the arts
and the curriculum.
Its primary creative purpose is to engage participants in closer
and deeper mutual understanding through the medium of spoken
language, especially involving older people and the young. This
is in addition to addressing specific educational aims.
It is a flexible project, which may be short or long, simple
or grand - in accordance with the needs or wishes of the partners
and participants. It works best when organised to fit in with
the operating schedules of the participating institutions or
communities.
It can be based within a school, residential home for the elderly,
hospital, library, arts centre, work place, prison or a mixture
of these… wherever is deemed appropriate, convenient or
useful - and, of course, it can reach out from these centres.
It has been my experience that the concepts underpinning this
project can bring joy and meaning to elderly and young alike,
and enhance any community. They facilitate a natural encounter
in these days when such encounters are often either rare or
else imbued with suspicion and fear on both sides. And they
enrich that encounter, drawing together both sides of the age
divide through the most immediate, familiar and human of all
media - ‘talk’. Ultimately, the project gives rise
to a celebration that has ‘a real power to shift something’
for all concerned.
• The elders are recruited in different
ways. CLICK
HERE to see an example
• To help make it easier to recall stories, the elders
might receive a reminder CLICK
HERE to see a list of story types
• CLICK
HERE to read a memo that was recently helpful in
assisting a London primary school to organise for its Final
Celebratory Event. It gives a flavour of how the final Event
might turn out.
• CLICK HERE to download Community Oral Storytelling Project
flyer
