Exploring land-based creativity in the community
“Katy Cawkwell’s storytelling in the garden was a starting point for workshop participants on a longer journey into becoming storytellers. This is a new dimension in what we offer. It was lovely to have so much creativity going on in the garden.”
These were the words of Linda from Okehampton Community Garden, describing storyteller Katy Cawkwell’s ‘Story Blaze’ workshop at the garden, supported by Literature Works. People gathered in the garden around the fire, much in the oral tradition of storytelling, to share stories in the heart of their community.
“A wonderful, creative experience, confidence-giving and fun” – Workshop participant.
We supported Okehampton Community Garden’s ambitions around storytelling because we love their ethos around encouraging people to be aware of their environment and their role within it. Their work ranges from supporting people to grow their own food, to engaging with social prescribing, all in support of community wellbeing. It is rooted in exploring and bringing creativity into the green space of the garden to inspire people.
“A wonderful day. I finally gave birth to a story that has been inside my head for 60 years. A story my mother told me. A true story that needed to be heard. Thank you for the support that made this possible.” – Workshop participant.
In Torbay, poet Harula Ladd is leading on our Community Writing strand with Shekinah Grow, a land-based recovery project. She is running creative writing workshops that amplify and creatively explore the group’s work.
Both of these initiatives are driven by the notion that creative writing and storytelling can bring communities together, inspiring an awareness of the environment and the spaces that we share.
Later this year, we will relaunch our Annual Fund grassroots support programme as ‘The Seed Bed’. We will be focusing this unique support on projects which explore land-based creativity, the environment and our role within it. We’ll be revealing more about ‘The Seed Bed’ soon. Watch this space.
