Settle Stories
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Settle, England
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| Founded | 2010 by Sita Brand |
|---|---|
| Registration no. | 1141649 |
| Focus | Storytelling, Oral history |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 54°04′07″N 2°16′35″W / 54.068670°N 2.276310°W |
Region served | Yorkshire |
| Website | www |
Settle Stories is a registered charity and company founded in 2011 by Sita Brand, following the running of the Settle Storytelling Festival in 2010. The charity seeks to promote storytelling for individuals, communities and organisations.
In 2010, Sita Brand, a performance storyteller,[1] theatre director, writer, and producer, established ran the first Settle Storytelling Festival[2] in Settle, a small market town in North Yorkshire.[3] The aims of the festival were [citation needed]:
- To increase access to traditional and modern forms of storytelling.
- To improve the storytelling skills of users.
- To increase the availability of, access to, and diversity of stories and storytelling.
At the core of the initiative was a belief by Brand in the power of storytelling to help people learn and communicate universal truths[citation needed]. Brand believes that stories ignite the imagination in ways that help people to listen, learn, make emotional connections with ideas and effectively communicate with others.[citation needed] She also saw the festival as a way of contributing to the economic development of the market town.[citation needed]
Funding was obtained from the Arts Council England, with additional contributions from Craven District Council, Settle Town Council[citation needed]. The first Settle Storytelling Festival was successfully launched in 2010, involving professional storytellers, musicians and other artists. Over 500 people attended, with a similar number of local children taking part in schools-based workshops.[citation needed]
Following the success of the 2010 festival,[citation needed] Settle Stories became a registered charity (registered charity no.1141649).[4] Subsequent festivals in each of the following years saw a steady increase in visitors, with over 1,000 attending the 2013 event.[citation needed] The festival has since grown to become the largest storytelling festival in the north of England[citation needed] with over 70 events in 2018.[5]
In June 2011, Settle Stories established the W R Mitchell Archive, which is a unique collection of audio and visual recordings of life in the North West of England, particularly the Yorkshire Dales.[citation needed] The charity is now in the process of digitising the material and making it available as a resource for learning (see below)[citation needed].
In 2018, Settle Stories established The Joinery, a venue and creative space for users to meet, create and share arts work,[citation needed]
The company is funded by Arts Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, Settle Town Council, Trusts and Foundations, commercial sponsors and individuals.
The company continues to innovate and has developed a number of digital projects including a live streamed events.[6] and Interactive Fiction.[7] In 2019 the company created the world's first Listening Gallery[8] in a BT heritage phone box.[9]
In 2019 they worked with Shanthamani Muddaiah to create a new work Life in our Hands.[10][11]
