email: teller@peopletellstories.co.uk

Website:
www.peopletellstories.co.uk
www.storystore.org.uk

Telephone: 01840 211268 Mobile: 0781 2344 739

Alan’s storytelling style enables him to reach any audience with his friendly, approachable and warm manner. His vast experience as an innovative storyteller and workshop leader has led him to work with schools, community groups, businesses and on social inclusion projects.

His work as a professional storyteller includes projects which has enabled a local museum to work with the primary school children of North Cornwall to recreate legends from local history, festivals across the UK and working with families at Cornwall’s children’s centres.

Alan’s most recent, innovative project has been the enabling of minority & often excluded groups within the community to ‘Find Their Voice’, using the medium of Digital Storytelling. This brings the ‘Art of Storytelling’ into the 21st Century.

By passing on the centuries old traditional skills of storytelling to otherwise silent minority groups in our community he enables and empowers their ‘Voice’ to be heard using 21st century technology.

This is a truly valuable & thought provoking tool whose careful application, which Alan expertly leads, is of tremendous benefit in raising awareness, communication skills & fundraising for community, local government, schools & businesses, as well as groups. at risk of social exclusion.

“A tradition from yesterday that can change tomorrow”

Alan believes that Storytelling is the undiscovered & untapped treasure house of communication skills that we all need for a successful 21st Century life. Businesses, schools, colleges & community groups everywhere can enjoy the benefits that he can unlock & deliver.

Born and raised in the mystical (and misty) Fens of Cambridgeshire Alan enraptures & delights audiences from toddlers to grandparents with tales from Fairy to the Far fetched, from Spooky to Funny, and from Heart-wrenching to Heart-warming.

Contact this Fireside Storyteller (with a Modern Day Twist) for an unforgettable experience.

Sample

email: moconnor@ision.co.uk

Website: www.lyngham.co.uk

Telephone: 01841 540042

Mike is a friendly, approachable and highly experienced performer and workshop leader, used to working with adults and children both in performance situations and in educational and community work. He has been working as a musician since the 1970s and a story teller since the 1990s. He has worked in arts centres, at festivals, in schools, community halls and private venues.

He has been a resident storyteller for the Forestry Commission, and is currently working at the Institute of Cornish Studies, Exeter University.

Brought up in Wales and London, he lived in Scotland for many years before moving to Cornwall twenty years ago. He has travelled widely researching his material. In Southern Africa he followed the footsteps of Laurens van der Post and in Wales those of naturalist Ludwig Koch. He followed the course of Sir Francis Chichester across the Indian Ocean. He has charmed snakes in Singapore and the Bahamas, and called seals in Orkney and Cornwall.

Mike has made many recordings and radio broadcasts, and has written for learned journals and popular magazines on subjects relating to folklore.

Mike’s tales vary from 5 minute fireside tales to epics such as Tristan and Iseult, Imravoe, the Tales of the Holy Rood, and Loki.

For his work Mike is honoured to have been awarded the OBE and has been made a bard of the Gorsedd of Cornwall.

Sample (Music and Story)

email: story@davidengland.co.uk (with ENGWEB as the subject)

Website: www.davidengland.co.uk

Telephone: 01628 639313

I tell stories in Schools and Pre-schools, Children’s Centres and Nature Centres; for Weddings and Family Occasions, Rotary Clubs, Corporate Events and Private Parties. I am Resident Storyteller at Dance Camps and Festivals.


I love telling stories which make my heart sing, hoping they’ll make your heart sing too.

I love telling stories which make me laugh. Stories which I know can captivate an audience. Stories which touch the soul.

I love telling stories to an audience of children and families.

The way I work is to have a dialogue with the audience – repeating

words and encouraging the children to respond, to answer back; repeating movements, making faces and funny noises and inviting them to do the same; singing and dancing, playing drums and percussion; perhaps most of all listening to and responding to what the children say – so that they are engaged and involved in the whole storytelling process.

I love offering children the chance to sit in the storytelling chair and tell stories themselves to an enraptured audience, often for the first time.

I love being with an audience in a relaxed setting, telling traditional tales of wonder and ancient wisdom, with the power to reveal new paths and transform lives, as they have mine.

Testimonials:

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead – “Highly recommended!”

St Michael’s Primary School Sandhurst – “The children spent an idyllic morning in the woods, summoned to the storyteller by the beat of his drum which could be heard echoing throughout the forest. Each group were fascinated by David and his stories and were thrilled to be able to join in and influence the progression of the story. Adults and children returned to school refreshed and inspired.”

Private 50th Birthday Party: Stories Around the Dining Table – “A wonderful evening. A Candlelit supper with stories always promised to be atmospheric. The experience will remain with all of us for a very long time. It was refreshing and enchanting to hear traditional tales that did not become bound by modern structure and limitations for stories.”

Sample

I hold a CRB Certificate. As a Member of Equity, I have Public Liability Insurance.

email: rona@thestoryteller.co.uk

Website: www.thestoryteller.co.uk

Telephone: 07817 681 719

“To meet this exceptional woman, and to hear her tell a story, is to have one’s life enriched”

Nominated for Cheshire Woman of the Year for services to storytelling. A lifelong storyteller, with a wide range of ability and experience.

World Wide Pharmaceuticals

Astra Zeneca

Team-building day at Peckforton Castle Rona demonstrated the power of the spoken word and the importance of presentation in capturing the attention of an audience. Her stories were wonderfully entertaining, very suitable for the event.

I would definitely use The Storyteller, Rona Barbour again.
LIAM MCILVEEN
Assistant General Counsel, Legal Department, Astra Zeneca Office: +44 1625 515802 (internal 25802)

NIACE – National Institute for continuous Adult Learning.

Rona is an inspirational storyteller with very clear ideas on using the medium to reach both adult learners and younger people. She is especially knowledgeable about working with challenging and ‘hard to reach’ learners. Rona has worked for NIACE during 2009-10, developing a professional development module for teachers of adults. She also developed lesson ideas for teachers to take away with them and use in their classes. The work was funded by DIUS.

Teachers who came to training events in March 2009 were very enthusiastic about Rona’s delivery of the session and the ethos behind using storytelling with the whole range of adult learners. Comments included: “I felt more enthused by this session than I have at any training event for a long time”; “Absolutely brilliant. Loved all aspects of the event”; “Found this to be very motivating”. I found Rona delightful to work with – a truly professional and reflective practitioner in her own right. Brenda Ainsley – Senior Assistant Director
Literacy, Language and Numeracy Team
NIACE

MOD

Rona spent a week at King Richard School in Cyprus Not only is she an expert and mesmerising teller of stories, she also strikes up a wonderful rapport with her audience. I had not seen a professional storyteller at work before and to say I was impressed would be an understatement. Such was Rona’s impact that we have every intention of inviting her back again next year. I would strongly recommend her to anyone, particularly to those that might not have entertained a story teller before, because the experience of seeing and working with such a talented and generous professional is one that should not be missed

Michael Leverett – Head of English

King Richard School MOD

Manchester United Football Club Master of Ceremonies / Host.

For the past 12 years. Numerous Commissions including Trafford LEA ‘ Storytelling for Emotional Therapy in schools (3 years). Salford LEA to design Womb Rooms for Storytelling activities (6 schools). Vast experience of learning difficulties, behaviour or emotional problems and school exclusions. 98% of work is by personal recommendation. See website for workshop details and further testimonials.