Sensing Stories is a creative development project delivered through the Scottish International Storytelling Festival and the Scottish Storytelling Forum. In 2024 a group of Deaf Students plus SLI students from Herriot Watt University took part in a series of 6 workshops led by Deaf Creative, Tania Allan.

Sensing Stories was open to any person aged eighteen or over, who uses BSL (British Sign Language) and who is based in Scotland who could benefit from at least one of the following:

• Developing an interest in live performance
• Developing an interest in a new artistic and life learning skill
• Developing new ways of expression, be it personal or artistic
• Engaging with a creative community

The participants didn’t have to have a background in the arts but through a series of in-person workshops, they learned about how to tell a story in BSL, gained confidence, and explored the world of Visual Vernacular.

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The Big Scottish Story Ripple is the Scottish International Storytelling Festival’s annual community and family programme, which pairs local storytellers with schools and community groups throughout Scotland to host a storytelling events. Groups apply for a subsidy that covers the cost of their storyteller’s fees and in return, successful applicants offer a good deed back to their local community on or before St Andrew’s Day.

In 2023, there were 120 applications to the Story Ripple from schools, community groups and local storytellers all over Scotland, amounting to 252 sessions overall applied for. A marked increase on previous years. SISF were able to fund 125 sessions so that everyone who applied received at least one funded session.  Over 6,244 people took part listening to and telling over 750 stories together told by 48 different storytellers.

Areas where sessions took place included: Orkney, Western Isles, West Dunbartonshire, Argyll and Bute, Falkirk, East Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Aberdeen City, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh City, Glasgow, Dundee City, Perth and Kinross, Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, East Dunbartonshire, South Lanarkshire, Moray, Stirling, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Midlothian, Highland, West Lothian, Scottish Borders.

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“Something magical was created that day. Sharing and hearing stories, igniting curiosity, and forming connections.” – Participant

The Stone Soup Collective is a series of events, facilitated by a storyteller in partnership with a community hub in their local area, hosting a ceilidh of stories, songs, food and dance, right in the heart of the community.

The Stone Soup is a European folk story in which strangers convince the people of a town to each share a small amount of their food to make a larger meal that everyone can enjoy. At the heart of this story is a message of welcoming strangers, integration, kindness and sharing our resources to enable community strength and support.

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