Storytelling Workshops for Unpaid Caregivers
By Fall Into Place Theatre & Carers Leeds, as part of UnHeard Leeds.
We are inviting unpaid caregivers to work with us to make their stories heard as part of UnHeard Leeds. You can join us for up to six workshops this summer, and what you create will contribute towards an installation and performance at Leeds Libraries later in the autumn. Some of the stories will also become part of a living archive that we are making with the West Yorkshire Archiving Service.
Who can take part? Anyone living in Leeds(ish) who is, or has been, an unpaid carer for a friend or family member. And who wants to make the stories of caregivers more widely heard.
What are the sessions like? Led by community artist and storyteller Si Brewis, workshops will develop performance and storytelling skills and bring caregivers together in a friendly way to share their experiences and ideas.
How do I get involved? Follow this link to sign up for the sessions. We know your time and availability are limited, so come to as many or as few sessions as feels right. You can also ring Fall Into Place on 07341254967.
Where and When? Sessions are spread across weekdays and the weekends to make them accessible to more people. All sessions are at Heart in Headingly through May, June and into July.
What else should I know? We will sometimes record what you make, with your consent, because we are building storytelling research for an installation, performance, and archive. You get to control what can be shared publicly, and stories will be anonymous unless you say otherwise. Anyone who takes part in these workshops can be in the show next Autumn, but there is no commitment to be.
I want to take part, but I can’t make the sessions. Sign up via this link, and check the option to participate remotely. We will email you prompts from the workshops so that you can respond through writing, photography, or recorded sound & video.
More details about the workshops:
Workshop One: A Message to the Future
One thing we know about care for certain is that more people will become unpaid caregivers in the future. In this hopeful session, we will create stores that tell these future carers what we think they should know.
Thursday 28th May, at Heart in Headingly, 2-4pm.
Workshop Two: Stories That Are About Us
Caregivers often see their experiences reflected back to them through biographies, stories in books, or on TV, etc. This session will explore how carers’ lives are represented, and what we think are helpful or unhelpful stories to tell.
Thursday 4th June, at Heart in Headingly, 2-4pm.
Workshop Three: Stories Every Caregiver Knows
By drawing on real-life stories that Carers Leeds have collected, and recent research with one of their groups, we will talk about stories and experiences that caregivers find themselves discussing time and again.
Thursday 11th June, at Heart in Headingly, 2-4pm.
Workshop Four: Stories of Joy, Histories that Matter
Caregivers’ stories aren’t always about hardship and difficulty. We will question two-dimensional thinking about carers’ lives by telling stories of joy and telling tales that most people don’t expect to hear.
We will also talk with public historian Maya Delayahu about what histories of care we think matter, and set her a challenge for a later session.
Saturday 20th June, at Heart in Headingly, 2.30-4.30pm.
Workshop Five: Anger, Change, and the Politics of Unpaid Caregiving
In her book Who Cares: The Hidden Crisis of Caregiving, and How We Solve It, Emily Kenway tells stories about how society makes the lives of unpaid caregivers harder. In this workshop, we will respond to Emily’s ideas and create personal-political stories about what we think needs to change.
Saturday 27th June, at Heart in Headingly, 2.30-4.30pm
Workshop Six: Histories that Matter – Part 2
Public historian Maya Delayahu has responded to a challenge set by the group to research a history of care that we think matters. In this session, we will use drama to bring these stories and histories to life.
Saturday 4th July, at Heart in Headingly, 2.30-4.30pm
You can follow this link to sign up for the sessions: https://forms.gle/u3xWViKEWRcm23e59