“Every week I am surprised by the level of concentration that is brought to the story, and the calm atmosphere created through the story and in the art response afterwards. There’s always humour and curiosity.”
Mandy Thorlby, wellbeing worker, Community drop in for vulnerable and homeless people
OutoftheBox helps strengthen relationships in community projects. It is being used in community groups such as drop-ins for vulnerable and homeless people, parenting groups, intergenerational Warm Hubs, a community cafe, in an allotment society, and in youthwork sessions for a choir.
“The thing that first drew me to the OutoftheBox storytelling process was the openness of it, and the fact that it was inclusive, that anybody could come and share stories together, and it was open ended, and creative and new!”
Jenny Lambourne, volunteer at Shiregreen URC social cafe
“My children absolutely loved it! I find it hard to tell in the moment, but they were both really enthusiastic in the praise when they were telling their dad about it. My son said it was definitely the right choice to join us rather than go to his usual football session. Other families said they’d like it to be a regular thing. Thanks so much for bringing it to us!”
participant at a Wellbeing Festival, Cambridge
For Compassionate Sheffield’s project “Stories from the Pandemic”, OutoftheBox developed a story about the COVID pandemic with community leaders from Sheffield and trained them to tell this story in a way that creates opportunities for personal and collective reflection and healing.
Martin and Jenny Lambourne use OutoftheBox regularly at a community cafe. They enjoy the creativity, flexibility and open-endedness of OutoftheBox and have found people share things that they have never shared before, all from a simple story.
Dr Helen Bell, clinical psychologist and Director of the Cambridgeshire Hub, Connected Lives, is using OutoftheBox to support families and build community connections. She finds it a helpful way to encourage deeper conversations and support play in people of all ages. She offers a story at their Intergenerational Warm Hub and in BodyMindConnection groups aimed at parent/carers.
“”For my daughter and me, the OutoftheBox storytelling time is a moment to slow down and really appreciate being present with one another. Helen very gently draws on our contributions to help us explore possible scenarios within the story. Each individual gets to bring in something personal, making the sharing of experiences a beautiful expression of vulnerability. It’s also a fun sensory experience for the little ones, with the sand, small objects and figures.”
Parent at Intergenerational Warm Hub run by Cambridge Connected Lives
People accessing a mental wellbeing café called Springboard, based on the Manor in Sheffield, shared the story ‘Special Things’ around the table.
Another member of staff was on the floor doing the Covid story with a member of their development team and two 3rd year medical students who were on placement, observing their community development approaches to Health and Wellbeing work.
BodyMindConnection in Cambridge uses storytelling and body work to encourage people be more in touch with what is happening in their bodies. An OutoftheBox story is shared and after the Community Play the group does some yoga together.
A group of home educating families with parents and children from babies to teens used OutoftheBox at the start of their day, before breaking into smaller groups for activities.
“OutoftheBox is enjoyable, relaxing and good for people’s mental health, giving time to listen and to reflect. It helps people make new connections with others and has led to reduced feelings of isolation and being alone.”
Dr Helen Bell, (BSc Hons, PGDip, ClinPsyD) Connected Lives