OutoftheBox Membership
Support our work! Become an OutoftheBox Member today.
OutoftheBox brings people together in a playful and refreshing, yet deep and purposeful way. It can be used anywhere that people want to think, talk, and connect more deeply.
We are a not-for-profit organisation resourced by our Members. Membership subs underpin the sustainability of OutoftheBox as an organisation, helping pay for administrative support and expenses and the necessary bills. Membership gives you licence to the use all the OutoftheBox stories, access to the story scripts and videos, as well as regular Members’ support meetings – story circles, Members’ chats and story development meetings, and articles for further reading and discussion.
Welcome to the OutoftheBox movement!
Standard Membership
£10 a month or £120 a year
Organisational Membership for 5 user licences
£25 a month or £300 a year
As a not-for-profit social enterprise, we don’t want financial constraints to prevent anyone from becoming a member.
Anyone is free to choose to pay our concessionary membership rate, no questions asked.
Concessionary Membership for individuals, no questions asked
£4 a month or £48 a year
If your financial circumstances mean that this is still out of reach please email [email protected]
We will also be adjusting the cost of subs by cost of living in different countries. This is work in progress.
Members’ Benefits
Story Library
Becoming a member grants you the licence to use OutoftheBox story scripts. Our story library includes our first 49 Wisdom stories, each with scripts of words and actions, and videos, and more stories are being developed all the time. Draft scripts of stories in development are available to members to try out.
Support Network
Members are invited to join regular online meetings to talk with experienced OutoftheBox Mentors and be part of the story development process. We hold monthly Members Chats, Story Circles and Story Development meetings. Members can submit their own stories to the Members Own Stories page.
Further Reading
A library of articles and documents provides Members with further reading to support their continuing development in the art of OutoftheBox.
Examples of Stories from the OutoftheBox Story Library
There are 49 Wisdom stories in the Members’ area of our website, and more are being developed. OutoftheBox Wisdom stories are inspired by a wide range of myths, legends, stories from different worldviews, children’s literature etc, and are used by people of all ages to explore all sorts of issues and feelings. Here is an example script of one of our Wisdom stories.
Starfish
There was once a person playing on the beach, picking up starfish and throwing them into the sea. A passerby asked, “Excuse me, what are you doing?” “I’m picking up starfish and throwing them into the sea. The sun is coming up and the tide is going out If I don’t throw them back in they will die” The passerby looked around and said, “There are so many starfish, you can’t possibly make a difference.” The person listened, then picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea. “I made a difference to that one.”
Inspired by: a well known story (source unknown)
Many OutoftheBox members are Christians and are particularly interested in developing stories from the Bible. There are many draft story scripts in development, which members have access to and can use. Many churches, however, use the Wisdom stories and draw out truths of God’s nature and guidance through wondering how those stories move them. For examples of how churches are using OutoftheBox, go to our Churches page. Here is an example of one OutoftheBox Bible story:
In the Wilderness
Once there was a person who wanted to find out who they were. One day they went out into the wilderness. They came to a river and plunged down into the darkness of the waters. When they came back into the light, everything seemed wide open! They felt close to Love and somehow they knew “I am loved and I am Love.” They felt drawn further into the wilderness to live with the wild animals and sleep under the stars. Life was hard. They were hungry and started to question who they were and what Love is. “Why can’t I have something to eat? Couldn’t these stones be turned into bread?” They climbed to a high place. It was as if they could see the whole world and they questioned who they were and what Love is. “Wouldn’t it be better if i just took charge of things?” They looked back towards the city and imagined standing on top of a tall building. They questioned who they were and what Love is. “If I jumped would I be saved?” At last, living the questions, they felt ready to go back – to love and be loved.
Inspired by: the gospel stories of Jesus in the wilderness
Learn the art of OutoftheBox
Discover OutoftheBox
A 90 minute online Taster will give you an experience of an OutoftheBox session for yourself, as well as time to ask questions and talk more about OutoftheBox. We also offer days of discovery, experiencing and reflecting on OutoftheBox. These days can be tailored to the needs of your group and can be adapted into the form of a retreat, a team-building session or action-planning meeting or away day.
Explore OutoftheBox
This is our core course: two days experiencing and exploring the art of OutoftheBox. We playfully and creatively relax into stories together. The learning model is action-reflection with time to experience the approach, reflect on the experiences and to practise the art of OutoftheBox. The OutoftheBox approach will also be modelled in the learning process, drawing out the wisdom of the group to enable peer learning. One year of membership is included in the cost of the course.
Go Deeper into OutoftheBox
For experienced OutoftheBox storytellers this day delves further into the use of Community Play, and explores how to write an OutoftheBox story. These days together offer an opportunity for peer learning and can be tailored to meet the needs of the group. They can take the form of a retreat to include extended time for personal reflection.
For further information or to discuss your needs please email Kate Caroe at [email protected]
