Settle Stories
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| Founded | 2010 by Sita Brand |
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| Registration no. | 1141649 |
| Focus | Storytelling, Oral history |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 54°04′07″N 2°16′35″W / 54.068670°N 2.276310°W |
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Area served
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Yorkshire |
| Website | www |
Settle Stories is a registered charity and company founded in 2010 by Sita Brand to promote the power of storytelling for individuals, communities and organisations. The charity seeks to change your world through the use of story:
In 2010, Sita Brand, a performance storyteller, theatre director, writer, and producer, established Settle Stories in Settle, a small market town in North Yorkshire. Brand proposed a storytelling festival for the town and set about obtaining funding for her idea. Her aims were:
At the core of the initiative was a belief by Brand in the power of storytelling to help people learn and communicate universal truths. Brand believes that stories ignite the imagination in ways that help people to listen, learn, make emotional connections with ideas and effectively communicate with others. She also saw the festival as a way of contributing to the economic development of the market town.
Funding was obtained from the Arts Council England, with additional contributions from Craven District Council, Settle Town Council. The first Settle Stories Storytelling Festival was successfully launched in 2010, involving professional storytellers, musicians and other artists. Over 500 people attended, with a similar number of local children taking part in schools-based workshops.
Following the success of the 2010 festival, Settle Stories became a registered charity (registered charity no.1141649). Subsequent festivals in each of the following years saw a steady increase in visitors, with over 1,000 attending the 2013 event. The festival has since grown to become the largest storytelling festival in the north of England with over 50 events in 2016.
In June 2011, Settle Stories established the W R Mitchell Archive, which is a unique collection of audio and visual recordings of life in the North West of England, particularly the Yorkshire Dales. The charity is now in the process of digitising the material and making it available as a resource for learning (see below).
In August 2012, the charity obtained an office in Settle Town Hall. It has two members of staff but employs others, including performers at the festivals, on a freelance and consultative basis. It has a team of trustees and volunteers, and its Patron is Mike Harding, a well-known Yorkshire author, broadcaster, performer and storyteller.
By 2013, Settle Stories had involved the following stakeholders in its work:
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