You, Me, the World and Poplar
Poplar Union has teamed up with community storytelling company take stock exchange (TSX) to run a project with people all over Poplar. The project is all about connecting with other people who live and work in Poplar through telling and listening to stories and having conversations. TSX have been delivering similar projects all over East London for the last six years, working across 5 boroughs and engaging over 5000 participants.
Photo credit: Marcus Hessenberg
How it works
TSX are looking to connect with as wider a selection of groups and people as possible – e.g. children and young people, community groups, support groups, hobby enthusiasts, religious groups, businesses, local government, and anyone else who’s out there! During the project they’ll deliver a specially tailored workshop for each group, which will empower people to talk and listen to each other and to share stories about their experiences living and working in Poplar. The workshops will be tailored to suit the group’s specific needs and will always take place within your usual group setting, so no specific provision is required. Then a few weeks later, they’ll run a second session, sharing the stories they’ve heard from the other groups they’re working with – a bit like a story exchange. At present TSX are considering new socially distanced ways to deliver their sessions (both in person and virtually) and will be led by each group when planning how to maintain safe engagement.
At the end of the project, we will invite all of the groups, as well as other members of the public, to come together to eat a meal and listen to a retelling of a collection of stories at Poplar Union. Again the form this takes will depend on social distancing measures at the time.
What people gain from the project
The project gives people from all walks of life a chance to be creative and express themselves, but also to hear from other people, understand their experiences a little better, and have reason to feel a greater sense of belonging to the place they live or work. People taking part will develop communication and performance skills, a sense of self esteem and belonging, and empathy – an awareness and understanding of the lives of others.
Want to know more about TSX?
You can find out more about TSX, their previous projects and the ideas behind them here.