Community Storywork

How I Work

I start from a simple belief: people and communities make more sense when we look at the whole picture. That is why my work sits inside Systemic Practice. It helps me see the connections between people, places, histories, and the systems that shape everyday life. With this approach, I create safe, honest spaces where people can talk openly and explore new possibilities together.

Within this wider frame, I draw on Storywork, inspired by Jo-ann Archibald and Indigenous knowledge traditions. Storywork reminds us that stories carry wisdom, identity, and hope. I use gentle, relational methods to help individuals and groups share their lived experiences in ways that feel true, respectful, and useful — for themselves and for the communities they are part of.

Over more than twenty years of working alongside communities in South Wales, a third layer has emerged for me:
SocialArtsWorks©.
It comes from something deeply human:

Social – we all need to feel we belong and are connected.

Arts – we all need ways to express ourselves and be heard.

Work – we all need to feel we contribute something meaningful.
 

When these three come together, people flourish. Confidence grows. Community life strengthens.
SocialArtsWorks is my way of bringing these elements together through facilitation, creative media, and collaborative, story-led processes.
 

These three layers — Systemic Practice, Storywork, and SocialArtsWorks© — shape everything I do.
Together, they help support meaningful change for people, organisations, and communities.

In the end, it all comes down to the stories we tell — and the stories we believe — about ourselves and our communities.
We Are The Stories We Tell.