Could you be a community storyteller?

Let’s take a fresh look at Greater Manchester

• What are the challenges in your neighbourhood that should be tackled?
• Who is doing amazing work that should be celebrated?
• What’s causing poverty, and what could be done to help make society better?

We know there are loads of powerful stories out there, waiting to be told. And by working together, we think we can tell them really well.
Church Action on Poverty’s new community storyteller project will allow some of the untold stories in our region to get the attention they deserve.
We are looking to work with up to 10 people who understand through personal experience what poverty is really like in Greater Manchester, and who want to help loosen poverty’s grip across the region.
Our media unit coordinator will help you use your smartphone to make short films. We will provide apps, equipment and professional tips and techniques that can make your videos stand out. We’ll all work together to share ideas expertise. We’ll identify and develop stories from our own communities. We’ll work together to edit them, and then Church Action on Poverty will help ensure the stories are seen and have an impact, as we work towards a more compassionate society.
Why are we doing this? Well, there can be a tendency sometimes for campaigners, journalists, church leaders and politicians to try to speak on behalf of people in poverty. We recognise that often, people don’t need a spokesperson – they need an opportunity to be heard and listened to.
Having an authentic message matters. It helps remove the stigma around poverty, helps challenge the myths and misunderstandings, and helps raise issues that people without that experience won’t have thought of.
A study in 2014 of ten major media outlets found that only 4% of articles allocated significant space to the voices of people in poverty, and 78% included no direct quotes from people in poverty.
We want to tell new stories, and to do that we need new storytellers. Are you interested? If so, please email gavin@church-poverty.org.uk, phone 0161 872 9294 or send us a message at facebook.com/churchpoverty