Last night we held the first public meeting of the Narrative Practitioners Forum, at the London Inter Faith Centre in Queens Park.

Over 60 people came - which demonstrates a clear need for this kind of gathering.  They were from an enourmously eclectic range of backgrounds, including practitioners from the worlds of community building, peace work, interfaith, oral history, psychology, business, journalism, writing, theatre, performance storytelling, academia, social work, health, prisons, corporations, conflict transformation, and many more. 

They spoke eloquently and enthusiastically about story and its relationship with self-advocacy, engaging hard-to-reach groups, narrative leadership, reconnecting social fabric, relating to ancestors and connecting with kinship systems, exploring identity and social change, mergers and acquisitions, sound installations, happiness research, refugees and asylum seekers, "listening places", the fractured, limiting narratives unlying our present time, and the need to nurture new sustainable narratives, and narratives that connect us with a new sense of the sacred in every day life.

We listened to presentations from Narativ, The Forgiveness Project, and the Three Faiths Forum, and engaged in mini workshops (including a much appreciated spontaneous contribution from Alexandra Asseily), and we discussed the future of the forum and a residential weekend that is being planned.

We need to find a way to co-creatively shape the forum so it meets the needs of those who came, and can be a productive space for sharing best practice across disciplines, networking, and allowing creative new collaborations to emerge.  

We'll be meeting again towards the end of March - we'll let you know the date very soon!

And we're keen to get your feedback.  If you'd like to add your thoughts to our survey then click here.

For more info email Justine.

And to stay in touch join our facebook group:  Stories that heal, Stories that harm.