Knowle West Tales
Everyone has a story to tell but the concept of creating an autobiography can seem overwhelming - where to start? What to say that’s of interest to others? At Filwood Community Centre we’ve been working with local people to help them record their stories in their very own interactive book.
Using our specially designed Mayfly Photobooks app (formally Tangible Memories) we’ve worked with a dozen Filwood / Knowle West residents to provide easy ways to share their experiences, one story at a time, week by week. Over the course of 8 weeks everyone has made a book, which will be winging the way to the printers in the New Year.
It’s quite an incredible outcome, easily achieved when broken down into smaller steps.
Working in pairs, our group brought pictures, objects and memorabilia to each session. These form the starting point for a conversation, an entry into the stories associated with it. There’s very little writing involved as each pair simply audio record their stories directly into the app and link it to a beautiful Mayfly illustration. When the recording is linked to a Mayfly illustration, the camera on a smart phone can read it (like a QR code) and play the story back to whoever wants to listen.
In this way, with cups of tea, biscuits and homemade cakes, the stories soon amass, and the books progress at a gratifying pace. Even those who feel out of their comfort zone with ipads and apps soon got the hang of how to make a recording, upload an image and turn it into a page of their very own unique interactive book.
As we settled into telling our stories, some real gems emerged - we got to hear about Filwood Community Centre back in the WW2 era, when it was used as a school. We heard about travels with the boy scouts, trips in search of celebrities and trinkets from abroad brought home to Filwood. Home life was an equally important subject for the stories with one person having lived in the same house for over 40 years - imagine the tales those walls have to tell!
Celebrating the ups and downs of family life is an essential part of any biography and people relished bringing their photo albums to life with stories of generations past, present and future. There's something very cathartic in talking about losses as well as the happy memories. We witnessed week-on-week the warm glow that comes from being listened to, from feeling valued, from knowing that each story matters. One participant recorded her experiences with KWAD (Knowle West Against Drugs) exemplifying how telling difficult stories can help people to overcome adversity.
The project has overcome adversity itself, originally being planned for spring 2020 but thwarted due to the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Thankfully, funders Bristol City Council extended the time frame for our Originators Grant to allow us to re-plan for after restrictions eased. This meant we were able to go ahead with the much needed face-to-face book-making sessions in an area where residents experience digital poverty. Massive thanks to Knowle West Media Centre for lending us iPads to make the books on and a big shout out to Suzie Davison, Creative Project Coordinator at Filwood Community Centre who brought people together and helped to ensure our group gelled and were all invested to come along each week. The rewards have been immense. One person said to Suzie, “Thanks for keeping on to me in a nice way about coming to the story thing, it was amazing and very interesting. I can't wait to get my book made.”
As our book-making sessions came to an end last week, another member of the group added, “I’ve learned a lot and met some lovely people and it’s been really enjoyable. Very worthwhile revisiting all my old photos and making them into a book using this brilliant app.”
There was a special moment during our last session when one participant gave a gift to another, the story of which formed another page in his book. As Claudia Collins, Creative Engagement Officer at FCC, observed the exchange, she said, “that shows real quality engagement, which is not something you see every day”. The thought and care that went into selecting that gift and the beaming smiles as it was received certainly show that there’s power in storytelling and it’s an essential ingredient in a vibrant and supportive community.
Look out for our book launch in spring 2022, and come see for yourself the wonderful Knowle West Tales being told.