Annual Report 2018 lives. lives. a mutual mentoring to take place, enriching each other’s other’s each enriching place, take to mentoring mutual a medium to share talents and experience and allows for for allows and experience and talents share to medium is a democracy in storytelling and as such it is the perfect perfect the is it such as and storytelling in democracy a is OUR SPONSORS: OUR talking to and being listened to by the older group. There There group. older the by to listened being and to talking engaging young people are. The young students loved loved students young The are. people young engaging teenager became replaced by a delight in how “smart” and and “smart” how in delight a by replaced became teenager Charity with a Registered Charity Number (RCN) is 20155254 is (RCN) Number Charity Registered a with Charity back accurately and sensitively. The image of the bored bored the of image The sensitively. and accurately back W ries ries limited by guarantee. – Company Number 594852 | Is a Irish Registered Registered Irish a Is | 594852 Number Company – guarantee. by limited pressed by their ability to listen and tell their sto their tell and listen to ability their by pressed Narrative 4, 58 O’ Connell Street, Limerick. Ireland . V94 XV70 | Company Company | XV70 V94 . Ireland Limerick. Street, Connell O’ 58 4, Narrative - im were They are. students the open and smart how unless otherwise stated in the text. the in stated otherwise unless 4 Narrative © images All ithout exception the older people commented on on commented people older the exception ithout also worked with established groups. groups. established with worked also recruit older participants and advertised in local media and and media local in advertised and participants older recruit standing and respect between both groups. both between respect and standing and Kilmallock. Narrative 4 held open coffee mornings to to mornings coffee open held 4 Narrative Kilmallock. and - under greater a promotes This eyes. other’s each through ect held workshops in Limerick City and in Newcastlewest Newcastlewest in and City Limerick in workshops held ect munity and vice versa. Both young and old see the world world the see old and young Both versa. vice and munity - proj The 2018. 2017/ in participants 180 had project the W - com his from old year 80 a of story the re-tells Garryowen shared their time, stories and skills to the project. In all all In project. the to skills and stories time, their shared and taking part in a story exchange. A 16 year old from from old year 16 A exchange. story a in part taking and sations and all the project participants who generously generously who participants project the all and sations rytelling and active listening workshops before meeting meeting before workshops listening active and rytelling - organi teachers, schools, the all thank to like would e - sto in part took groups Both communities. Limerick in ience and respect between young people and older people people older and people young between respect and ience - resil build understanding, promote barriers, down break N the medium of storytelling. The project aimed to to aimed project The storytelling. of medium the between youth and older people in Limerick through through Limerick in people older and youth between arrative 4’s Tell Me a Story project builds community community builds project Story a Me Tell 4’s arrative NARRATIVE 4 arrative 4’s core methodology is the story NARRATIVE 4 ENVISIONS A WORLD exchange. Within a story exchange two WHERE YOUNG ADULTS people are paired together and asked to tell LEAD WITH EMPATHY. Na story from their life that may have had a significant effect. The pair then retell their partner’s story in the first person in an exercise that allows them to gain a different perspective and to have empathy for the other. oday, Narrative 4 is working in four continents, twelve DEVELOP ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS countries, and 18 US states. TFrom its centre at 58 O’ Connell ENGAGE IN PEER-TO-PEER LEARNING Colum McCann Street Limerick, Narrative 4 Ire- IMPROVE SELF-REFLECTION AND SELF-AWARENESS land equips educators, students IMPROVE AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY - NARRATIVE 4 COFOUNDER & PRESIDENT - in all age groups, and other community advocates with the Illustration: Lucia Pola EXPERIENCE AN OVERALL INCREASE IN POSITIVE EMOTIONS tools and training they need to bring story exchanges to their communities. Key target bene- he story exchange process developed by Narrative OUR WORK ficiaries include: schools, DEIS 4 has been scientifically shown* not only to foster - ROOTED IN THE N4 STORY EXCHANGE - schools, young people ( in and empathy between the partners but it also promotes out of formal education ), edu- T positive emotions and a sense of well-being. Equips people to use their stories to build empathy, shatter stereo- cators & adults in community groups. types, break down barriers, and - “Emotional Revolution: Empowering Young People to Create * ultimately -make the world a bet- Narrative 4 Staff are Schools and Communities Where Emotions Matter” - How Do ter place. If we SHARE today, we’ll based in US High School Students Feel at School? School Report. The Yale CHANGE tomorrow. NEW YORK CITY Centre for Emotional Intelligence. AUGUST. 2016. & LIMERICK CITY. N4 co-founder and President Colum McCann launching Narrative 4 Ireland in June 2016 at 58 O’ Connell Street, Limerick. 3 A Welcome Letter From the Chairperson of Narrative 4 Ireland. In June 2016, with the help of Limerick City and County Council and The JP McManus Benevolent Fund, Narrative 4 Ireland opened a state-of-the-art creative facility in Limerick. We were given access to a dilapidated Georgian townhouse that once served as a public library on O’ Connell Street. Because of its literary history, Limerick seemed like a natural place in which to set up a storytelling centre - a place where young people from across the city, and indeed the globe, could come together to step into one another’s shoes. That is the fundamental tenet of Narrative 4 – You tell my story, I will tell yours. This act of radical empathy is designed so that the true function of stories – to connect us and bring us alive in bodies not our own – can not only live on, but flourish.Once you realise the value of your story, you can turn that empathy into action on the ground. It’s a whole new way of listening and seeing. Limerick has always been a big-hearted town. And story-telling has always been at the centre of what propels Irish people. Since we have opened three years ago, we have worked with tens of thousands of young people; all eager to tap into their creativity and tell their stories. The Story Exchange allows us to see each other and ourselves in new ways, to connect in profound ways. Our shared humanity becomes apparent. What is the new world except the story of everybody else? I co-founded Narrative 4 in 2012 along with Lisa Consiglio in response to the realisation that barriers are being shoved into place and stereotypes reinforced at an alarming rate around the world. Today Narrative 4 programmes are running in Ireland, the USA, Mexico, UK, South Africa, Israel, Palestine, Nigeria and Columbia giving young people a platform and a sense of hope. With your help we are building a thriving network of exchange participants, practitioners and supporters around the world: all of this is an Irish initiative, radiating from Limerick, but it has spread itself across the globe. On the following pages we celebrate what has unfolded in Ireland in a single year; from intergenerational story exchanges; projects on mental health to partnerships and facilitator training. 2018 was a landmark year for Narrative 4 Ireland; as well as being awarded Social Innovation Fund Ireland’s Youth Mental Health Award for our innovative programme,our Storytelling Centre won Limerick Tidy Town’s Building of the Year; and an exchange between British and Irish young people was featured in the Guardian newspaper. We’re interested in sharing today and sharing tomorrow. Here’s to stories, and to those who tell them -- Colum McCann Chairman and Co-Founder. 3 Narrative 4 Ireland January - Narrative 4 July - N4 ran empathy Ireland is featured in building workshops for The Irish Examiner ‘Is youth in LIT Summer our Empathy Failing Camps. Us? August - The Empathy Project begins! We train 17 pioneering secondary school teachers as February - Colum McCann Story Exchange Facilitators. was a guest on RTE Radio 1’s The Marian Finucane Show N4 partnered with the Design speaking about Narrative 4. We & Crafts Council of Ireland for also partnered with the Limerick National Heritage Week for a Spring Festival of Politics and series of free workshops and Ideas for a live storytelling event. an exhibition of crafts. March - Narrative 4 Creative Pool. We won With funding from Limerick Limerick Arts Office we held a open Tidy Towns call for 12 writers/ artists to building of apply to be trained as Story the year. Exchange facilitators. The writers/ artists trained were Richard Hannafin, Helena Close, Simon Thompson, Ann April - We partnered Blake, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, with Amnesty Joanne Ryan, Jess Kelly- International for their Stack, Ruth Marshall, Michael Youth Day to run a Rowsome, Paul McNamara and Erica Veil. Story Exchange for 80 youth from 10 different September - We host Culture Night - Who Is schools. We also ran a Limerick? We begin two new projects: Girl Stories workshop for youth at Cúirt International Festival and Boy’s Stories. of Literature. October - N4 host a Ghost and Horror Story Workshop for teenagers with UL Writer in residence; Martin Dyar.