Welcome To My Site

Welcome to my website.

I am a professionally trained, Oral & Performance Storyteller & Workshop Facilitator, with International & National Experience in; Sweden, Canada, North Africa (Morocco), Holland, Scotland Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

I regularly tell Stories at numerous UK Festivals and the occasional International festivals. From the Cambridge Folk Festival to the, Scottish International Storytelling Festival and at the wonderful, ‘Inaugural Marrakesh International Storytelling Festival’.  I regularly tell traditional stories in such a variety of locations and events. I perform in schools and also run workshops in schools, enhancing children’s story making skills and their oral skills.  Here are some examples of my work;  as a weekly ‘in-house’ storyteller for 4  years, at an Alternative Education setting. During the the past three years, as a regular storyteller for childrens school holiday Bush Camps in Surrey. For five years, I have told seasonal and subject based stories, for Chelmsford Mencap, students. In more recent years, my story work has increasingly moved to addressing the nature and ecology of the landscape around us and the climate change agenda.  I was recently commissioned by a Rivers Authority to run workshops in a school to address local environmental river issues. I wrote a folk tale called ‘Little River’ and based the workshops around the oral telling of the story.

My storytelling journey began in 1997, as a trained Social Worker, I went and spent some time in Canada with a friend of mine who lived and worked there as a Family Therapist and Social Worker.  He had close links with the indigenous ‘Metis’ people in Winnipeg. I was invited to attend a Metis community gathering circle. I took part in traditional ceremonies, which included a traditional story sharing circle.  True life stories, were told as part of a healing day and I was invited to share, which I did. The day gave me memories, that are still very much with me.

By the year 2000, I had begun my training in Systemic Family Therapy and started incorporating some stories into my therapeutic work. By 2005 I had also gained a Counselling qualification and worked more frequently with story, both traditional and real life, in many different formats. My career led me to working with bereaved children for a year, using play therapy and incorporating storytelling, to help the children process their grief story. After many years of therapeutic work and as part of my own process, I turned to training as professional ‘performance’ storyteller.  My training was at the International School of Storytelling. Since then I have  trained with several leading storytellers.

I have had the opportunity to share stories in so many wonderful and varied places, such as; in many Woodlands;  a Children’s Hospice; on an ex-Pirate Radio Ship; Camp Fires; Rathlin Island off the north coast of Northern Ireland; a London Canal Theatre Boat; from a Beech Hut; in an Outdoor Amphitheatre; in an HMP Prison family waiting area; at numerous Storytelling Clubs. In my festival work I have succesfully  introduced, ‘Walkabout Storytelling’ to several festivals. During my time in Morocco in February 2022, I  co-facilitated several storytelling workshops for Moroccan student’s learning English, in partnership with a translator. Incorporated into the workshops was a cross-cultural Q & A, facilitating a conversation about the different cultural aspects, of folk and fairy stories.

Recent Projects & Commissions:

The Society for Storytelling (SfS) asked me to contribute to a National schools project, in relation to oral storytelling telling and story making. My contribution was an audio story and a blog on,  ‘how to engage and tell stories to children.

Essex, I was commissioned by a bereavement service to record an audio story, which had an animated film added, for a bereavement service Dying Matters in Essex.

Suffolk, I was commissioned to undertake a joint project with Suffolk County Council & Suffolk Education Department to  write a ‘modern’ folk tale, and run a day of workshops in a primary school as part of a large local Environmental project.

Norfolk, I was asked to be part of a team on a large community outreach project for Norfolk County Council & Norfolk Library Services. The projects aim was to get people out of their homes and out in nature, via the medium of storytelling. As part of the project, I was one of four storytellers who spent two days in a wood, having our oral stories professionally filmed. This was prior to working with the groups. I then worked with several mens, mental health community groups, doing three bespoke storytelling performances. With built in opportunities, for the groups to have conversations about what the stories evoked for them as men.

Workshops; I have run numerous Storytelling Workshops for a variety of diverse groups, for example,  in Morocco for adult English learners, in many UK School’s to enhance literacy and story making skills; Adolescent’s in a, secure mental health hospital unit; I have run and designed, therapeutic story based projects for schools for children with EBD, (as I am also a qualified Counselling Therapist); I have worked with Environmental groups; I have also designed and run adult, Beginners Storytelling Workshops.

Curating;  My experience also extends to also having put together several storytelling events. Nationally I have brought  together a diverse troupe of storytellers, for both Live (and online events during the pandemic). Internationally, I was asked to put on an online event  during the height of the pandemic, which had a world wide audience. This was in collaboration with ‘Into The Wild Festival’ a UK based festival company.  I have also collaborated on several smaller events many times.

Please have a look over my website, where you will get a better idea of my extensive experience and my passion for Oral Storytelling.

If you wish to discuss anything, please contact me, via email at….shane@storytellershane.co.uk or  Text or ring 07709 904 053.  Thank you.

Photo by jimmy@j-leephotography.com