Story Seeds
The Story Seeds project supports young people to write their own story with the aim of enabling them to begin to understand their own life story - their personal, circumstantial and emotional stories and their place-be it geographical, social or imaginative.
Creativity Growing All Over Ireland!
The Story Seeds project is aimed at not only introducing children and young people to creative writing but also to strengthen their positive sense of themselves and to allow them to re-imagine the negatives in their lives and transform their sense of place and possibility.
The Seeds of Story Seeds
The Story Seeds project started taking shape in January 2021, when Sgt. Aoife Reilly of the Mountjoy Garda Community Engagement Unit approached Fighting Words with the idea of collaborating on a creative project for primary school students on the northside of Dublin.
Following meetings with Fighting Words staff, the Story Seeds project was born: new stories to celebrate the areas where we all live, work and play. The idea was that the first school would write the first chapter of a story, the next class would write the second chapter and so on.
With the support of the Arts Council, the Irish Youth Foundation and Dublin North East Inner City, the first collection of stories were published in June 2021.
Story Seeds - What happened when the seeds started growing...
The Story Seeds Project has already given the opportunity to thousands of children and young people in schools and groups the opportunity to tell their stories in Dublin, Louth, Wicklow, Cork and Limerick!
In July 2021, Ministers Catherine Martin TD and Roderic O'Gorman TD approved €250,000 to extend the impact of the Fighting Words Story Seeds programme to 14,000 children and young people.
This additional €250,000 provided by the Creative Ireland Programme of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the What Works initiative, supported by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and funded under Dormant Accounts; has significantly extended the Story Seeds programme of creative writing activity.
This funding has enabled Fighting Words to greatly expand the programme and bring the Story Seeds project to 14,000 children and young people in 120 primary schools, 70 secondary schools and 30 youth and additional needs groups in Dublin West, Dublin South inner city, Bray/Wicklow and Drogheda.
Beginning in September 2022 through the end of the year, the Story Seeds programme sprouted in both Cork and Limerick, with additional stories created by many more children and young people in these areas.
Through Story Seeds, Fighting Words has connected with organisations working in the areas of disadvantage, social marginalisation, mental health, disability, ethnic minorities and refugees/migrants. We have brought together groups to work with facilitators to create new stories, plays, poems and more.
Story Seeds have sprouted everywhere…
- Primary Schools: Six collections of stories from Dublin North, Dublin South City, Dublin West, Drogheda, Wicklow and Limerick - over 100 schools in all!
- Secondary Schools & Youth Groups: Workshops in playwriting, short stories and poetry with groups in Dublin North, Dublin South and Dublin West, Bray, Drogheda and Cork.
- Additional Needs Groups: Workshop series in memoir, playwriting, short stories and more with organisations such as WALK, Child Vision, the Irish Deaf Society,the Dyslexia Association of Ireland, LYCS, St John of God’s Services and Prosper Fingal, the Irish Wheelchair Association, Gheel Autism Services, Festina Lente , YMCA Cork and the Crann Centre among others.
- Publications: The stories, scripts and poems are published in books, films and digital publications. Check out our Publications page to find them all!
- Podcasts: The Fighting Words Podcast - Story Seeds Edition features four episodes of interviews, readings and more from the writers and facilitators of Story Seeds programmes in Dublin, Louth and Wicklow. Click here to listen!
Providing a Voice, Delivering Joy - An Evaluation
The proven effectiveness of the Story Seeds project has been evaluated by Dr. Orla Lehane of the University of Galway.
Click on the link below to find out more.
Check out the Story Seeds programme in action below!
Recording the Story Seeds Podcast with students from CBS Westland Row
Story Seeds delivery time at Our Lady of Lourdes National School, Dublin
One of the young authors from North Dublin Muslim National School
Writers from ChildVision in Dublin at The Podcast Studios
Authors from St Andrew's National School, Bray receive their books
Where are Story Seeds growing now?
Beginning in 2023, with additional support from Creative Ireland Programme of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the What Works initiative, supported by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and funded under Dormant Accounts, Fighting Words will continue the work of the Story Seeds project with schools and groups across Ireland.
Watch this space to find out where the seeds sprout next!
Related News and Links
- Listen now to all episodes of the Fighting Words Podcast - Story Seeds Edition
- Launch of Story Seeds: Adventures Across Wicklow and Beyond
- Launch of Story Seeds: Adventures Around Drogheda
- Read more about our programme with Drogheda United FC
- Launch of Story Seeds: Autumn in the City
- Launch of Story Seeds: Springtime in the North Inner City
