Russell can offer storytelling and story-making sessions and also lead participative workshops. He enjoys all kinds of stories for adults, teenagers and children drawing from many traditions relevant to the different ages and stages of life with all its twists and its challenges. He can work with stories for entertainment or to give a particular focus and purpose.

As a Church of Scotland Minister, he also has an interest in Biblical Storytelling (http://www.nbsint.org/) where he will work with a group to have people absorbing Bible stories then telling them rather than reading the passages.

He has also lead sessions in organisational and community development to help people tell their own stories and create stories which can give inspiration, direction and vision for the future.

Chit Chat was a weekly after school storytelling club in Glasgow’s inner east end which Russell ran over a period of seven years with a mix of story, games, arts and crafts and visits.  He worked regularly in local schools with infant to senior secondary aged pupils developing storytelling with teenage clubs. Over a period of years he worked with a drug rehabilitation group in prison offering storytelling and storymaking as part of the programme. Russell has travelled with stories in UK and Ireland and spent 2 months touring USA; visiting storytellers and taking part in clubs and local community storytelling festivals in various states.

Born in Ayr in 1956, Russell worked for a short time as an architect before becoming a Minister. He worked for 21 years in Blackhill-Provanmill-Royston one of Glasgow’s most disadvantaged communities with involvement in ongoing youth work, in the development of an ambitious community arts project and a community drug-counselling project.

Russell has performed for a wide variety of groups in different settings. He has led retreats and workshops including residential retreats on Iona and organisational and community training and development events.

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