Ruth Kirkpatrick

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Born in the North East of Scotland, Ruth is widely seen as a Tradition Bearer, having been lucky enough to ‘sit at the knee’ of some of the great storytellers which Scotland has borne- Sheila Stewart, Duncan Williamson, Stanley Robertson and David Campbell. She has a broad repertoire of stories and songs from Traditional and local Traveller sources. More recently she has experimented with biographical storytelling, and annually performs a sell-out show about the life, songs and poetry of Robbie Burns.

She has worked for over 30 years in social work listening to people’s stories and has been professionally storytelling for 20 years. She works with all age groups.

Ruth’s project and publication, “Stories Allways” successfully combines her skills, developing innovative ways to use storytelling with children and families who have emotional and social needs. Ruth promotes the use of storytelling as a social work tool and has co-run groups with social workers, art therapists and prison warders.

In her role of Storytelling Development Worker for Children 1st, Ruth pioneered storytelling approaches to Transition work, community building and introduced storytelling into residential care settings for young people. As an experienced and inspiring trainer in storytelling skills, Ruth has contributedto training programmes at Strathclyde University, Simpson HouseEmerson College and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. She has presented at conferences including BookstartChildren in Scotland and The Scottish Commissioner for Children’s Office.

Her real strength is in forming a warm, authentic rapport with her audience, respecting the tradition and giving her performance a loving, feisty sparkle. This makes her a popular guest at Festivals worldwide, including Iceland, England, Singapore, Belgium, Dubai, Ireland and India. She was awarded the Commission at Festival at the Edge in 2017 where she successfully created a ‘one woman’ show.

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