Last month, dynamic storytelling duo Suit and Pace (Andrew Coull and Beth Hamilton-Cardus) ran two ‘Story Swap’ events as part of Refugee Festival Scotland 2016.

The sessions focussed on the links between Scottish and Syrian stories, celebrating the similarities between our cultures. Working in partnership with the Fife Arabic Society and the Fife Cultural Trust, Beth and Andrew were able to reach lots of Fife families, including those who have recently arrived from Syria.

“We’ve been interested in how similar stories are told all over the world for a long time, and these sessions gave us the chance to explore tales featuring all sorts of fabulous characters, from farm animals to She-Ghouls, touching on universal themes such as family, friendship and trust.

“We’ve received great support from both our local partners, the Scottish Refugee Council and the Scottish Storytelling Forum for the sessions, and we’re now really excited about taking the project one stage further, thanks to support from Fife Council. Over the summer, we’ll be learning stories from local Syrian families (working with Frae Fife); we will then use these alongside matching Scottish stories in sessions at the school and nursery attended by their children. We feel storytelling is a great tool for understanding other cultures and bonding communities together – we can’t wait to continuing our story swaps over the next few months.”

Andrew and Beth have recently joined the storyteller’s professional directory and we look forward to working with them in future!

Read more on their website