Settle Stories

Settle Stories The home of adventurous storytelling Our mission is to collaborate with exceptional artists to create transformative experiences for people and communities.

Stories are the most powerful way to engage, inspire and move people to action. We teach the art of storytelling so you can make a difference. We share stories from diverse cultures across the globe, explore traditional myths and folktales and reveal current stories of today. We present stories through year round events and the largest free online storytelling festival globally, Yorkshire Festival

of Story. Our live and online workshops, retreats and learning programmes connect people and are open to all. Through our schools programme we work with thousands of school children annually. We work closely with our rural community by co-creating projects to gather people together, bring into focus hidden stories and enable the vulnerable and disinvested to have a voice. We are an independent arts charity in one of the most rurally isolated parts of the UK. From our venue, The Joinery, we challenge perceptions of art produced in rural areas. Stories change lives. Find out more and become a member at settlestories.org.uk

Imagine leaving a three-hour workshop with this in your bag:✅ Your first interview questions, ready to ask the relatives...
12/06/2026

Imagine leaving a three-hour workshop with this in your bag:

✅ Your first interview questions, ready to ask the relatives who hold the stories
✅ A clear framework for turning research into narrative (goodbye, overwhelm)
✅ Practical techniques you can use that same afternoon at home
✅ The opening lines of something that actually matters
✅ A personal action plan for where to go next
✅ A copy of Alison Marshall's book, Journeys of Hope

This is what Saturday afternoon at The Joinery looks like on 20th June.

A small group (just 12 people), a gifted guide, and three hours to start the story you've been carrying around for years.

🎟 £45 | 20th June, 2–5pm | The Joinery, Settle

Book your place here 👇
settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/how-to-find-and-tell-your-familys-story-workshop

Next week - free online event for schools 🎉This Windrush Day, bring history to life in your classroom.On Monday 22nd Jun...
11/06/2026

Next week - free online event for schools 🎉

This Windrush Day, bring history to life in your classroom.

On Monday 22nd June at 1:30pm, we're hosting a free live online storytelling session for KS1 and KS2: Building a New Britain: The Windrush Story.

The Windrush Generation left home and sunshine behind to help rebuild a Britain they'd never seen. They came with courage, kindness and open hearts, and changed this country forever. This session brings their story to your pupils in a way that's vivid, honest and full of heart, led by a professional storyteller.

Perfect for mixed-age assemblies or whole-school listening. Just 30 minutes. Completely free.

📅 Monday 22nd June | 1:30–2:00pm
💻 Online
🎟 FREE

Book your school's place here 👇
settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/building-a-new-britain-windrush-day-event-for-ks1-and-ks2

📖 Your Wednesday reminder is here!This Friday, we've got something wonderful waiting for your class - The Bundle of Stic...
10/06/2026

📖 Your Wednesday reminder is here!

This Friday, we've got something wonderful waiting for your class - The Bundle of Sticks, a new free story for EYFS, KS1 and KS2.

From 1pm on Friday 12th June, head to our page and press play. A real storyteller, beautiful hand-drawn illustrations, and pure magic - completely free, no strings attached.

At 3pm, it's gone. So set that reminder! 🎉

👉 settlestories.org.uk/stories-for-schools/fridaystoryclub

That question you've been meaning to ask before it's too late.The box of photographs you've never quite got round to sor...
09/06/2026

That question you've been meaning to ask before it's too late.

The box of photographs you've never quite got round to sorting. The recipe your aunt makes without measuring. The story you keep meaning to write down before the people who know it are gone.

Sound familiar?

This workshop with heritage writer Alison Marshall is a proper, hands-on afternoon for anyone who wants to capture their family's story and actually do something with it. You'll learn how to turn fragments (a single photo, a half-memory, a place name) into real narrative. Stories people will want to read. Stories that last.

No writing experience needed. Just bring your curiosity and one family memento to start from.

📅 Saturday 20th June, 2–5pm
📍 The Joinery, Settle
🎟 £45 including Alison's book

Only 12 places available. Grab yours before they go 👇
settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/how-to-find-and-tell-your-familys-story-workshop

Due to a fantastic number of entries, we have decided to extend the deadline for our Children's Story Competition for a ...
09/06/2026

Due to a fantastic number of entries, we have decided to extend the deadline for our Children's Story Competition for a further two weeks, until Monday 29th June at 5pm.

That's right, you have another two weeks to get your 500 word story on the theme of 'What I Love' written. If you're aged between 7 and 11, we'd love to hear from you - you could win up to £100 in book tokens, have your story broadcast to the whole country as a part of the and win your class a subscription to Stories for Schools. We can't wait to hear from you!

Find out more here: https://settlestories.org.uk/stories-for-schools/childrens-story-competition-2026/

There's a photo in your grandmother's drawer with no names on the back. Alison Marshall knows that feeling.Her own famil...
08/06/2026

There's a photo in your grandmother's drawer with no names on the back. Alison Marshall knows that feeling.

Her own family story began with a bundle of letters from the 1920s. What started as curiosity became a book, Journeys of Hope: The Letters of Meyer and Sonia, tracing two people's emigration across continents and generations.

Now she's bringing that same depth of research, craft, and warmth to a hands-on workshop right here in Settle. Alison combines the skills of a heritage writer with the instincts of a storyteller. She'll help you find the feeling underneath the facts.

📅 Friday 20th June, 2–5pm at The Joinery, Settle
🎟 £45 (includes a copy of her book!)

Just 12 places. Book yours here 👇
settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/how-to-find-and-tell-your-familys-story-workshop

Are you a writer or creative trying to sell yourself? Are you a business person, fed up of making small talk at networki...
06/06/2026

Are you a writer or creative trying to sell yourself? Are you a business person, fed up of making small talk at networking events? Are you job hunting and unsure about how to answer the question, "So tell me a bit about yourself"?

On Saturday 11th July, storyteller and CEO of Settle Stories Sita Brand will be leading you through a two hour workshop on how to do just this. You'll learn how to identify stories from your own life that really sell who you are, and how to deliver these confidently, engagingly and in a way that will want people leaving more.

Perfect for those who have never told a story aloud before and those who are experienced storytellers alike, it's two hours of your life that will sell the rest.

Tickets are limited - this is a small group experience. Book your slot here: https://settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/how-to-find-and-tell-your-story-2/

Last night, Settle Stories was delighted to welcome Jez Meyers and Maria Romanenko from to The Joinery to deliver their...
05/06/2026

Last night, Settle Stories was delighted to welcome Jez Meyers and Maria Romanenko from to The Joinery to deliver their talk, How Not To Flee A War.

With both an in person and virtual audience, we were guided through the pair's terrifying journey to leave Kyiv when fighting broke out in February 2022, the impact that it has had on them, and the friends they lost and left behind. It was powerful, moving, deeply emotional, and will stick with us all for a long time.

Huge thank you to Jez and Maria for their generosity in sharing their story, their warmth, humour, and kindness.

Jez and Maria now run All For Ukraine, a charity that works with and provides support for refugees from Ukraine. You can make a donation to their amazing work here: https://buy.stripe.com/bJedR9f0j9NTg0r5oNcAo00

Picture this. September 2025. A British-Kenyan team deep inside Panga ya Saidi, one of the oldest burial sites on earth,...
04/06/2026

Picture this. September 2025. A British-Kenyan team deep inside Panga ya Saidi, one of the oldest burial sites on earth, carrying satellite equipment through a sacred cave system in coastal Kenya.

78,000 years of human history. And we were about to share it live with the world.
Lost and Forgotten brought together Settle Stories, Kenyan cultural organisation Msitu Wa Ndoto, and the Kaya Kauma elders to stream The Goddess and the Shadow, an ancient Mijikenda story of environmental protection, community and spiritual balance, performed by elders and traditional storytellers, many of whom had never been formally recorded before.

No electricity. No signal. Wildlife, humidity and strict cultural protocols at every turn. But months of trust-building, collaboration and sheer creativity meant we found a way.

The result? The first live broadcast from that sacred site. The first comprehensive digital archive of Mijikenda storytelling at Panga ya Saidi. And a permanent home for those voices, kept under community stewardship, for generations to come.
This is what story can do when you lead with respect.

Want to know more about the work we do? 👇
🔗 https://settlestories.org.uk/news/project/lost-and-forgotten/

Tomorrow night. One story. You really don't want to miss this one. How NOT to Flee a War is a talk unlike anything we've...
03/06/2026

Tomorrow night. One story. You really don't want to miss this one.

How NOT to Flee a War is a talk unlike anything we've hosted before. Ukrainian journalist Maria Romanenko and her partner Jez Myers take you right back to the morning of 24 February 2022 - the explosions, the disbelief, and the desperate, chaotic scramble to leave Kyiv as a city emptied overnight.

This isn't a polished survivor's tale. It's honest, human, and told with the kind of dark humour that only comes from living through something truly unimaginable. Seen by BBC, ITV, Sky News and CNN - and heading to the Welsh, Scottish, and Danish Parliaments - this is your chance to hear it up close, in our little corner of North Yorkshire.

Last few seats available. £12–£19.

👉 Book now for in person tickets: https://settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/how-not-to-flee-a-war/

Or online tickets: https://settlestories.org.uk/whats-on-event/how-not-to-flee-a-war-online/

The Joinery, Settle · Thursday 4 June · 6:30pm

Address

The Joinery, Dawsons Court, Market Place
Settle
BD249ED

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+441729822292

Website

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