Grassroots Programme
Tales of Wonder and Wisdom
GRASSROOTS is a Christian ecumenical programme of community engagement. The organisation strives to uncover a sharp edge of engagement with contemporary issues of community cohesion, peace and reconciliation, and injustice and inequality in Luton’s diverse context.
In partnership with Luton Council of Faiths which is a charity promoting Peace through inter-faith and inter-cultural understanding, we want to spell the peace-building message in the most creative way, especially to the young audiences.
We are using the ‘lost art’ of story-telling to deliver to the local schools & community groups, Multi-faith Storytelling performances, which consist of character and virtue nourishing stories.
The stories are theatrically performed over 50 minutes followed by 10-15 minutes of conversation with options for extended engagement through games and exercises. It supports Religious Education (RE), PSHE, Citizenship, Art & Design and English strands of the KS2 national curriculum.
We are grateful to The Westhill Foundation for supporting this creative piece of work.
Stories are powerful and have a lasting impact on people, especially when it is delivered professionally by the likes of multi-Award winning Luton-based Khayaal Theatre.
These stories seek to reinforce human goodwill and human values, which resonate with all faiths, communities, and cultures and also with the British values and virtues. It therefore has a mass appeal.
Art transcends boundaries and it is known to touch peoples’ hearts. And we can tell this from our experience that our multi-faith storytelling, not only speak to people in an inclusive manner, but it also impacts all people, regardless of their faith or beliefs, in a powerful and in a transformative way.
Our stories form a collection of wisdom tales from the Hindu, Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths traditions. The multi-faith storytelling performances invite children & adults to identify, articulate and reflect on the shared overarching humanitarian values.
We believe the rich diversity, particularly within the art of storytelling, is far more palatable and culturally relevant in the contemporary British context, particularly when we are trying to impact on the young people. Amidst the negative stories of hate and intolerance, constantly propagated by the media, our multi-faith storytelling project, help to dispel many prejudices and promote the spirit of a harmonious multi-cultural coexistence. Moreover, it also aims to inspire children from minority backgrounds to discover and connect back with their respective positive faith and cultural heritage, which is not at odds with the British values, rather complements it.
For more information check the Grassroots website.
