Storyteller at the Longmead Centre as part of Family Learning Festival
This event was the second appearance of the Storyteller, Alexander Somerville, at the Longmead Centre. Some of the participants remembered his last visit when the session had been about the Gingerbread man and all had been encouraged to invent a voice for the Gingerbread man or take on different personae to outwit him. This time, Alex Somerville wanted to draw stories out of the Longmead members.
Alex asked everyone to give one true and one false piece of information about themselves. There were some interesting juxtapositions and often the more plausible fact proved to be untrue. Denise, for example, said she always cut her brother’s hair and then added that she had been threatened with a gun. Few guessed that the latter was true!
Alex then asked people to talk about the happiest moments in their lives. The ladies instantly said the happiest days of their lives had been their wedding day or the birth of a child. The men seemed to have wartime stories of derring-do! For all of them, the workshop was bringing to the surface stories that had long been buried. Some of the stories were exciting, some harrowing but they were all told in vivid detail and a remarkable natural ability to engage the listener. There was an instinctive understanding of the structure of a story, the need for a description of place and for active dialogue.
Harry, a former head teacher and RAF pilot recalled having to circle Lincoln cathedral while Tom remembered being confined to barracks for racing around Coulsden Common on a motorcycle. More sobering was Denise remembering being made homeless as a seven year old and living on the streets with her mother until “the ladies” put them in a home. She talked about her fiancée being in Burma and never receiving his letters.
This poignant mix of stories could lead to short creative writing classes to submit some stories to the BBC My Story website. Many of those who participated were keen to take this further . The participants will be invited to commit their memories to paper, and with help from 'computer buddies' these stories will be uploaded on to the BBC website with the main aim being to weave a story to tell out of the elusive fragments of memories that need to be preserved.
Silver Surfers Spring Up!
Nobody realised what had been started when SLLP and the WEA organised a Silver Surfers' taster event at the Longmead centre, Epsom on May 15th 2009. The turn-out and enthusiasm of members of the community led to a 5 week course starting. To cater for increasing numbers, it was decided to hold separate morning and afternoon sessions, and even these had 13 learners in each one which proved quite a challenge to the tutor and volunteer.
Both courses were successful and Jerry Lewis, the centre manager, decided to advertise further. The result is that the WEA are now running three courses at the Longmead Centre and Nescot have taken on one more. There are at least forty learners participating on a Thursday and Friday, with more on a waiting list.
The interest shown prompted SLLP to help constitute the 'InterGenEpsom' group which bid for Councillors Allocation Funding from Cllr Jan Mason and Cllr Colin Taylor. Their £2,000 contribution means that InterGenEpsom can purchase its own laptops which will be available to other community groups in the Court & Ruxley Wards
This will free up Surrey LLP laptops (which are currently in use at the Longmead) which are needed in places where organisations including the U3A and Age Concern are gently coaxing their members to realise what the computer and internet can offer those who might otherwise feel isolated or be left behind in Digital Britain.
- The Box Hill Project continues to flourish with the WEA coming in one afternoon a week to provide for those who had been on a waiting list for some time.
- At Age Concern, Dorking, the Committee have now passed a motion which allows
Joyce Riley-Smith to go ahead and realise her dream of Silver Surfer sessions at the Christian Centre. - In Bookham, Joan Gillingham and in Fetcham, Dr.Tony Cox, are hoping to use laptops at the Baptist Church, Bookham or to access the state-of-the-art IT suites at St. Andrews School or West Hill school, both in Leatherhead.
With greater access to the internet via computer courses in community settings, SLLP hopes to tackle the social exclusion that is caused by the Digital Divide.
