In February, Bradford City of Sanctuary, Race Equality Network and Bradford Storyhub collaborated to deliver a storytelling workshop for migrants and people seeking sanctuary in Bradford.

We decided on the theme of ‘reclaiming the narrative’. With false and dangerous stereotypes about people seeking sanctuary flying around the headlines, it’s more important than ever to amplify the voices of people with lived experience of migration. Storytelling has become an important tool to fight back against hate.

The workshop was delivered by John Offord from Bradford Storyhub, a year-long storytelling project supporting local people to share their perspectives on life in Bradford. John is an experienced journalist, communicator and facilitator, and is passionate about empowering people to tell their own stories.

John used the workshop to initiate a thoughtful discussion about media representation, false news, and the prevalence of disinformation in media. Participants were given the opportunity to reflect on their experiences of life in Bradford and share their own stories.

The participants shared incredibly powerful, personal stories about their lives in Bradford, not only of the difficulties of arriving in a new city, but also the kindness and community welcome they’d found here. For participants, the reality of life in Bradford turned out to be a far cry from the crime-ridden, ‘dead town’ that the headlines portrayed it to be.

Participants also discussed the importance of authenticity, and how storytelling from a place of experience and lived reality can be used to shift hearts and minds. All too often the stories told about migrants, and about Bradford, are told by people with no real experience to speak from.

We are excited to see how participants choose to develop and share these stories, speaking from a place of truth and lived experience to reclaim the narrative around life in Bradford.

As one of our participants said, ‘I am happy to share this space with people of like minds, and knowing that I have the power through my stories to reclaim the narrative’.

The workshop was the first in our Paths to Power Programme, a series of workshops organised by Bradford City of Sanctuary and Race Equality Network to empower people seeking sanctuary to know their rights and advocate for themselves. Keep an eye on our Events page for any future workshops.