The Oxfordshire Storytelling project was led by members of the Oxfordshire Comms Group (Achieve Oxfordshire, Home-Start Oxford, Healthwatch Oxfordshire, West Oxfordshire District Council, Rethink Mental Illness, and Oxfordshire County Council in collaboration with the Old Fire Station. The project aimed to:

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– Support partners to understand the Storytelling evaluation method and how to put it into practice.

– Amplify the voices and perspectives of those closest to the work, informed by the Oxfordshire Mental Wellbeing Needs Assessment 2021.

– Use the learning emerging from the stories to develop our understanding of local needs, how change happens and inform future

   communications and support services related to mental wellbeing.

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Over the course of 9 months, members of the Oxfordshire Comms Group were trained in using the Storytelling method, including how to collect and edit stories. They then collected stories from people involved in different ways in mental wellbeing support – parents, community researchers, staff members and volunteers. In June 2022, we brought together colleagues from a range of local partners to discuss the stories, focussing on what we could learn from them about mental wellbeing support.

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Click here to read the report