This week is National Storytelling Week - a week celebrating storytelling, reading and writing for pleasure. And, Kangaroo Self Storage is delighted to support the Week in Stoke.
The National Storytelling Week is run by the National Literacy Trust – a long-standing customer at Kangaroo in Tunstall. The week marks the start of a Year of Reading being championed by the Trust at a time when fewer young people are reading and writing regularly.
Funded by Kangaroo, the Trust has teamed up with local poet and artist, Martin Gooding, who will lead a series of workshops in local primary schools encouraging young people to tell their stories of change.
Storytelling Week has never been so important as the Trust’s annual research identifies that young people’s enjoyment of reading and writing is at an all-time low.
Their report reveals that:
Lois Bateman the Trust’s Hub manager in Stoke said; "This year Storytelling Week aims to encourage primary school children to pick up a book or a pen by tapping in to their enjoyment of music.”
“In morning sessions, young people will explore themes of change, stepping up and new journeys ahead. Local poet and artist Martin Gooding will lead the sessions. Working in groups of 4/5, children will tell their stories and discuss their hopes and fears at times of change, all using the medium of spoken poetry to music. This is a particularly important topic during their final year and the transition into secondary school.”
“The onsite team at Kangaroo are great and supportive of all the work we do in the city. The storage is helpful and the access is just what we need. We’re grateful to Kangaroo Self Storage for making this week happen for pupils in Stoke. We’re looking forward to building on this momentum across the city throughout the year.”
Our Stoke store manager, Melissa Beaman, will be at one of the schools to see the pupils produce their recordings following the workshop. Melissa said; “We’re excited to be able to support the Trust with Storytelling Week. They’ve been a customer for so long that it’s great to be able to get behind their wonderful work.”
“We’re looking forward to getting involved in more initiatives later in the year. In the summer there is – Tales in the Park - a storytelling festival held across the parks of the six towns of Stoke. Then there’s Story Quest – a free story trail guide for families that takes them around local outdoor spaces while they complete physical and written challenges. Families will be able to pick up the free guide from our stores in Tunstall and Hanley.”
This year, National Storytelling Week marks the first Go All In Together moment for the National Year of Reading. These moments are live events for schools and settings to celebrate reading and literacy, together across the UK. Kangaroo Self Storage is supporting the Trust by funding the workshops led by Martin Gooding in Stoke. The storage company has two storage centres at Tunstall and Hanley and provides a range of private, internal self-storage units for commercial, personal and student customers. Additionally, both stores offer several secure drive up storage units inside the perimeter of the site.
