The Leeds Incapacity Employment Project is there to help unemployed people get back into work.
Some of the participants who came along to the BBC Leeds Radio Festival workshops had experienced depression whilst others were finding it difficult to find work because of physical disabilities.
Moving stories
Several recorded very moving stories about their experiences and, in the process, inspired us all with their determination.
Professional storyteller Shonaleigh and radio reporter Kate Davy worked with them on the project as part of the BBC Radio Leeds Radio Festival 2007.
When I met a ghost
Participants learnt how to use radio recording equipment and interviewed each other on subjects such as, ‘When I met a ghost’ and ‘What I couldn’t live without’. Shonaleigh says she couldn’t live without either her son or her stories, whilst Kate says she’d struggle to get anywhere on time without her bicycle. Hear what the participants at the Leeds Incapacity Employment Project said they couldn’t live without – mascara and mayonnaise included. Shonaleigh turned some of the group’s recordings into two traditional-type stories.
“When I heard Steph tell her story about not being able to live without laughter I thought of the traditional English character called Jack, who’s as relevant now as he was a thousand years ago.
“Jack’s the fool that is wise and he’s survived because of the inherent wisdom in the stories. This story is about the idea that a parent will do anything to make their child laugh, and Steph shows us that we’re all storytellers.”
Struggles against the system
“Many traditional folk tales are about ordinary people and their struggles against the system,” says Shonaleigh.
“One way to criticise oppression was to turn it into a tale and satirise it.” This next piece blends the worlds of folktale with the disgruntlements of modern life.
Story 1: I Can’t Live Without
Story 2: Ghosts
Story 3: Laughter
Story 4: The King