Telling stories about people who have migrated has never been more important, or felt more risky. Across North West England, organisations are heading into Christmas appeal season unsure whether they can safely put a client, or even a volunteer, in front of a camera, while hostile posts, hotel protests and misinformation keep coming.
This free two hour workshop from IMIX, is a practical session on speaking out while keeping people safe. You will leave with real drafts you can use this winter, not just notes.
The workshop will cover:
- Telling human stories through hostility: why personal stories still shift attitudes, what makes them land with a sceptical local audience, and how to stress-test a story before it goes out.
- Storytelling when it isn't safe to be seen: voice notes, staff and volunteers as messengers, imagery that humanises without identifying, and consent-led written stories. You'll make all three in the session.
- Countering misinformation: what to respond to, what to ignore, and how to reframe rather than repeat, using recent Yorkshire examples.
- Holding difficult conversations: responding to hostile comments in public and one to one.
Keeping people safe: consent, aftercare for storytellers, and where to get support. Safeguarding runs through the whole session.
How the session works
The workshop is delivered online, but the practical work happens in the room. You are asked to join as a staff team, or to gather with partner organisations in a shared local space, with one laptop, a phone and a few printed handouts. IMIX facilitates remotely and your group does the exercises together. If you're joining on your own, that's fine too, you will be placed in a small virtual group with others from the region.