Stories are powerful and have a lasting impact on people. Using the ‘lost art’ of story-telling with the local Award-winning Khayaal Theatre, Grassroots & Luton Council of Faiths, have delivered, with the support from Westhill Endowment, over 15 multi-faith storytelling performances consisting of character and virtue-nourishing stories, to over 3000 children across Luton.
The storytelling aims to spell inter-faith and intercultural understanding and peacebuilding in the most creative way, especially to young audiences.
At the end of each storytelling performance, children and adults are invited to identify, articulate, and reflect on the shared overarching humanitarian values that the stories promote and celebrate.
During Inter Faith Week, which is a programme of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, a special community storytelling event was hosted by Luton’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Stopsley.
At this event, the Mayor of Luton Cllr Mohammed Yaqub Hanif said, “In our world full of negative stories, it is good to have an event like this, where we can share positive stories, and that too stories from different faiths and cultures.”
“Very often religion gets blamed for the world’s problems. It is actually not religion, but the ‘misuse of religion’ by a few people that creates problems.”
“As we have watched and heard the stories from different faiths and cultures this evening, I am sure we have seen how religion only teaches good things.”
“I hope the stories we have heard today will inspire us all to become better human beings and will encourage us to make our town and our world a better place for all.”
After the storytelling performance was over, the mixed audience of young and old, identified that values of kindness, generosity, patience, faith, courage, perseverance, and resilience were common in all the stories told from the Hindu, Jewish, Christian & Muslim backgrounds.
Concluding the event, Gulie Butcher, Vice Chair of the Luton Council of Faiths, said, “Every culture has a storytelling tradition and has stories to inspire and enliven, but so much depends on the storyteller and how it creates rapport with the audience.”
Addressing Khayaal Theatre’s storyteller Eleanor Martin, Gulie said, “We have enjoyed the rapport with you and we are inspired and enlivened. What a fitting way to end Interfaith Week.
Khayaal Theatre’s storyteller Eleanor Martin, delivering a multi-faith storytelling performance at Luton’s Sacred Heart Church Hall, organised by Grassroots & Luton Council of Faiths, in commemorating this year’s Inter Faith Week.