Storyhouse Women: Live updates from the festival
Our live blogging team will be bringing you updates across the weekend
Join the We Are Chester team as we live blog the Storyhouse Women weekend. We’ll be here to bring you all the latest on the event, which runs on Saturday, 2 and Sunday, 3 March.
Our reporting team today are Success Agor, Modupe Ajetumobi, Jason Campbell, Rasika Udagama and Saptha Kannachankandy, with editor, Angela Ferguson.
‘That’s a wrap!’
Well, as Storyhouse Women draws to a close for another year, it’s time to take our leave with memories of a fun and also thought-provoking weekend of events and activities.
Thank you for joining us as we have been live blogging from a number of the talks, workshops and performances.
Storyhouse has been absolutely buzzing over the course of the weekend.
Before we go, we hand over to one of the hard working Storyhouse Women team, Dr Dawn Llewellyn for the last word.
Mesmerising performance
Our reporter, Modupe Ajetumobi has been enjoying listening to the beautiful voice of Clara Day in the Kitchen at Storyhouse.
Storyhouse Women Q&A
Our reporter, Modupe Ajetumobi is at the Storyhouse Women Q&A in the main theatre.
The panel, led by broadcaster and writer, Louise Minchin, are discussing activism.
Fusion choir
One of the highlights of our weekend covering Storyhouse Women has got to be the array of performances staged in the Kitchen area.
Enjoy a flavour of the Fusion Choir here from earlier this afternoon, courtesy of Modupe Ajetumobi.
There is No ‘Honour’ in Abuse
This panel discussion, hosted by the Savera UK charity, has looked at the ‘hidden’ issues of ‘honour’ based abuse (HBA), which it says are happening in Cheshire, reports Success Agor.
It has also looked at harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), virginity testing and conversion therapy.
The panel included the CEO and founder of Savera UK, Afrah Qassim.
Nature and Grief
With the healing benefits of being out in nature often talked about in terms of our mental health, our reporter Success Agor has been to the Nature and Grief workshop.
Also speaking at the workshop, Mel Beamish said: “Don’t try to run away from the grief, feel it, get the best from life, take those baby steps by visiting grief support centres, talk to someone about it and gradually heal from it.”
Childless Collective
Among those organisations represented in the Storyhouse Women marketplace today is the Childless Collective.
They are on Instagram under the @childlesscollective handle.
‘Menstruation is hard, let’s make it better’
Our reporter Saptha Kannachankandy has been at the Menstrual Cycle workshop at Storyhouse Women today (Sunday).
Sharing a clip from the workshop showing attendees being taught self-massage techniques, Saptha says “menstruation is hard always, let’s make it better”.
Be more ‘medium’
An intriguingly-titled workshop held as part of Storyhouse Women has been discussing Why It’s Okay To Be A Bit More Medium.
Storyhouse Women focus group member and University of Chester lecturer Dr Dawn Llewellyn has posted about the “brilliant conversation about disrupting the culture of ‘smashing’ life and the pernicious expectations of ‘success’”.
Fallen Angels Dance Theatre are next up to perform in the Kitchen area at Storyhouse.
Here’s a taster of their performance filmed by our reporter Success Agor.
We had a catch up with Claire from Fallen Angels and Holly, who has been facilitating the speed friending session today.
It’s Bollywood dancing time, courtesy of Lalita’s Bollywood dance group from Northwich.
And here they are in action.
Speaking from The Future of Chester is Female panel discussion, Storyhouse Women focus group member, Dr Dawn Llewellyn has posted on X: “Brilliant comment from @annabelturpin – we need to normalize vulnerability, fear, imposter syndrome…and never be scared to ask questions!”
Our reporter Saptha Kannachankandy is also at the talk.
11am: We’re back for the second day of Storyhouse Women.
A reminder here of what’s happening today (Sunday).
‘The Future of Chester is Female’
As day two of Storyhouse Women gets underway, a panel including the chief executive of Storyhouse Annabel Turpin, Cheshire West and Chester Council leader Cllr Louise Gittins and University of Chester vice chancellor Eunice Simmons has begun.
Our live updates from Saturday
That’s it for today’s live blog. Join us back here for more updates on Sunday.
Imposter syndrome
“I felt I couldn’t do my job; I felt I shouldn’t be there.”
Jason Campbell was listening to Nicola Lasikiewicz speaking at the intriguingly-entitled talk on imposter syndrome.
Confidence level-up
Jason Campbell popped in to the Confidence – Level Up workshop to find out what it was all about.
It was hosted by Marie-Claire Ashcroft and Maggie Chen and looked like one heck of a lot of fun.
It’s described on the Storyhouse website as an interactive session that “goes beyond generational barriers, providing a platform for connection with women of different ages.
“Harness the transformative power of storytelling as you inspire and uplift others, ultimately boosting your personal confidence.”
EFT Tapping for Anxiety
We were intrigued by the premise of this workshop from Jess Wilkins-Cooke at Breathe Easy Meditation, in a world where many experience anxiety.
Our reporter Modupe went along to find out more about Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
She was fascinated by the use of tapping parts of the body like the head while saying positive affirmations.
EFT tapping is described by Jess as an evidence-based technique designed to promote calmness and emotional well-being.
It can be a valuable tool in helping us manage the array of emotions we may feel, from work-based anxiety, overwhelm in family life, struggling with past experiences, emotional eating or phobias.
Impact of caring
Next up is a talk on The Impact of Caring on Women and Girls.
Some 59 per cent of carers are women, according to the 2021 census.
The panel includes Laura Holden from Cheshire and Warrington Carers who is offering information and guidance on this subject, looking at the definition of a caregiver, the sort of support available support, and existing networks.
The panel is being facilitated by Councillor Adam Langan from Cheshire West and Chester Council.
Singing Mamas Choir
The Singing Mamas choir are now performing with some beautiful harmonies, writes Success Agor.
They are a national organisation with a branch in Hoole in Chester.
They work with the NHS on prescription and say they are looking to uplift women and children for a weekly dose of joyful and uplifting harmony.
The group singing in a circle today include adults and children.
Jason Campbell filmed them performing.
Our reporter Success Agor has been speaking to one of the people behind Singing Mamas Choir, Rachel Waite.
Talking about why the organisation was set up, Rachel said they help people’s wellbeing by enabling them to “relax through singing”.
She added that “you do not need to know how to sing or follow the notes, just come and sing”.
Climate solutions
Our reporter Success Agor has been hearing about climate solutions and the importance of reducing plastic usage at one of the workshops taking place at Storyhouse as part of Storyhouse Women weekend.
We’re here at the start of the event, and there’s a bustling atmosphere as the marketplace gets going in the Kitchen area.
Organisations like the Eco Communities Project and Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service are represented.
The first talk is about to begin – Why Do We Need Storyhouse Women? Our team will be providing live updates through the day.
Challenging Your Inner Critic
Our reporter Jason Campbell is in the Garret theatre at Storyhouse for this workshop on self-doubt and imposter syndrome.
It’s being led by Karen Llewellyn and Laura Teare Jones.
Our report Rasika Udagama also attended this workshop, sharing the following photo on X (formerly Twitter).
How Giving Back Saved My LIfe
Dr Dawn Llewellyn from the University of Chester and part of the Storyhouse Women focus group has spoken of how powerful the How Giving Back Saved My Life talk was.
The Dee Sign Choir perform in the Kitchen
The Dee Sign Choir are about to perform as part of Storyhouse Women weekend.
Climate talk
One of our roving reporters Jason Campbell has been into a talk called Why Empowering Women and Girls Means Better Climate Solutions.
The panel included Rev Grace Thomas, Helen Tandy from Eco Communities in Chester, Rebecca Collins, Asha Sandhia Singaram.
More from the Pop Vox choir
It’s fair to say our reporting team loved listening to the joyous sound of the Pop Vox choir, with Success Agor busting some moves on the floor of the Kitchen at Storyhouse.
#Everydaysexism talk
Why Do We Need Storyhouse Women?
Some of our team have been at the launch event of the festival, including Success Agor who has been live tweeting.
She sums up the essence of Storyhouse Women below.
11:15am: Pop Vox choir perform in the KitchenA rousing performance from the Pop Vox choir in the Kitchen right now. Beautiful harmonies filling Storyhouse at the start of the Storyhouse Women Weekend.
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