Neighbourhood Storytelling Events and more.
The cornerstone of Touch are our neighbourhood storytelling events, where we invite adults from local communities to meet new people and share and connect with real life stories.
Storytelling events and community socials.
Our storytelling events are all free to attend, but you do need to book in advance. We also sometimes run community socials and other events – take a look below.
Join us for an Evening of Live Storytelling at Retro Cafe in 34 Bedford Place, Southampton, SO15 2DG.
At our events you’ll hear real-life stories from ordinary, extraordinary people. The stories will be about overcoming life’s challenges; they will be real and honest, but also hopeful and positive. You can expect to come away feeling touched and inspired!
Tickets are free, but make sure you book yours in advance – unfortunately we can’t admit walk-ins. The generous Touch community still plays a huge role in making our work possible, and we’re so grateful for donations. Our events are supported by the National Lottery.
As always, thank you for your support and we hope to see you there! – The Touch Network team
This venue serves alcohol
This event is suitable for people aged 18+
How does a storytelling event work?
Events bring people together, creating shared human experience and connection. By providing a platform for sharing our everyday stories of struggle, we can understand mental wellbeing and eradicate isolation.
Touch storytelling events invite people to take to the stage to share their stories of struggle and challenge with a warm, inviting audience.
Storytellers are gently supported to keep the atmosphere and discussion uplifting, positive and inspirational. Our focus is always on hope and human resilience, which also allows for the storyteller to gain perspective on the obstacles they have overcome as well as encouraging listeners.
Our life stories are diverse, some take you on an intense rollercoaster of emotion, others are more subtle, but they all forge connection. Listeners often relate to the story, and feel relief that they are not the only one to feel a certain way. Speakers feel accepted and lighter through sharing their story. As a group, we value and respect our differences and similarities simultaneously.
All stories are real and honest, hopeful and positive, with a focus on resilience and overcoming. There’s no obligation to speak, feel free to come, listen and meet new people.
Watch a storytelling event.
If you do come to an event, you can expect to leave feeling touched and inspired. But don’t take our word for it, you can see it yourself in the video below or read the experiences of our guests.
What type of events do you run?
We organise both face to face storytelling events and mini online storytelling events via Zoom.
Face to face events are ticketed. Refreshments are sometimes included within the ticket price. We invite four speakers to talk for 10 – 20 minutes about how they have, or are, overcoming personal struggles such as managing mental health difficulties balancing family life, coping with loneliness, dealing with grief, facing cultural challenges and much more.
Our mini-storytelling events’ take place on Zoom. The mini storytelling events are introduced by a host and will feature one speaker (which is why we call them our ‘mini events’!) We will then have the opportunity to chat together. Overall, the mini storytelling events last approximately 30 minutes, so we hope you can squeeze us in during your lunch hour or before your favourite TV programme!
Your events have really inspired me, how can I host an event in my neighbourhood?
Our vision for Touch is for storytelling events to be held in every neighbourhood in our city.
We can’t make this a reality without volunteers. Get in touch with [email protected] to get the ball rolling.
Alternatively, if you have a venue you think will be the perfect setting for a storytelling event, let us know as we’re always on the lookout for interesting places to host.
I’m ready to share my story. Can I speak at your event?
Thank you for being interested in contributing to a storytelling event, we really appreciate it.
We are always on the lookout for people to share stories of overcoming something in their life, either from the present or past. To date, we’ve had stories of overcoming grief, self-harm, depression, bipolar disorder, shyness, perfectionism, cultural barriers and much, much more, such is the varied fabric of life! Talking about life’s challenges is good for all of our mental wellbeing.
If you are interested in sharing your story, please email [email protected] with a brief outline of your overcoming journey. Kate, our storytelling coach, will respond to you as soon as possible and organise a chat to discuss your story further.
If you do choose to share at an event, you’ll receive support and coaching in advance. At the event, you’ll share for about 15 minutes in front of a supportive audience.
Our funders.
We are very grateful to our funders who have enabled us to extend the network of our events, bringing together more people across our city to share their stories.
