Phase 2 of The Ripple Effect 2026 is underway. Anna and Laura have begun meeting the new groups in Hertford and High Wych, and Session 1 was all about character and storytelling.

We set the room up with familiar materials on the tables, crosswords and word searches that linked to the themes we were exploring, alongside printed sheets where participants shared their favourite books and films. It was simple way to begin, but provided consistency for the group and gave us ice-breakers.

The first main activity invited participants to work in pairs or groups, building stories out of images, environments, objects, people, colours and textures and then challenge the rest of the group to guess which story they were representing.

The second activity introduced some archetypes (Hero, Villain, Rebel, Lover, Jester, Sidekick) and invited pairs to build a character from a selection of props, fabrics, costume images and descriptive words. It was a lovely way to see what people knew of each other, and how they chose to represent others in the room.

We are now looking over the long list of favourite stories and films from both groups to find the commonalities and categories. Next time we are exploring story and place.

This project is supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players.