Community Histories, Shared Stories
The Local Challenge
In Paignton, many families from diverse cultural backgrounds experience isolation as they adjust to life in a new environment. Without established support networks, language confidence, or access to familiar community spaces, both adults and older family members often feel disconnected from local life. This lack of representation and meaningful interaction can contribute to loneliness, anxiety, and long-term exclusion.
The Initiative
Community Histories, Shared Stories invites three to four minoritised community groups to co-create a community zine that reflects their cultures, memories, and daily lives. Across several creative workshops, participants of all ages use drawing, poetry, diary entries, recipes, photographs, and other forms to tell their stories. Families choose the themes, such as identity, migration, or heritage, while facilitators provide a safe, inclusive space to experiment and collaborate. The initiative culminates in a community celebration, where the zine is launched alongside cultural food, music, and conversation, and the final publication is shared both in print and digitally; by highlighting lived experience in participants’ own voices, the zine becomes a living record of cultural pride, exchange, and representation.
What’s Next?
The project aims to reduce isolation, strengthen confidence, and boost intercultural understanding in Paignton. Families will gain new creative skills, visibility, and stronger intergenerational connections, while the wider community benefits from opportunities to encounter stories often missing from public spaces. For other libraries, the initiative creates a model for future community-led storytelling initiatives. Over time, the relationships built and the stories shared are expected to spark ongoing community engagement, inspire future collaborations, and ensure the voices of underrepresented groups continue to be celebrated in local life.
Contact theeuropechallenge@culturalfoundation.eu if you have any questions or want to be connected with the team behind the project.
