Episode 15 - In Conversation with...Nicola Haigh talking about Kaleidoscope Festival at the Storyhouse, Chester

Hello! Welcome to the Autism Wellbeing Project's new podcast, the Autism Wellbeing Podcast, which has been created by the community members who use the services that they provide to autistic adults in and around Cheshire and across the UK!

Joining Stephen on the show today is Community Manager for multi-purpose venue. Storyhouse, Nicola Haigh, on-location for the first time! Recording in this incredible renovated grade II listed Art Deco Odeon cinema, Storyhouse is a charity and an award-winning independent arts centre based in the heart of Chester in the North West of England which is home to theatres, libraries and cinemas as well as free community spaces for groups to meet.

Nestled in The Den of the Children's Library of this incredible building, Nicola is interviewed in this incredible space talking about one of the festivals she co-creates with the community, Kaleidoscope Festival, a week's celebration for those with learning disabilities, neurodiversity and disabled people through different events from dance workshops to a talent show extravaganza. This year, the Autism Wellbeing Podcast has been asked to be a part of this special week as a pop-up podcast, where we will be interviewing people attending the festival on Wednesday 8th July! To be interviewed by the team, slots can be booked through the Storyhouse website (link will be listed below).

Nicola shares about how the idea of the pop-up podcast event that we are hosting  came to fruition, how working at the Storyhouse on co-production projects with the Learning Disability and/or Neurodiverse communities has made Kaleidoscope Festival so unique and what other festivals Storyhouse has to offer.

Want to know about The Autism Wellbeing Project and the amazing activities that are provided for free for autistic adults? 

Come and be a part of our inclusive and welcoming community that supports over 300 people across the UK! For more information, please click for the link to our website here

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Perfection. La la la la la. You alright?

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Yeah, yeah, I'm alright.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Have you done this before?

SPEAKER_01 0:13

No, I don't think so. No, hang on. I've done a podcast, but it was on Zoom.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Oh, it's not the same. No. You don't feel the energy and my presence. Which is always the the bonus, isn't it? Hello everyone, how are you doing? And welcome to the AWP podcast, the Autism Wellbeing Project. I'm your host, Steven Jolleran, and the keen eyed amongst you, and if you're hearing this, you won't see this, but we're in a different location. We're actually in Chester right now, and I'm going to introduce where we are in just a second. But thank you so much for everyone who's tuned in, who's listening, who's who's sharing. It's all really, really good, and thank you so much. But before we get into it, let's introduce our guests.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Hello.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Hello, who are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Um I am Nicola, Nicola Haig. I am the community's manager at Story House in Chester.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Been here long?

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Yeah, I've been with the organisation for about 12 years. 12 years?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Wow. And this place is an absolutely incredible place, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yeah, it's the gem of uh the golden crown, I think some people call it in Chester City Centre. So yeah, we're in our ninth year, so next year's our 10th birthday.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Brilliant. Oh, thank you so much for everything you do here. I mean it's an amazing building, and we're gonna go into little factions of it in just a second. But it's customary at this point in the podcast to have a little joke.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Okay, laugh then.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

What do you call a big ant?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

A big ant? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Giant.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Oh giant? It breaks in so many levels that if you think about it. Well done, thank you very much for that. Did you enjoy it? What about everyone in the room? Did you like it?

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Brilliant. We have got a team of people behind the camera right there, all doing sterling work, so thank you. Brief history of this place, if you could tell them how this place came to be.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Okay, so Story House is a cultural centre in the city centre of Chester in the northwest of England. And yeah, over ten years ago now, the Odien Cinema, which had been here for years and years, was derelict, and it was lots of people's idea to turn the space and to redevelop it into a multi-arts centre. So we now have two theatres, an independent cinema, a cafe, restaurant, community hub, and the library for Chester City Centre as well, which comes under the Cheshire Western Chester.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

It's fantastic the way it's been. I mean, I love heritage buildings and bringing them into the 21st century and doing something really amazing with them. Because otherwise it wouldn't be here, would it? It'd just been knocked down and a block of flats. It doesn't matter. Obviously, the cinema's really, really good here. But we've also got art places, uh cafes, a bar, we've got a theatre. So there's something coming up very important on the July month, isn't there?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Yeah, so one of the projects that I co-curate here at First Story House is called Kaleidoscope, which is a festival to celebrate people with neurodiversities and learning disabilities. We use the term for, by and with. We co-curate with our communities.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

And who's coming to it?

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Oh, well, tickets are on sale now. This is the sixth year, sixth or seventh year we've run the festival. And so essentially the tickets are open to everyone, but the programme really spotlights people with different neurodiversities or learning disabilities, learning difficulties, and their communities and allies. So we very much welcome like anyone to come along, really.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

And we we're obviously we're gonna be here too in this very spot. We're doing slots for people to come and share their lived experiences as well as well, aren't we?

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Yep, so delighted to put you in the programme. The idea came from the focus group who I work with on a monthly basis. So Joe, I think it was, said, Oh, could we have a podcast at the festival this year? And at Story House, we don't have any podcasting experience or equipment.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

It's a murky, it's a murky area podcasting. It can be really, really great and really, really stressful at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

So, anyway, I did a quick Google and your project popped up.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Maybe someone mentioned that they'd heard of you through the Great Vine.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

And Joe was in the podcast as well, wasn't he? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

So I looked you up, realised that it was a thing, and that my colleague had even been on the podcast. And so, yeah, we made connections and thought, right, let's, you know, utilise our resources. You come to Story House and you run the podcast for us so people can book a slot to come and talk to you on the Wednesday, which is the 8th of July. Um, and we're gonna be using this space too, this cozy dan and within the library area. So if you'd like to come and tell your story and come and have a chat with the team, then book a slot and yeah, it's gonna be really fun.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

So we've only got four slots available for you to come and tell your story. Um, but are you gonna be in the market for doing your own podcast at some point and just as a premises?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

I'm also not expecting that question because there's a lot of podcasts out there that do really good stuff and it highlights the importance of what you do here.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Tell the marketing team. Who's that you, Kat?

SPEAKER_00 5:25

You've got loads of uh different crowds of people all doing the stuff, business people, all on the laptops and that. So is there anything that really surprised you about this role when you first joined and started? Or did you, I don't know, did you know instantly because it is a major success this place?

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah, I think part of my role, my brief, was to make sure that people that wouldn't normally see themselves as going into a theatre or a cinema or like a restaurant. It was my job to make sure that people were welcomed and communities were welcome to come into the space and use it. You know, in 2017 when the building opened, assuming that a lot of people have gone, oh, what's that? What's that new thing? Am I welcome there? What even is it? Is it the new theatre? Like Story House still gets called the new theatre. Oh, really? Because there was a used to be a theatre called the Gateway just in the middle of Chester. My job to make sure that people knew that it was a fully multi-dimensional space that was open, you didn't have to come and spend any money, you could just come and spend time in the building. I guess as we sort of started meeting more communities and more groups, it felt right to host festivals, create a buzz with loads of activities and work with those communities to see what they would wanted to see and do in the building. And so I didn't get told at the start to go and find some disability communities.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

It's been an organic process.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

It has, yeah. But what actually happened was that I was sat in the offices just like in the early days and saw a group from Canal Street Daycare Centre, which is situated just down the hill there, and they walked past the building, and I hold my hands up, fully hold my hands up, because I've not come from a disability background, come from an arts background. I saw the group walking into town and I thought, oh wow, I've not been to speak to any disability charities, and it was sort of a bit of a wake-up call to myself. Those people I think will probably walk past here and not know what it is, not feel welcome, not have the normal access to the arts that other people would. So straight away I went and introduced myself, and the rest is history, really. So yeah, they're from a company called Vivo Care Choices, and so we talk to Vivo a lot. That's when Kaleidoscope was born, really. We thought, right, let's get these people in. We did a one-day festival, which has now turned into a week-long festival.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

It's amazing, isn't it? It just shows how much interest there is in the place, really. It is dynamic, there's so much to do here, and so you're spoiled for choice, really, aren't you?

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Yeah, but it's also not about the building, the building is the people that come in and do stuff.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Yeah, the community you've built.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

The building is just the shell and the resources, whereas Story House is all about the festivals, the events, the theatre, the cinema, the people that come and co-work, that drink coffee, etc. etc.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

And everyone speaks so highly of this place, it's made an emotional impact on them. Do you feel comfortable here? Do you feel valued? And that's something that many people don't have in their employment or in their way of life. So it's it's really good what you've done here, what this place is doing as a collective. I've not done it. Well, everyone's doing it, and it's a collective effort, you know what I mean? And so uh going to your background, and you said you're a creative background person. So, what did you do before this?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

So, I've always worked in the arts and cultural sectors. I wanted to be an artist, you know, that didn't happen for me, so kind of found a way on how I could work with artists or work with the arts as a tool to help make the world a better place.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Oh, brilliant. There's a lot of that going on in my neck of the woods now, murals popping up, and we all congregate in the local tap, and it's all really great, it's all collective stuff, and because I think progress is made through creative spheres. Do you know what I mean? You see all these inspirational quotes on the wall, you see colour, you see art going on. It's beautiful, isn't it? It's all about all about the well-being. What was it that surprised you the most when you started here? Then what surprised you the most with the role? I mean it's been a long time.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Ooh, I guess it was more like the diversity of ideas that people came up with because like people were suggesting all sorts, so we run an older people's festival, we do a festival around childlessness, we do a festival all about women and girls as well, a storyhouse queer, storyhouse futures, and then lots of groups use the building as well. If their activity is free for people to attend and it sort of meets our values, then we give over a space in the building and people the space for free.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Absolutely, and you gave us a great tour before. I did, yeah, and all the nooks and crannies of the yeah. Yeah, the history of the creativity behind just the restoration's incredible all on its own, and what what people have managed to fit into the space and then expand on. And also food. We had some great food here today. Food is really good, fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Uh potentially the kitchen team has had autism training, but if they've not, then we'll make sure that we can use your training for the restaurant team because know like that's really important as well for people who with autism. Like, food is a sometimes a difficult thing to navigate, so they should be aware of things like that.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Absolutely, yeah. Apart from the the actual festival itself, what else have you got planned in the next six, seven, seven months, maybe? What's on the street?

SPEAKER_01 10:46

So aside from Kleidoscope, yeah, yeah. So in September we have Story House Childless, which is a weekend for people who are living without children through either choice or not through choice.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

I was gonna ask that question. So, where did that come from then?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Well, it came from a woman who has chronic illness, and she runs a group here called the Childless Collective, and she is in a partnership, a marriage with her partner who has fertility issues, so they have not had children, they wanted to have children. Since then, she's now living with chronic illness and neurodiversities herself, and so she came to me in 2019 to say, you know, would it be possible for Story House to do some event that talked about people's experiences of living in society today that are living without children for whatever reason, there are hundreds of different reasons that someone might not have children, and I guess it's to explore and like to connect and to share stories to help people live in this society that's very child-centric, like so it's a fantastic thing to program. And again, I've got another focus group, and so yeah, it's for anyone to come along, even if they're actually interested in maybe hearing some stories to help a friend or a family member that's maybe going through something, or just to like upskill your knowledge on different people's lives.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Yeah, I hadn't, it's something that until you mentioned it, I hadn't occurred to me. I thought that does fly under the radar that that element I do struggle, and so what a great thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

It's so interesting, and we can't find anywhere else in the world that does anything similar. So then we've got that, and then we've got Story House Elders in October for Older People's Month, and then we'll be back. Um oh George, my colleague, um, runs Story House Futures in November, back in February with Story House Queer, and then March is Story House Women. So we've got this fantastic rolling programme, and then in between that we've got my colleagues who programs the main stage with the touring theatre, we've got the cinema ongoing, yeah, we make our own shows in and outdoors.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Do you have a theatre group as well? There's a disability theatre group called Raud.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

I thought I heard that meet here on a Friday, so yeah, and then the actors that are in the shows they're usually freelance. Interesting, yeah. So they'll get auditioned and get selected for different shows.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

I wish this was closer to me. I mean, I say closer, it's about 20 minutes, 25 minutes. So I'm so what's your plans for the rest of the day once you've finished filming this, then? What's going on?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Oh, I'm actually having a meeting later on with someone who has she's chosen not to have children, so she's been coming to Storyhouse Childless the last couple of years, and she has yeah, so it's through choice. She's recently been diagnosed with ADHD, and she actually writes a lot about how childlessness, child freeness is linked to neurodiversity. So I'm talking to her and seeing whether or not she'd like to um come and talk on a panel.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Oh, brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yeah, at the festival.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Is there anyone before we wrap up, is there anyone you want to thank from here or from personal life or who's got you to this point? Who do you want to thank?

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Thank you to Sarah for you know inviting me and you know making this happen. So yeah, it's been really fun. So yeah, shall I just talk a little bit about Galeidoscope? If you want to book some tickets, we've got an easy read programme on the website. We can email it to you. To book tickets, you can book online or you can phone up. So we've got quite long opening hours, so you can ring one of our ticketing officers, they'll book you in. If you're a support worker listening to this, you can ring up and book like 10 tickets for your whole group. And we have an access register, and we we hope you can make it. There's a collection of free events, there's some paid for events, and yeah, some are dropping, but we'd love for you to book just so we know to expect you.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

So, yeah, there's loads going on, and it's really exciting this year. So, yeah, great.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Well, thank you so much for talking to me today. And thank you for this space. I'm looking forward to utilising on the festival. And if you want to come down, link all the links in the description for this.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Oh, Facebook and Instagram is at Storyhouse Live.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Yeah, I've just tagged you in something on that. Oh, excellent. Um, so it was me in this chair earlier.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Oh, great.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

It's a cool chair there.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

But yeah, storyhouse.com, everything's on there. And if you know, it's a very busy website, there's lots going on. So the the phone number's 01244 409 113. Pick up the phone between 11 and 6, and someone will talk to you.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Brilliant. Tune in next time for another podcast and all the links in the description for everything we've spoken about, and also what this place does and the wonderful people that's here too. So, thank you so much. Goodbye, one wave.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Let's wrap. Yay!