Being The Story

Andiamo was founded after husband and wife Naveed and Samiya had their son Diamo in 2003. He had a difficult birth due to medical negligence leading to Cerebral Palsy and sadly passed away in 2012. They share their journey; how their difficult personal experience finding orthic braces for their son spurred them on to revolutionise orthotics technology to ensure that no child anywhere in the world must wait more than a week for their medical device. They drive forward through empathy, designed around the child and their family. 

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Supporting young people has been a lifelong passion for Sam. In this talk he shares his own personal story of how he has overcome barriers from his tough background and rejected the labels given to him to become a successful social entrepreneur. He founded

Support the Youth, a community interest company based in Blackpool, to assist

young people not currently in education, employment or training (NEET). He challenges us to help support and empower future generations and give them the confidence to choose their own identity.

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Clare shares her work at the Empathy Museum, the world’s first experiential arts space dedicated to helping us look at the world through other people’s eyes. A Mile in My Shoes is an interactive shoe shop where visitors can walk a mile in someone else’s shoes – literally. The exhibit holds a diverse collection of shoes and audio stories exploring our shared humanity. From a sewage worker to a sex worker, a war veteran to a prison psychiatrist, visitors can walk a mile in the shoes of a stranger whilst listening to their story. 

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Mandy shares her personal story of being in an abusive relationship and how this led her to campaign about domestic abuse. Mandy has become a voice for those who don’t have one increasing awareness and understanding. Mandy’s experiences informed the Radio 4 series The Archers domestic abuse storyline, for which she met with the lead actress. The response to this story has put a spotlight on an issue at a time when services for women who’ve experienced domestic abuse have been cut drastically. 

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*Trigger warning: Mandy’s story contains details some may find distressing

Award-winning photographer Giles Duley shares his story; moving from music and fashion photography to humanitarian and losing both legs and an arm whilst photographing the US Army on patrol in Afghanistan. He talks about the ability photography can have to transform lives. Recounting how a small gift changed his life and how that led to his work documenting the refugee crisis in Lebanon for the UNHCR. Duley tells the stories of normal families caught up in the Syrian civil war, and his belief that each act, no matter how small, can create positive change. 

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Lorraine’s son Dwayne was a few months short of his 21st birthday when he was fatally stabbed in Brixton in 2014. He was acting as a peacekeeper helping a younger boy and died as a result. Dwayne was from Brixton’s Angell Town Estate and had created a boxing club to address its lack of facilities for young people. In her talk Lorraine shares her quest to turn Pain into Power, relaunching the boxing scheme as Dwaynamics in his memory. Dwaynamics helps young people develop life skills through boxing, training, mentoring and employability workshops.

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Hassan shares his personal story of fleeing his home and job as an English teacher in Damascus, Syria to journey to Europe. He will share his experience of turning the camera on himself in the BBC2 documentary Exodus to record this life-risking journey that thousands of refugees have made. He has provided a voice for many unheard refugee stories and he’ll discuss the implications of this.

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“We are more than faces at windows held high” How often do we hear the voices of the residents of Tower Blocks? In a collaboration between The Royal Exchange Theatre and One Manchester housing association the residents of four high-rise blocks in Manchester created ‘Can you Hear Me From Up Here?’. Produced by Tracie Daly the performance explores the lived experience of Tenants and attitudes towards people who live in social housing, prejudices and stigma, isolation, and the hopes and aspirations of those housed there. The residents performed a sequence from their play.

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“My life ended and began with a prison sentence, those metal doors awoke the faith in me” Sitting in her front room, with a group of like-minded friends, Lady Unchained and her friends would have debates and discussions about the problems they faced and write about how they made them feel. This inspired her to set up Unchained Poetry, a platform for artists with experience of the criminal justice system. She now hosts Unchained Nights in partnership with Artsadmin at Toybee Stations, a night of inspirational storytelling, through poetry and music, performed by artists with lived experience of the justice system. She also co-hosts for National Prison Radio’s show We Are StraightLine, a show about Getting out of prison and Staying out of prison and has just featured in a new podcast Secret Life of Prisons. Lady Unchained’s mission is to prove that there is life after prison. Through poetry she tells her own personal story and the untold stories that are often left untold, because of shame or labels. In this podcast she perforoms a selection of her poems.

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Nigerian-born Peter came to Britain in 2010 and works as a barber in Clapham, London. In a collaboration between Empathy Museum and Migration Museum, Peter shared his experiences of migration for ‘A Mile in My Shoes’ where visitors of a giant shoe shop can literally walk a mile in the shoes of a person whilst listening to their story. His barber shop also provided material for Inua Ellam’s critically acclaimed play, Barber Shop Chronicles. Peter shares what qualities are needed in his role as a barber.

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Marissa shares her journey as a domestic worker, from facing financial abuse and sexual harassment to finding a family who treated her well. She talks about the challenges that changes to government policy have had on the women she seeks to support, and her fight to ensure that domestic workers have their rights recognised.

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Families face many obstacles to overcome poverty. But the insights of the people experiencing poverty are invaluable and people of influence are starting to listen. Raising two sons as a single parent in the East End of Glasgow, Caroline has felt the impact of poverty firsthand. Caroline shares her campaigning journey to address poverty and how experts by experience can share their knowledge to influence approaches to reducing child poverty.

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Charlie Craggs is a broadcaster, author and trans activist. Charlie shares her insights on trans activism, what’s next in her fight for equality, and how we can all continue to break down the understandings around trans experiences because as Charlie puts it ‘prejudice and hate comes from fear and misunderstanding’.

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Steve was a struggling warehouse worker by day and hip-hop performer by night. After a chance encounter with award-winning documentary maker Sean McAllister, Steve was asked to get involved in A Northern Soul a film Sean was making. Steve shares his experience of putting his life in the spotlight through the documentary, the issues it raised and how he’s now trying to create new opportunities for young people in Hull.

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Laura’s story is one of hope and survival against the odds. Diagnosed with secondary breast cancer 11 years ago, she tells an account of her experience of cancer and the impact that has had on her. Through psychological intervention and support Laura has learned to live more presently, understanding that it’s our vulnerabilities that makes us all human. As she feels hopeful once more and driven by her experience of cancer, she campaigns with cancer charities to try to make a difference for others.

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