SMART Volunteering-Storytelling Guide

How can we use stories? As we said, the purpose of storytelling is to appeal to emotions so that the interlocutor can convey a message. Listeners are much more likely to identify themselves and understand the story being told to them when they are told a story or an anecdote. The stronger the message that history sends, the more it will be imbued with the collective spirit. Why? Because it brought out emotions in it. We must create a link with the public. So we can use the stories to train, to make people want to take an interest in something, to help some people who may have started in the same way and they need support now, and who can soak up what they hear and feel. To illustrate this, a real-life example of a personal success story from Yorkshire Dama Cheese, a woman who refused to let her circumstances define or constrain her. It is about finding a new place to call home and new experiences which has led to the creation of a British multi-award winning cheese and dairy company. Here Razan Alsous , the Founder of Yorkshire Dama Cheese , tells her personal story: « We came to the UK after the war in Syria in 2012. With my husband and three young children, we had lost almost everything and had to settle into a new life in Yorkshire. Initially I began searching for a job but despite having a pharmacy degree and a scientific background my lack of references and work history in the UK made it extremely difficult. After some time I started to look at other options. I have three children and wanted so badly to build a bright future for them. So I started to think what was around me – the expertise I could tap into, the sources of support and other opportunities available to me. I came up with the following: • I have a strong microbiological background, having graduated from the Medical Institute in Syria. • My husband is an electronic engineer who ran his own business supplying the pharmaceutical and food industries in Syria with Quality Control labs. • I was now living in Yorkshire where the wonderful, high quality milk is available locally (and I believe is it is a national value). • The government is very supportive for the creation of startup business. • Nowadays, the Syrian cheese (a squeaky semi hard cheese) that I know and ate every day for breakfast in Syria is very trendy in the UK and British people love eating it! -6-