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Young storytellers sought for county competition

Isaac Chenery/BBC Dan Sedgewick and CB Jackson, both wearing hats, stand in the BBC Suffolk Green room.Isaac Chenery/BBC
Dan Sedgewick and C B Jackson launched the Young Storytellers competition on BBC Radio Suffolk Breakfast

A storytelling competition for young people has been launched to bring communities together and promote positive mental health.

Suffolk Young Storyteller of the Year 2025 is open to seven to 18 year-olds in the county.

Organiser and author C B Jackson said: "Kids tell stories all the time, they hear stories all the time and they transmit truth and connection through story."

Ten finalists will perform their work on 21 June as part of Suffolk Day, when the winner will be announced.

Bunny C-B CB Jackson in a Victorian night cap reading in a festive church.Bunny C-B
Author C B Jackson has written the Henry Dance novels series and also performs one man shows

"There is a skill to storytelling. It's a science and an art, but it's something that human beings have always done," C B Jackson added.

"But the older you get, the more frightened you get about a story; does it have a beginning a middle and an end? Does it have a hero arc, is there enough jeopardy?

"But kids will tell a story because that's how they connect with other people."

Mr Jackson, from Magnificent Rumours, and Dan Sedgewick from Chapter 82 are travelling the county visiting schools and libraries to teach storytelling.

They're also hunting for stories from the communities, told by young people.

Jon Wright/BBC Dan Sedgewick, wearing a grey hoodie, sits on a sofa in the Ipswich Windrush Society's Reflection Room.Jon Wright/BBC
Storyteller Dan Sedgewick is involved in lots of collaboration, including with the Ipswich Windrush Society which runs the Reflection Room in the Sailmakers shopping centre

"Without storytelling we don't impart knowledge to one another, we can't impart wisdom or learn about the past," Mr Sedgewick added.

"In this current day and age, where we face a mental health crisis, we face an increasingly isolated population, stories are proven to counteract that, and proven to bring us together.

"Stories give us a sense of place in the world; geographically, where we live; historically, where we are right now, and spiritually.

"We live in a town [Ipswich] where there are lots of different communities and sometimes everything is good, and sometimes there is some mistrust.

"We aim to bring communities together through this project and to promote mental fitness and mental wellbeing, and give children the power to know that their voices will be heard."

More details on workshops and how to enter are on the Magnificent Rumours website.

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