Wild food experimentalist, course faciliator, forager, the ever-curious Fergus Drennan, aka Fergus The Forager, has been gathering and learning about wild plants, seaweeds, and fungi for over 40 years, beginning on Wimbledon Common, aged 3 years, collecting dandelions for the family’s pet tortoise. Since those early days, and through much creative and experimental exploration he has continued his foraging practice, not only as a means to understand and to discover the practical relevance that foraging has in the modern developed world, but also in terms of what it means to be an environmentally conscious human in relation to the natural world. “Can foraging ever be considered a truly sustainable practice, and if so how?”, is a question that always orchestrates his foraging activity, as does a pursuit of foraging’s playful and creative possibilities, whether they be found in novel recipes using plants, fungi, and seaweeds, or unlocking the possibilities that wild botanicals offer for other non-food-based creative pursuits. That includes, among other things, the making of baskets, mushroom paper, and natural dyes and pigments. Fergus has a huge amount of wild food knowledge to share, and an array of imaginative ways of doing so. After even only an afternoon with him, the natural world around you will never look the same again.

Looking at case studies that demonstrate how our relationships, losses and choices can change the trajectory of our lives without us even noticing. This workshop will use meditation and reflection to look at where you may have left your personal energy behind, and how to reintegrate the parts of you that count…..with Lizzie Wright

Imran Azam is the award winning founder of thisisreel.co; a video storytelling consultancy based in Manchester. He is one of the pioneers of ‘pure’ smartphone video production and has trained 100’s across Europe. We’re pleased to have him and you’re going to love this unique session.

Audio is the only media you can engage with away from a screen. Audio-on-demand (podcasts) is also the fastest growing from of media. Think about that and the opportunities it presents for you to tell stories and affect change! In this comprehensive workshop you’ll learn how by getting hands on producing and publishing your own podcast from scratch using only your smartphone at zero cost. Both iPhone and Android users welcome

Thomas Eagle and Andrew Staffell are the directors of Yes we work, who design and develop bylinetimes.com and other editorial, social, cultural and academic projects

Take part in this round-table discussion on self-started, self-sustaining journalism and digital-first publishing – from hyperlocal / hyperfocused websites to investigations into the biggest issues of our time. A chance to hear about some of the challenges faced and solutions tested by Byline Times, and to help define what a bootstrap framework for journalists and researchers should include.
Journalists and would-be journalists (in any medium); editors, publishers, researchers; teams with a local focus or special interest groups; developers, designers; readers, commenters and audiences.

Paul Lashmar

Mark Spy Blog

Peter Gillman

Sean Pillot de Chenecey Sean is a social/cultural trends researcher and author of 'The Post-Truth Business'. His next book 'Influencers & Revolutionaries:' will be published in early 2020.

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Will Skeaping is an Activist with Extinction Rebellion's media and messaging team, and co-edited the Extinction Rebellion handbook 'This Is Not A Drill'. He is currently challenging the advertising industry to act now on the climate & ecological crisis.

In a world of lies and misinformation, brands must tell the truth about and demonstrate their actions re: climate change.

The workshop is intended for those who are interested in discussing the actions that brands should take and the way that they should communicate that behaviour re: the environmental emergency.

There are people in our communities with direct experiences of the big social issues facing us today. They have expertise and ideas for solutions to create change. But are they being listened to? Are their voices being heard?  

A new spokespersons network aims to increase the representation and diversity of voices we hear in the media.   The programme offers practical training, media mentoring and speaking opportunities to a cohort of 20 individuals.  In this workshop let’s explore how we re-balance the voices we hear in the media.

Jude has spent over 20 years working to ensure that the voices of people who might be considered invisible or marginalised are heard and giving them a platform for their ideas. She’s done this by collaborating with people and communities who have direct experience of the issues and supporting them to share their stories and insights to have maximum impact.

@judehabib @sounddelivery www.sounddelivery.org.uk

Simeon Moore Co-founder of DatsTV @zimbosla www.youtube.com/datstv

Simeon Moore is a writer, musician and advocate for young people. He was a member of a notorious Birmingham gang and now works to tackle what he sees as the glamorisation of gang culture, which gives young people aspirations to live negatively. He brings vision, creativity and influence to positively impact on their lives.

Travon Steadman

Travon Steadman works with Drive Forward Foundation, a London-based charity that supports care-experienced young people into employment, He is a strong believer in the power of lived experience to drive change and progress; highlighting the struggles young people face under government protection

Bryony Albery a frontline worker supporting rough sleepers now retraining as a social justice lawyer.

Anne-Marie douglas  is the founder and CEO of social justice charity Peer Power, an empathy led charity working with children, teenagers and young adults who have experienced significant trauma and adversity. It aims to improve the wellbeing and career prospects for young people involved, and to support them to disrupt, influence and improve the services that support them.

This workshop is for anyone who is interested in exploring how we encourage more representative, diverse and inclusive media.  We’ve love to hear from journalists and media professionals about how they uncover new voices. We’d also love to share how this new spokespersons network aims to develop media confident experts by experience.

Alice Jolly is a novelist and playwright.  She has won the Pen Ackerley Prize for memoir and also the V.S.Pritchett Prize awarded by the Royal Society of Literature.  She teaches creative writing on the Masters Degree at Oxford University. Her fourth novel ‘Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile’ was a Walter Scott Prize recommended novel for 2109, was on the longlist for the Ondaatje Prize 2019 and was runner up for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2019.

Whose story is it anyway?

Good writing is not just about story. It is also about finding the best way to tell the story. Whose voice is heard and who is silenced? In this workshop for writers of fiction, short fiction and memoir we’ll demonstrate how finding the right voice can move your writing from average to exceptional.

Look, look and look again

Have you ever wondered why one writer grips you immediately and another bores you rigid? It’s all in the detail – and the detail and the detail. In this workshop, we’ll try out some practical exercises which will help you choose those few words which will set your writing alight. No experience necessary.

Suitable for writers of fiction, non-fiction and journalism.

Note: These are practical workshops in which we will be doing writing exercises. So people need to come with a pen and paper.

Imran Azam is the award winning founder of thisisreel.co; a video storytelling consultancy based in Manchester. He is one of the pioneers of ‘pure’ smartphone video production and has trained 100’s across Europe. We’re pleased to have him and you’re going to love this unique session.

If the pen is mightier than the sword then smartphone video is the atomic agent of change! The phone in your pocket is truly a fully fledged film production studio that is empowering people all over the world to tell their stories. In this comprehensive workshop you’ll learn how by getting hands on producing your own video story from scratch at zero cost. Both iPhone and Android users welcome!

A introduction to how to utilise the Internet Archives, what data is stored, and why it’s so important during times of such fragmentation of truth.

The Internet Archives are way more then the way back machine.

Do you want to know why it is the most cited place on Wikipedia?

Do you want to know how you can use it to find lost data, news, information?

Do you know why it is the go to place for our historical records?

A brief workshop by Birgitta Jonsdottir - Internet Archives Fellow and a Poetician

Rowley Leigh

An award winning chef talks about his book ‘A long and messy business’

Laura Garcia

Sean Pillot de Chenecey Sean is a social/cultural trends researcher and author of 'The Post-Truth Business'. His next book 'Influencers & Revolutionaries:' will be published in early 2020.

Will Skeaping is an Activist with Extinction Rebellion's media and messaging team, and co-edited the Extinction Rebellion handbook 'This Is Not A Drill'. He is currently challenging the advertising industry to act now on the climate & ecological crisis.

In a world of lies and misinformation, brands must tell the truth about and demonstrate their actions re: climate change.

The workshop is intended for those who are interested in discussing the actions that brands should take and the way that they should communicate that behaviour re: the environmental emergency.