The Story of StoryWorks 

StoryWorks is an evolution of the former VCT team. What does VCT stand for…? Well, while I wasn’t personally there for the emergence of the VCT, it was born out of a crucial need to communicate important information during the… dare I say it… the dark times… the pandemic. As these things go, the team was entirely virtual. There was pandemic going on, people couldn’t be together, of course the team was virtual – hence the Virtual Communications Team was born.  

The idea behind the team was to communicate the necessary messaging around Covid19. Then, it also began covering the recruitment advertisements, other internal messages that needed to be communicated to colleagues, posts celebrating people’s achievements, posts that increase awareness about certain topics (for example, World Mental Health Day), as well as posts that influence policy. They also were the team behind those fun Annual Reports. And this is all stuff we still do to this day. Andy became involved as a consultant, overseeing the quality of what the team made. Iona, who started off in the Finance & Business Team, mentioned she had a dab hand for creating graphics – and so she became a member of the VCT.  

And then, through some twist of faith, two new roles were created – the Digital Storytellers. What a title, right?! My friends find it funny, but – that’s exactly what Julie & I are. We’re digital storytellers indeed. Julie would probably tell me to shut it as she’s quite humble, but she’s an amazing poet (read her book, We Are Scottish Football – it’s brilliant.) So, she’s our chief writer. And I’m a jack-of-all-trades content producer. I come from a theatre and film background where I film, photograph, write, edit, produce, etc. However, Julie and I have worked in similar industries as social care, so you could say we had a bit of an ‘in.’ 

A lot of you will remember the leader of our pack, Susan O’Reilly. Susan showed us the ropes, the C-Change way of things, and introduced us to many people. Then, she left for other grassy pastures, and we were sad to see her go. With this new change, we had a few things to think about when going forward with the future of the team. Through discussions with the CEO Sam Smith, we decided to change quite a few things. The team were nervous that we would have some manager replace Susan, someone that wouldn’t get us (after all, we are a plucky band of mere musicians and bards.) However, we were listened to, and our opinions were trusted. It was decided that we would become a self-managing team. Which was kind of mind-blowing. I’ve never heard of an organisation actually valuing their employees’ thoughts and considerations – like, actually listening to us – in this way. 

Once we became a self-managing team, we decided that we wanted to be even more involved with the different localities. That we wanted to go out and get to know every person we work for and hear their story. So, the most obvious change was that we needed to stop being a ‘virtual team.’ The pandemic is over, there’s no need for it anymore. We are able visit the people we work for more often – to hear their stories and help tell those stories. And so, StoryWorks was born.  

It’s incredibly exciting as we’re a team of artists. A poet, filmmaker, a graphic designer, and a musician – sounds like the start of a joke! But that’s who we are, and we reflect that in our work. The C-Change approach to social care is no bog-standard approach to social care. They’re disruptors. Troublemakers for the better good. Creative in their approach to challenges and deeply passionate about the people we work for. Why should the marketing department be any different? Our approach is simple – “never, never be boring.” Take a look at many of the larger organisations out there and you’ll know what I mean. What we do is about representing the people we work for in all the joy and light that they shine every day.  

Since forming StoryWorks, we have been calling out to the people we work for across each of the localities. From cycling with RD in Aviemore, to cups of tea with DC in Bellshill – we’ve been doing it all. On these visits, we record videos and take photographs for making memories. This is crucially important, as many folks have historically not had this. But overall, we’ve been getting to know who each person we work for. This helps us at StoryWorks support them to live their good life. We embed that knowledge of who they are into their recruitment profile, attracting the right people to supporting them. Doing our bit to attract the best candidates for match-recruitment is not only what is best for the person we work for, but it’s economical and sustainable. Making an advert to appeal to the right candidate that may have the same interests as the person we work for, they’re likely to stick around because they enjoy the job. They enjoy supporting the person they work for – it sounds obvious, but it just goes to show you that great support doesn’t need to be all expensive fireworks, bells, and whistles. Great support is great because the relationship between the person we work for, and the personal development worker is great. That’s why our adverts are colourful and fun because the people we want to appeal towards are also colourful and fun. And that doesn’t need to cost the earth. Some of our best ideas come from a cup-of-coffee and staring out the window for a minute or two – and that’s free. 

I’ve joked about being “C-Change-pilled” to colleagues here, which is to say I’ve been radicalised by the C-Change frame of mind. Yet, to a degree, it’s true. Working here and representing the people we work for has changed my perspective on many things. I am more aware of the lived experiences beyond my own. I am even more empathetic to the people around me. Today, it’s so easy to get caught up in celebrity-culture, glitz-and-glam consumerism, and all the many overwhelming crises unfolding on phone screens that we have no real control of – but, when you work for a company like C-Change, it’s hard not to recognise the intrinsic value every single human being innately possesses. At StoryWorks, we try to instil this value into everything we do. Our ambition is to put forward optimistic narratives, ones that can create real positive change. When we live in a world of doom and gloom, of politicians constantly telling us, “There’s no magic money tree…” (they need to finish that quote with “…under austerity,”) we need narratives that can stoke our collective imagination that better is possible. That the people we work for can live full, independent, and good lives. One of my favourite posts to make is our ongoing series of the #FeelGoodFriday. Every Friday afternoon, we post a good news story, or a photo of a person we work for having a good day. It’s a small thing we do, but it has a much greater impact. Within that often negative and confusing ocean of social media, our Feel-Good-Friday post is a drop of positivity in the right direction.