Telling our stories and having them heard is one of the most powerful ways of developing self esteem, finding a voice and building community.

Consultation with the particular community or group allows effective design of each specific project to ensure clear outcomes and maximise participation.

Speaking Out is suitable for all community groups including groups with individuals with special needs and disabilities.

Examples of successful projects include:
'Telling Our Stories' and 'Listen To Me' with Project Recreation a support organisation for people with disabilities;

'Oh What a Life' storytelling project with the Community Living Programme. This project involved the design of a storytelling game board to enable mildly intellectually handicapped young adults to access and tell stories about their lives and their experiences of independent living.

'Living on Disability Street' a project with Unicare designed to enable young people with disabilities and their adult carers to access and write their own stories for publication.

'Stories from the Heart' a collaborative project with Hands On Art and artsworkers Bettina Nissen (storyteller) and Barbara Lezius (visual artist ) and six community groups in the Red Hill Paddington area. The groups involved a wide variety of particpants including - The Friendly Group ( a social group of elderly women), the Petrie Tce Writers' Circle, the Unicare Carers' Group, The St Mary's Single Mothers Group, the Ithaca TAFE Adult Literacy Group. Outcomes inlcude a final storytelling concert and exhibition.

'Confidence Tells' a series of workshop with long term unemployed participants at Boys Town Linkup Kingstown using the telling of life experience stories as one way of developing self esteem and self confidence.