Stories Of Hope And Home
Charity 1195224
Overview
Summary
Stories Of Hope And Home appears to operate as both a participant-led belonging space and a public-facing bridge between people seeking sanctuary and wider West Midlands communities. Its distinctive model turns lived experience into creative expression, peer connection and educational encounter, rather than treating storytelling only as testimony or awareness-raising. The organisation seems to combine care, cultural production and anti-misinformation work, with schools and arts institutions acting as important routes through which participant voices reach the public.
Operational geography
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
City Centre
Confidence: low
Stories of Hope and Home has delivered public performances at Birmingham REP. Its official website records performances at the REP in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, indicating a sustained partnership-based extension of its Birmingham activity rather than a one-off venue hire. However, the supplied evidence does not independently establish the City Centre area label.
- Stories of Hope and Home official website
The website records participant performances at Birmingham REP in July 2022, as part of the REP summer festival in 2023, again in 2024, and at the 2025 REP summer community festival. - Birmingham REP Home & Horizons Festival 2025 programme
The programme lists 'Stories of Hope and Home Present: Home Is Where We Belong' at The REP on 18 July, and identifies it as devised, written and performed by the organisation's members. - Birmingham REP official event page
The REP identifies the organisation's performance venue as The House.
Stirchley
Confidence: low
The charity's registered contact address is recorded in Stirchley. However, a registered address alone is not evidence of operational activity, and the available material does not explicitly confirm that its twice-weekly participant sessions are held there.
- Charity Commission Register of Charities, charity 1195224
The registered charity record identifies Stories of Hope and Home as an active, up-to-date charity delivering regular sessions and school encounters. - Organisation record supplied to Civic Atlas
The charity address is recorded in Stirchley, Birmingham. - Stories of Hope and Home official website
The organisation states that its members meet twice weekly for creative activities, storytelling and mutual support, but does not publish the meeting venue.
Remaining uncertainties
- The evidence does not identify the venue for the organisation's regular twice-weekly participant sessions. The registered address in Stirchley does not conclusively evidence an operational or session-delivery venue.
- The organisation works with people building new homes in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands, but this describes participant reach rather than evidenced service locations within particular Birmingham wards.
- School visits are a substantial delivery strand: the organisation reports 34 visits in the 2023-2024 academic year and says most take place in the West Midlands. The available evidence does not name enough current Birmingham schools or wards to map this work reliably.
- Birmingham REP is a material recurring performance partner and delivery venue, but the evidence does not establish that it is a permanent or routine base for the organisation outside festival and performance activity, or independently establish the City Centre area label.
- The organisation occasionally accepts invitations further afield, so its activity is not confined to Birmingham; however, the available evidence does not support identifying specific additional Birmingham operational areas.
Additional evidence needed
- Confirmation from the organisation of the usual venue or venues for its regular participant sessions, including whether its registered address in Stirchley is used for delivery.
- A current annual report or delivery/impact dataset naming the schools, venues and localities visited during 2025-2026.
- Confirmation from Birmingham REP or the organisation of any continuing programmed partnership, rehearsal arrangement or planned future performance activity.
Areas of work
- Economic/community Development/employment
- Education/training
- Human Rights/religious Or Racial Harmony/equality Or Diversity
Who they help
- The General Public/mankind
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
Storytelling is both support and civic intervention
The organisation appears to use storytelling as a dual-purpose method: participants can process experience and build self-worth, while audiences are invited to reconsider assumptions about asylum and migration.
Why it matters
This helps explain why its internal community sessions and external school work are not separate programmes but mutually reinforcing parts of one model.
Show evidence
“The charity provides spaces to meet others, build friendships, practise English, learn communication skills and creatively explore stories and life experiences.”
Source:Charity Commission“Its aims include creating safe spaces to build community and facilitating encounters that promote learning, challenge misconceptions and inspire action.”
Source:Organisation
Creative practice appears central, not decorative
Poetry, theatre and writing appear to be core ways the group develops agency, relationships and public visibility, rather than occasional communications tools.
Why it matters
This distinguishes the organisation from services focused primarily on advice or practical settlement support and suggests arts partnerships may be strategically important to its impact.
Show evidence
“Members meet twice weekly for conversation, creative writing, stories, poetry and theatre.”
Source:Organisation“Participants created and performed productions with Welsh National Opera and Birmingham REP between 2022 and 2025.”
Source:Organisation
Schools are a key bridge into the wider community
The organisation appears to prioritise children, young people and education professionals as a practical route for changing local narratives and encouraging civic action.
Why it matters
Its role may extend beyond direct support for participants by influencing how future residents, families and institutions understand sanctuary and belonging.
Show evidence
“The organisation facilitated 34 school visits in the 2023–2024 academic year.”
Source:Organisation“Every school responding to its end-of-year survey identified action taken after a visit and wanted to work with the charity again.”
Source:Organisation
- How participants shape governance, decision-making and safeguarding arrangements.
- Whether its work reaches people who are isolated from existing sanctuary-seeking networks.
- The scale, duration and independent evidence of change for participants and school audiences.
Remaining uncertainties
- Annual-report data on participant numbers, attendance, referrals, volunteer roles and outcomes over time.
- Evidence on partnerships, funding sources, participant leadership and follow-up outcomes from school engagement.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
We run regular sessions for people with lived experience of seeking asylum in the UK, enabling people to explore their stories and experiences, creating community and building a sense of belonging and self-worth. We facilitate encounters to share stories, especially in schools, educating others about the experience of seeking asylum, challenging misconceptions and fostering positive relationships
Charity objects
THE OBJECTS OF THE CIO ARE: 1) THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL INCLUSION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT AMONG REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN THE WEST MIDLANDS WHO ARE SOCIALLY EXCLUDED ON THE GROUNDS OF THEIR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POSITION, BY PROVIDING A SPACE AND COMMUNITY IN WHICH TO MEET OTHERS, BUILD FRIENDSHIPS, PRACTISE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, LEARN COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND CREATIVELY EXPLORE STORIES AND LIFE EXPERIENCES AS A MEANS OF INTEGRATING INTO A NEW COMMUNITY. 2) TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC THROUGH THE PROVISION OF ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS WHICH INFORM PARTICIPANTS AND DEVELOP THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES WHO FLEE PERSECUTION AND SETTLE IN A NEW COUNTRY, HELP TO FOSTER POSITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS DIVERSITY AND MIGRATION AND COUNTER MISINFORMATION.