Storytellers
The Storytellers Fund seeks storytellers aiming to inspire positive social change and reach wider audiences.
JRF is committed to being a generous supporter of social movements, we want to strengthen the voice and action of people in their communities.
We launched the Storytellers Fund in 2023 to support those aiming to inspire change to share their content more widely and reach new audiences. Our goal is to support the spread of stories that diversify the pool of storytellers and content creators who are shaping the conversations around our politics and culture.
Through storytelling, we aim to promote transformative narratives and help build a better future for all.
Apply for Storytellers Fund 2024
We are now seeking storytellers for the 2024 fund, particularly those with fresh, bold perspectives. If you are content ready, have a marketing or dissemination plan and want to inspire positive change, we encourage you to apply. You can download our 2024 prospectus to learn more.
Explore our storytellers
Black Queer and Done – feature film
This documentary film explores the experiences of Black Queer artists and arts professionals within the UK and broader mainstream arts, media, and culture sectors. The film highlights the challenges and successes faced by these communities and their contribution to the cultural landscape.
Conversations on Poverty – Substack by Jem Bartholomew
Jem’s Substack newsletter and new book critically examine media coverage of poverty and social inequality. With contributions from authors based in the UK and USA, the project focuses on immersive narrative nonfiction, ensuring that poverty reporting avoids exploitative or extractive tendencies.
Windrush Child – a play
Southwark Playhouse toured a brand-new adaptation of John Agard’s poem Windrush Child around seventeen primary schools where, over 1000 young people saw a performance in their own schools. The story follows a young boy bidding farewell to his Caribbean home as he embarks on a journey aboard the Empire Windrush, bringing to life the emotional and historical significance of the Windrush generation.
Belfast Photo Festival - climate change and activism
Premiere of Richard Mosse’s Broken Spectre, vast and immersive 74-minute audio-visual installation sparking important conversations on climate change as part of 10th edition of the Belfast Photo Festival, the largest of its kind in the UK and Ireland.
She Could Fly – gaming and mental health
A documentary escape game based on Christopher Cantwell’s comic book "She Could Fly,". Co-designed with scientists, OCD Action, and young people the game combines comic art, documentary films and interactive gameplay, that takes players on a looping quest to explore the deeply misunderstood mental illness, OCD.
Authors of the Estate – documentary film
This London-based documentary project explores how residents of social housing estates can reshape narratives by becoming content creators. The film provides community groups with the tools and resources to tell the stories that matter most to them, changing the way estates and their residents are viewed and understood across the country.
Round Our Way – digital stories on climate change
A digital project highlighting 20 online stories, "Round Our Way" focuses on how communities, particularly those with modest incomes, are disproportionately affected by climate change in the UK. Through social media and a new storytelling library, the project ensures that these communities’ voices are heard and central to the climate conversation.
Gary’s Economics – YouTube channel
Gary's Economics is a YouTube channel that explains real-world economics in an accessible way. It features interviews with individuals affected by the cost-of-living crisis and conversations with economists, aiming to demystify complex economic issues and their impacts on people.