Local Voices
Global Perspectives
Crawley Stories
Artistic Director
As Artistic Director at Theatre Centre, I led the development of Crawley Stories, a podcast series made in collaboration with local teenagers and professional artists. Developed alongside Creative Crawley, the project celebrated the talent, voice, and perspective of young people growing up in Crawley.
Want to Amplify Local Voices?
If you’re designing youth-led programming, place-based storytelling, or audio-first engagement projects, let’s build something unforgettable.
The Concept
Crawley Stories is a six-part podcast series exploring the lives, memories, and everyday journeys of teenagers in the town. Each episode pairs a young person with an artist as they walk through Crawley together, past schools, shopping centres, skateparks, and secret hideouts, sharing what matters to them.
These unscripted walking conversations opened up honest, surprising, and moving reflections on place, identity, belonging, and change.
What We Did
Worked with local teenagers to design and shape the series
Paired young people with professional artists to record one-to-one walking conversations
Explored personal routes through Crawley as a storytelling framework
Produced a six-episode podcast series, now available online
Collaborated with local partners to reach diverse communities and amplify youth voice
Why It Mattered
Crawley Stories gave young people the mic, literally. The project created space for them to define how their stories are told and to connect with professional artists through shared dialogue. It showed that:
Every day journeys can unlock deep storytelling
Youth voice belongs in the centre of creative strategy
Real place-based work starts with walking, talking, and listening
