Impact Storytelling
Community food growing and wellbeing in Reading
Over the course of three months, we facilitated a participatory video process with two community groups in Reading. Here we reflect on the screenings and share the final films.
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by Jay Mistry
Between October and December 2024, we worked with two community groups in Reading to help them think through the impact of their Community-Led Research Pilot (CLRP) project using participatory video (see https://cobracollective.org/projects/participatory-video-for-community-led-research.php).
The Integrated Research and Development Centre (IRDC) is a community organisation which aims to address health and environmental challenges in minoritised communities in Reading, including the Nepalese communities. Reading HongKongers CIC was founded in 2022 to support Hong Kong nationals who have settled in the Berkshire area through the government scheme of British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa route, supporting them with a diaspora network and helping them to integrate into the local community. Both community groups focused their projects on food growing and wellbeing.
The process started with workshops to evaluate the impact of their projects, and to storyboard and develop a script for the film. Footage was then collected in growing locations, followed by iterative cycles of editing and translation. We then organised screenings to share the almost final finals and get feedback from the storytellers:
- “The participatory video process was about all people sharing their ideas”
- “Making the video made me wonder whether other groups have community gardening and how we could mix together”
- “Friends and family in Hong Kong worry about us, but the video shows we can be ourselves [in this country]”
- “The video can attract more people to come and join the group”
- “The video shows that I’m learning new things, I’m not just a housewife!”
- “I think the video will be useful to other communities, to show how we do collective work”
- “The video can stimulate action, for example we show alternative ways to tackle mental health issues and ways to combat the cost of living crisis through growing food and making compost – local government needs to support these local initiatives”.
Indeed, we hope that local government and funders will see the important work being done by the IRDC and HongKongers, and that the participatory videos can enable further discussions and support.
Watch here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11635628?share=copy
Read more here: https://research.reading.ac.uk/community-based-research/community-led-research-pilot-supporting-groups-with-participatory-film/
