For the past 13 years, with support from a wide range of funders, we have been running outreach projects in schools and the community, successfully using storytelling to raise literacy levels and unlock imagination and creativity.  In April 2014 we opened our semi-developed building in order to launch our year-round public programme. We aim to engage people of all ages and backgrounds with our story heritage and enable them to create stories of their own. This might range from a single museum visit to longer contact through courses, clubs, volunteering, or using our learning resources.

Alongside our ticketed programme, we also run targeted projects for individuals living in so-called ‘hard to reach’ communities facing economic and educational disadvantage. These are longer, deeper projects with carefully defined and evaluated outcomes. Our main focus is on children and young people, but we also work with their teachers and families, and with adults who lacked stories in their youth.

We have continued to develop our approach of providing great ways of engaging with great stories in our exhibition programme and associated events. Over 110,000 people have visited The Story Museum in our first three and a half years of opening, including nearly 25,000 children and teachers on school visits and workshops.

We also run an active outreach programme, working with children in their schools and the community, over half of whom come from disadvantaged groups benefitting from targeted outreach. Additionally, our annual Alice’s Day involves thousands of people from Oxford’s diverse communities in a one-day celebration of one of Oxford’s best-loved literary gems.