Sydney Story Factory
Western Sydney Community Development Officer

The Sydney Story Factory is a not-for-profit creative writing centre for young people. It was founded in Redfern (Sydney) in 2012 by Cath Keenan and Tim Dick. Strong writing skills are one of the foundations of a successful life, yet marginalised young people, particularly those from Indigenous and non-English speaking backgrounds, have consistently – often catastrophically – lower literacy levels than their peers.

Since 2012, the Sydney Story Factory (SSF) in Redfern has been working with 25% of all students from Western Sydney. Young people in Western Sydney are much less likely than their metropolitan peers to be offered access to quality creative arts programs and their educational and life outcomes lag significantly. SSF Parramatta, due to open in May 2018, will provide a safe, inspiring space from which they can run a wide range of creative writing and storytelling projects both on-site and off-site at schools and community groups in Western and South Western Sydney. Immediate benefits will be for marginalised young people aged 7-17, up to 30% will be Indigenous, and 45% minimum from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds.

Why did we fund this project? After funding SSF for 3 years from their beginning in 2012 and noting their considerable growth and expansive programs, Nelson Meers Foundation is pleased to be now supporting SSF's second creative writing centre in Parramatta. We are proud to be supporting Sydney Story Factory in delivering the many social, emotional and academic outcomes that result from engaging young people – and in particular marginalised young people - with high quality creative arts programs.

CLICK HERE to read more about the Sydney Story Factory in Parramatta.