Creative interventions for social tranformations

Our Purpose

Stories change people — and people change the world

Storytimes provides creative art and storytelling programmes for adults and children in underserved communities, alongside public programmes for the benefit of everyone.

We believe in the power of art and storytelling to transform both individuals and society. By sharing our personal and collective stories, we can challenge and change the mainstream narratives that shape our world.

We facilitate safe, welcoming spaces where people come together to create, share and listen. Through this process, we generate meaningful dialogue and lasting transformation.

Our workshops use arts-based methods to help people build and share stories that spark reflection and conversation about the world we live in.

While we offer online activities, at Storytimes we are committed to the power of the personal. We believe creativity flourishes best face-to-face, crafted together in a shared space with physical materials and the stories that bring us together.

What we offer

offers a range of services that invite people to explore the power of art and storytelling for connection, insight, and change.

Workshops

We design and facilitate customised art and storytelling workshops for a diverse range of groups, including underserved communities, corporate teams and the general public. Every workshop is tailored to your group's specific needs and goals. While each session is unique, they often follow a powerful, simple structure: we introduce a meaningful topic, create an artistic response, and share the stories that emerge.

Retreats

Immerse yourself in creativity. We offer curated art and storytelling retreats several times a year in locations across Europe and Africa. These retreats provide deeper, transformative experiences for individuals and small groups.

Exhibitions & Publications

We help stories travel. Creative Story Times can produce powerful exhibitions, publications and digital content based on the work created in our workshops and retreats. We also provide marketing support to share these outcomes widely and amplify their impact.

Research & Consultancy

Grounded in direct practice, we offer research and consultancy services for organisations working with arts-based methodologies and underserved communities in Europe and Africa. We provide the on-the-ground insights needed to design effective and respectful programmes.

Seminars & Training

We offer seminars, talks, and specialised training for NGOs, researchers, facilitators and community leaders who want to effectively integrate creative interventions into their own work.

Our Work

Real stories. Real change.

From migrant women finding their voice in Johannesburg, to exploring what “home” means in Cairo, our projects show the power of creativity to connect people across cultures. Each one is a step toward stronger, more compassionate communities.

Migrant storytelling on home and belonging as transformative tools

An ongoing collaborative project with the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Glasgow and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. This initiative uses arts-based and storytelling workshops to explore migrant narratives of home and belonging. Workshops were held in 2025 across Johannesburg, Glasgow and Madrid. An ebook featuring the resulting artworks and stories will be published in 2026.

Arts-based research methods with underserved communities

A year-long collaboration between University College London and the University of the Witwatersrand produced a practical, interactive toolkit for engaging

The Meaning of Home

A collaborative project with art therapist Kate Shand and the Three2Six educational project for refugee and migrant children in Johannesburg.

Narratives On Migration

A two-month arts and storytelling workshop with migrant women at the Windybrow Arts Centre in Johannesburg. Participants from Congo, Zimbabwe,

More Projects

Behind Storylines

Driven by passion and purpose

Storytimes is led by Nereida Ripero-Muñiz, PhD. She is an independent researcher and practitioner who uses art and storytelling to create social connection and personal transformation.

With 18 years of experience based in sub-Saharan Africa, where she worked full-time in academia, Nereida now designs and facilitates research projects and art-based interventions for underserved communities and the general public, across Europe and Africa. She collaborates with a network of artists, researchers, and community facilitators, bringing together tailored teams to best deliver on each project's unique goals.

She is currently affiliated with the Department of Creative Writing at the University of the Witwatersrand and specialises in the fields of migration and art-based methodologies. Nereida has edited several publications on arts-based research and is the author of the monograph, Cosmopolitan refugees: Somali migrant women in Nairobi and Johannesburg.

Read: Cosmopolitan refugees: Somali migrant women in Nairobi and Johannesburg.

Past Sponsors & Partners

Storytimes collaborates with art therapists, psychologists, academics, artists and other co- facilitators depending on the needs and goals of specific projects.