MYTHICAL adventures form distant shores were brought to vulnerable children in Swindon after the Aldbourne Children's Book Group (ACBG) welcomed an award winning storyteller to the town.

Anna Conomos of the Jean Russell Storytelling Project has already paid one visit to the Great Western Hospital to work with vulnerable and less privileged children through the power of stories and another one is now in the pipeline at Robert Le Kyng Primary School.

The first of these events saw Anna work with the Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) department of Great Western Hospital and Uplands School, using role play, story making workshops and craft play to bring stories to life and have fun.

Cora White of ACBG said: “The myth of Jason and the Argonauts capturing the Golden Fleece has never been so dramatically performed as it was by Anna and the 14 children and young people from Uplands School in Swindon and from the Children’s Unit at the Great Western Hospital.

“Armed with hats, feathers, Greek costume, a thunder stick, bows, arrows and cannon balls, Anna involved all the children in her performance storytelling. Theseus the Clever sported bright goggles and baubles, Achilles the Swift shot his arrow from his hospital bed and Hercules the Powerful rowed the Argo to Colchis with all his friends.

“Anna has the gift of making everyone become part of the story, from becoming the rocks that part for the boat, to choosing and miming eating the food, to waving the musical instruments and singing the lullaby at the end. Her many-headed monster, draped in five coloured fabrics, was brilliantly re-enacted by the children, who roared with their fiercest faces to frighten Jason as he stole the fleece for Pelleas.”

After a well-deserved break, Anna worked with older young people in the hospital’s Education Other Than At School department, helping them to create their own stories, looking at the ending of an African tale of the Tiger’s Whisker.

Cora said: “The young people shared their endings and openly shared the message of the story for them: the need for patience, the need to keep trying and how fear can sometimes get in the way. They also explored with Anna how to physicalize the story, creating tableaux to build the scenes together before ending with a song.”

The next event will be held at Robert Le Kyng Primary School will take place in June 2016.