• Expression of Interest - UK Afghanistan Veterans Community (AVC) - Storytelling Project

  • We are recruiting 12 veterans who served in the Afghanistan campaign to take part in a new storytelling pilot project.

    The invitation is to share ‘stories of service’, looking at what serving others means to you and opening up about those moments of camaraderie, teamwork and support.

    Through this project, participants will experience a combination of online and in-person training and be supported to develop their storytelling and public speaking skills, with a focus on preparing them to share their stories with secondary school students towards the end of 2026.

    The project will bring veterans together as a community, build confidence, support wellbeing and help offer the skills to support education through authentic, lived experience.

    The project is part of the UK Afghanistan Veterans Community (AVC) EDUCATE pillar as part of 'Operation Safe Circle', in partnership with Boeing and delivered by The Drive Project. 

    What can you expect from the project?
    A uniquely designed project where individuality is encouraged and supported. Community, a sense of togetherness that allows space for all of your voices. Coaching and guidance by leaders in the creative industry including professional directors and storytellers to help you find your style and inner storyteller. 
    All administrative details including travel and accommodation will be arranged for you, based on your needs through the UKAVC. 

    Project structure:

    • Online meet & greet to learn more about the project, meet your fellow participants and begin to build a community
    • Online 2 hour workshops to develop the story of service you wish to share, looking at the basics of storytelling and craft.
    • Online Coaching - one-to-one with a storytelling trainer to receive specific feedback and  initial coaching to further develop your story. 
    • 2 days in person including further story crafting skills and coaching on day one. Day two is a chance to share your story and have it captured in a live recording for you to take home. (This recording will be for you to keep, and is your own intellectual property).
    • Online reflection session 1 week after workshop for all participants

    Dates:
    Please make a note of the dates to keep them available - although this is a pilot project and we are unlikely to be able to take all those who have expressed an interest into the process - if you are selected you will need to be available for all of the following:

    Online Sessions (Zoom)
    Tuesday 19th May 10:30-12:00 - Meet and Greet
    Wednesday 20th May 10:00-12:00 - Workshop 1
    Tuesday 26th May 10:00-12:00 - Workshop 2 
    Wednesday 27th May 10:00-12:00 - Workshop 3
    Tuesday 2nd June 10:00-12:00 - Workshop 4
    Wednesday 3rd June 10:00-12:00 - Workshop 5 

    In Person (London)
    Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th June Full days (10:00-16:00pm) 

    All travel to the in person workshops and accommodation costs will be covered. 
    There are 12 spaces available. 

    Ongoing Project
    Toward the end of 2026 the UK AVC aim to run talks in schools within the areas of South Yorkshire and Bristol. Speakers who have taken part in this training may be invited to speak within schools, subject to further onboarding, and DBS processes. 

    Expression of Interest 
    This expression of interest form supports our understanding of those who may be interested in taking part in the UK AVC storytelling project. We appreciate you taking the time to fill in the questions in this form. The form could take up to 10 minutes to complete, and please note your answers cannot be saved and you will need to click the submit button to send through your expression of interest. 

    Please note, this is a pilot project and it is unlikely we will be able to invite all those who express their interest onto the project . We wish to thank all of you who fill in this form and want to acknowledge that all stories are important!

    Please answer the questions below and click submit to send us your Expression of Interest form. 

    We look forward to hearing from you. 

    Application Deadline - Monday 27th April 9:00am 
    Any questions please contact projects@thedriveproject.co.uk

  • Expression of Interest Questions:

  • Demographic Questions

    The following questions are related to personal demographic information. We are asking these questions at this stage to understand the demographic of interested applicants. Please feel free to click or write 'Prefer not to say' if you do not wish to share this information.
  • What age are you?*
  • Which of the following best represents your ethnicity? This may be different to your place of birth, nationality or citizenship.*
  • Do you identify as LGBTQ+?*
  • Please confirm that you can provide proof of service if requested. For example: Certificate of Service, Veterans Card, Armed Forces Pension Statement.*
  • Which Service(s) were/ are you part of? Please select all that are relevant:*
  • Please confirm you understand that anyone invited onto the project will be asked to undertake an enhanced DBS check if they are asked to go on to share their story in schools by UK AVC.*

  • Data 

    The Drive Project is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and the personal information we obtain about you. We use this information to ensure that we are adequately supporting you when you take part in the project. We will share information such as personal details, medical information, your project goals and project feedback with relevant members of the TDP and UK AVC delivery team in order to provide additional wellbeing support and to assist in the effective running of the programme. We will not disclose this information to anyone else, unless in a safeguarding scenario. All this information found on the Expression of Interest form will be stored on The Drive Project's secure database for the duration of your time as a member of this training. If you require further information please contact a team member on projects@thedriveproject.co.uk.

  • What happens next? 

    Don't forget to click submit below...

    • We will confirm the receipt of your Expression of Interest form
    • We will be in touch to let you know the outcome of your application and the next steps.
    • If successful we will ask you to complete an About You Form - The form allows us to ensure you get the most from the project as well as understanding any additional needs you may have.

    With only 12 places available on this project, we may not be able to invite all applicants to the next stage. If on this occasion you are not successful, please know that we value your story and your interest in this project and we are grateful for the time you have taken to apply.

    If you have any questions please contact projects@thedriveproject.co.uk

    If you would like to remain up to date with any future UK AVC projects you can join our mailing list by contacting info@ukafghanveterans.org

    Please click submit below

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