↑ TOUCH & PLAY
PRESENCE · STORYTELLING ·LAB
The suspended second
before the catch.
We run joyful, highly interactive presence and storytelling workshops — for teams, volunteers and whole communities.
Bring a workshop to your groupPRINCIPLES OF PRESENCE
Catch and throw.
We discover presence with self, other and our environment sometimes with the aid of one simple ball-game that practices the principles of being present.
Nine strands of work
↑ PRESS A BALL TO CATCH MORE INFORMATION
Team events
Being seen & heard, & seeing and hearing others is our approach to team-building. Presence & storytelling brings us to life and whilst we aim for a lot of laughs and joy, underneath it all we build human connection.
We have engaged a wide variety of teams including; Aberdeen Business Gateway -Aberdeen Improv Group -Aberdeen based Care Sector staff -UK Government Westminster Civil Service Team -European Union Funded Partnership Team Oslo -Social Action Inquiry Scotland Leadership Team-Transition Dundee Staff Team -Edinburgh Printmakers Staff Team & Edinburgh 900 Project -Hutton Institute Communications Team- Action Learning Group of senior consultants -NHS hospital-based teams
Workshops built around your group, not a script — presence games, story circles and moments that leave a team feeling genuinely met.
STORYCARDS — TEAM EVENTS
Care Sector Aberdeen
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Seeing & hearing volunteers
We created an international programme of storytelling
workshops called Volunteer Faces & Voices. More than 250 recordings and portraits following activities in presence and storytelling- all available on the Centre for European Volunteering (CEV)
Improvised, heart-led sessions that help volunteer truly see and hear one another — presence -followed by incredibly honest and fluent stories.Listen to the stories →
STORYCARDS — VOLUNTEER FACES & VOICES
paired storytelling Gdansk, Poland
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Dowsing for Stories- Presence with the Land & Nature
The river Fleet, London.
Walking the buried river Fleet through London, dowsing for the stories the river and land holds — and allowing the dowsing rods to channel connection. Presence with ourself, with those on the walk, and in relationship with nature.
STORYCARDS — DOWSING FOR STORIES
Dowsing for stories walk · Mind Camden community members · Led by George Thomson & Cerdic Hall
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Ask the storycards
Ask about these storycards
Try some dowsing for answers to your questions!
Picnics in the Park
Rural community building.
Our voluntary contribution that took a lead in 12 Sunday Picnics in the Park focused on pétanque, Boccia ,outdoor chess, and complimentary picnic table. These were highly successful (over 400 people engaged) in August to November 2026 Picnics in the Park, Held in the rural village of Newtyle near Dundee. A final a storytelling session exploring Newtyle Park’s past, present, and future completed the programme.
Action Theatre
International workshops & residentials.
International workshops and residentials in Action Theatre — presence, movement and improvisation, deepened over days together.
Applying improvisation/storytelling to prepare for communications - real examples
Handling difficult conversations at work
Being on a film critic guest panel Sharing an organisation’s development & history Isolation of PhD students-making connections
Improvisation games and story circles for workplaces — including our much-loved method for handling difficult conversations, with a ball in hand.
STORYCARDS — BEING ON A FILM PANEL
A group of 3 agreed to be film critics for a night. We prepared them 1 week before with ensemble work and they really enjoyed themselves on the night!
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Social Entrepreneurs
Inventors of The Volunteer Vending Time Machine prototype — transforming the world of volunteering.
The Volunteer Vending Time Machine is our prototype for a transformed world of volunteering — playful, experimental and built with social entrepreneurs.
STORYCARDS — THE VOLUNTEER VENDING TIME MACHINE
Prototype we’re testing in Italy
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Social Action Inquiry Scotland — Professional Storyteller
Uplifting stories of ex-prisoners who found their true selves with their peers at their back.
A podcast co-created with Kevin Neary, co-founder of Aid & Abet, as the Professional Storyteller — privileged to hear, witness and share four deeply meaningful stories. These capture the ethics and values The Presence Lab brings to seeing and hearing the person. We also facilitated the Social Action Inquiry Scotland Leadership team in a storytelling day towards the end of the Inquiry that was truly synergising. We were commissioned to undertake a further project with Dundee Photography Forum that included a storytelling workshop and photography assignment on the theme of social action. Listen to the stories →
Research & Development — NHS
Our presence methods have had very positive effects in hospital settings for both patients and teams.
It’s vital that the potential of this work is studied and researched with disciplined methodology that provides evidence-based findings. Rachael Edgar is undertaking with NHS support a forthcoming study on applied improvisation in physiotherapy. Will the anecdotal evidence be backed by this research to prove benefits to patients?
Where the ball has travelled
13
countries of joyful work
The co-founders
George Thomson
Co-founder
Co-founder of The Presence Lab. My career DNA and passion is community-building. I was born to help create the conditions where people are seen and heard and find voice and joy in expressing their individuality and collectivity. I was CEO of Volunteer Scotland and had a national and international role in volunteer engagement. The volunteer Faces & Voices storytelling work featured in this site, was my transition into the wonder of presence and storytelling and my work with Rachael Edgar and collaborators has flourished into sharing the joy of presence & storytelling. I’m leading on an international project to transform the way we connect citizens with the civic space- the Volunteer Vending Time Machine of course!
Rachael Edgar
Co-founder
My first solo performance was under the olive trees on Lesvos, during a residency in ensemble physical theatre training. I'd spent days watching others go first, and I was nervous, but I trusted what I'd been learning about presence. It took me a while to look out at my fellow trainees. When I did, I saw smiles, focus and encouragement. For a few minutes there was just one choice, then the next. I've been curious about that feeling ever since. It's a curiosity I now bring to my work as an NHS Specialist Physiotherapist, yoga teacher and facilitator of presence-based workshops. I've worked with NHS senior leaders, government and business teams, performers and community groups. With How We Meet, I create space for people to explore what's possible when we're present with ourselves, each other and our environment. If that appeals, I'd love to hear from you and explore it together.
The Presence Lab is here for your play. Play with Presence and Storytelling .
The Presence Lab — is run by How We Meet Ltd. SC 750023 www.howwemeet.co.uk