Common Good Comics – Stories that Matter
Posted: 13 June 2022, in Blog-News
Magic Torch Comics CIC work with schools and community groups to tell stories using comics, often as literacy projects or to share forgotten tales from communities. Our most recent comic project celebrates a different type of superhero, the people who have worked and volunteered to improve their communities through social enterprise.
Common Good Comics explores forty years of social enterprise from across Scotland, sharing stories from organisations who focus on culture, people and history to build a better tomorrow. From post-industrial landscapes to ancient forests, island communities to historical buildings, we’ve tried to collect stories which showcase the broad scope of social enterprise and the way in which it has developed from the 1980s to today.
Bannockburn House – Dylan Gibson
Common Good Comics is a partnership project, delivered by Magic Torch Comics CIC, Glasgow Caledonian University Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health and GCU Archive Centre. It is supported by National Heritage Lottery Fund, Scotland. The project grew out of the amazing work that GCU had undertaken on developing a social enterprise collection at the university archive and the project has also offered support for organisations to think about how they create their own archive, preserving and protecting those stories for future generations.
The project started work in May 2020, and so, much of the discussion and story work with groups was done via zoom calls throughout 2020/21. Bringing board members, staff and volunteers together, even remotely, to share their origin stories, created a much needed sense of connection. Hearing such positive memories of people led change made a challenging time much more hopeful. And that’s why stories matter.
We’ve often found that there is an immediacy to sharing stories and information with comics, and we hope that the collection will inspire people to think about developing their own social enterprises; it’s less of a formal ‘how to’ and more of a down to earth ‘why not?’. Each story has been adapted by a different artist in a style that visually reflects the work and location of the organisations – from industrial blues and greys to windswept pastels, for it’s clear that Scotland itself has shaped the distinctive way social enterprise has been able to develop and grow in this part of the UK.
Common Good Comics Cover
Common Good Comics – Social Enterprise Stories launches at SCVO’s The Gathering on Thursday 16 June at an event which will also feature information on the Social Enterprise Archiving Toolkit (SEAT) developed by Glasgow Caledonian University Archive Centre and some practical advice on developing archives and telling the story of your organisation,
Book your place now to attend the event and secure a free copy of the comic (and a few other freebies we’ll be bringing along too!)
The second volume, focussing on community action, will be launched later in the year, you can follow us on twitter to find out more.
Paul Bristow, Director/Creative Practitioner at Magic Torch Comics
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Read more of our member’s stories on our blog. If you are a Social Enterprise Scotland member and would like to share your own story, please email team@socialenterprise.scot.