Alison is a Research Associate with the Storytelling Academy, researching the potential benefits of staging digital storytelling workshops in educational and community settings.

Alison is a writer and creative writing teacher with a long association with Loughborough University, where she earned a Master’s degree in Creative Writing in 2011 and has worked as a researcher on a number of local heritage projects.

She worked for many years in the UK’s government-maintained school sector, with a specialism in promoting inclusion, diversity and developing the language skills of pupils speaking English as an additional language.  Her work as a Writer in the Community centres on belonging, connection and the benefits of storytelling in its many forms for building personal and communal resilience.

Alison is a member of the National Association of Writers in Education and accredited as a writing coach through the Arvon Foundation.