↑ 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 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.
Seeing & hearing your 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) link to the podcasts from each workshop here
Practical, heart-led sessions that help volunteer teams truly see and hear one another — the moment people feel noticed, presence follows.
STORYCARDS — VOLUNTEER FACES & VOICES
Story 1 — strapline to come
← FLICK THE STORYCARDS, TAP A CARD →
Dowsing for Stories- Presence with the Land & Nature
The river Fleet, London.
Walking the buried river Fleet through London, dowsing for the stories the city holds — and telling them aloud, on the spot.
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
Improvisation games and story circles for workplaces — including our much-loved method for handling difficult conversations, with a ball in hand.
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.
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.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
I’m passionate about helping individuals, teams and communities discover the possibilities of presence — becoming more connected with ourselves, each other, our environment and the wider world. My own journey has been shaped by a lifelong exploration of body, mind, voice and connection through movement, improvisation, yoga, meditation and storytelling. I bring this experience into How We Meet with curiosity, openness and a belief in the unique connections that emerge when people are given space to explore. I’m a qualified NHS Specialist Physiotherapist, Yoga teacher and experienced facilitator of movement, improvisation and presence-based workshops. I have worked with NHS professionals, government and business teams, performers and community groups, as well as leading meditation, mindfulness and residential retreats. At the heart of my work is a simple question: what becomes possible when we are truly present?
The Presence Lab is here for your play. Play with Presence and Storytelling .
The Presence Lab — presence is joy. Run by How We Meet Ltd.