What We Do
For The Record CIC helps people capture and share their stories using conversation and technology.
We work with words and create writing. We also work with images - photographs, drawings, illustrations - to help communicate how life changes over time. This process embeds the Creative Health Framework, keeping it transparent and allowing everyone to learn.
Current Projects
Cambridge Community Grant (Under £5,000): Working in nursing homes, collecting stories from residents about their lives and experiences. We transcribe these conversations and share them to create a circle of events and shared history.
Paul Hamlyn Foundation Project (October 2025): Working with children in schools, focusing on words and images to help them see the power of narrative in their own work.
How We Work
We use a Creative Health Framework that focuses on equal conversation between two people. No one talks down to anyone else. We listen, review what we've heard, and figure out next steps together.
David brings a love of observing and drawing from his postgraduate work at Central Saint Martins. This helps create narratives that combine illustrations and artwork with words, making stories more accessible and engaging for different audiences.
Last updated: September 22, 2025
Who We Are
Three people who believe in equal conversation and honest documentation. Our experience across Scotland, England and international settings means we can work in different communities and contexts.
David Manuell
David was diagnosed with dyslexia during his teaching career. Through discussions and exploration, he's become aware of the complex nature of comorbidity with ADHD and autism alongside his dyslexia. The challenges don't go away, but he's more aware of how to develop strategies and deal with setbacks.
He holds a PGCE in Art and Design and City & Guilds Level 4 in Literacy Specialism. His experience includes working in FE colleges, with challenging behaviour and SEN in primary schools, adult education supporting people returning to work in Cambridge, outdoor instructor work, and 5 years as a community member at Garvald West Linton - a Steiner-based community supporting people with learning difficulties.
David specialises in making technology work for the student/adult. For the past 7 years he listens and adapts to the person's style and needs. His current work spans businesses, theatres, sole traders through Access to Work - drawing from outdoor experience and classroom settings where planning encapsulates options and solutions are created in partnership. The changes in the last three years - particularly transcription and sentence-checking tools - mean these technologies can now help everyone communicate better.
He uses these tools to support communication between people, focusing on how technology can create more meaningful ways of putting thoughts onto paper and sharing stories.
Michael Charkow
Psychology & Community Work: Michael studied psychology at Edinburgh University and spent four years at Garvald West Linton, a Steiner-inspired community where people with learning disabilities live and work together. He later taught English in Japan, bringing cross-cultural understanding to his community work.
Ecological Business: Michael has run Arbor Vitae Arboriculture Ltd for 18 years, a tree consultancy based in Edinburgh. His work includes tree surveys, bat habitat checks, and designing small forests to support biodiversity. He has written papers on environmental topics including articles in the Arboricultural Association magazine about biodiversity and Miyawaki forest regeneration. He's climbed rainforest trees in Borneo and India, and is known for being thorough, calm, and deeply respectful of nature and people.
Chris McGowan
Chris is a programme leader with The Outward Bound Trust, actively involved in youth development initiatives across Scotland. Based at Loch Eil Centre, he works with over 5,000 young people annually, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, empowering them through outdoor education, leadership training, and community engagement.
Leadership Programmes: Chris delivers the Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award, a six-month programme combining wilderness expeditions with urban-based community projects. In March 2024, he guided Glasgow academy students as they transformed the outdoor patio of Westerton Care Home - an intergenerational project that fostered connection between youth and elderly residents.
His leadership style emphasizes empathy and inclusion, ensuring all participants feel supported regardless of background. He uses outdoor challenges to foster real-world skills and builds community connections that bridge generations and create local partnerships.
Last updated: September 22, 2025
Where We're Going
We're starting with real work in Cambridge - collecting stories from ordinary people and turning them into something that can be shared.
Current Status
What We're Learning
We're learning about funding and when we are successful we will share these and the other barriers. This is about conversation, improving people's lives and sharing and creating understanding.
Scotland Planning: Building Toward 2029
We're taking a strategic approach to Scotland expansion. Small grants in 2025-26 will let us pilot story-collecting work and build relationships. By 2027-28, we'll have track record and community connections. When Glasgow Communities Fund 2029-2032 opens, we'll apply with proven experience rather than just good intentions.
This three-year build-up means we can show funders exactly how our conversation-based approach works, which communities benefit, and what happens when people's stories get shared. Evidence beats promises.
Our Approach
We use the Creative Health Framework - treating everyone as equals in conversation. We listen to people's stories, help them review what they've shared, and work together to decide what happens next. With our knowledge and experience, we can demonstrate options and support people through barriers they might find.
Next Update Expected: November 2025 after we start the projects
Last updated: September 22, 2025