Bollywood film crew Cheltenham Adventures of Gabriel

A Bollywood Film Crew, a Book, and Stories That Cross Borders

December 05, 2025•1 min read

Yesterday I was walking through Cheltenham when I spotted something unexpected: a full Bollywood film crew, cameras, lights, the works.

I had two choices. Keep walking or stop and introduce myself. I chose the second.

I handed them three things. Gabriel's books: The Adventures of Gabriel series, born from Friday night FaceTime calls between a British-Pakistani boy and his mother during two years of family separation, now an international bestseller underpinning a methodology that has served 465 children across nine schools. A handwritten postcard with our websites and a single line: "Children across the UK are becoming published authors. Worth seeing what they're creating?" And press releases heading out across South Asia over the next six weeks, covering children from Bradford, Gloucester, Pakistan, and India becoming published authors through StoryQuest.

The film crew is here shooting a story that crosses borders. Through StoryQuest, we are living that story daily. When children are given complete creative freedom, no templates, no prescribed outcomes, just the question "what story do you want to tell?", something emerges that no corporate diversity programme can manufacture. Cultural bridges built through children's authentic voices.

I did not plan to meet a film crew yesterday. I just knew that when opportunity shows up, you say yes, take action, and see what happens. Some of these children dream of seeing their stories on screen one day. Who knows what that postcard might lead to.

Every child's voice deserves to be heard. Sometimes the most important thing is simply choosing to stop and introduce yourself.

Kate

Kate Markland is a former award-winning physiotherapist with twenty years of clinical experience, the founder of StoryQuest Global, and the co-author of the international bestselling Adventures of Gabriel children's book series. She developed the StoryQuest methodology from clinical listening principles built across two decades of practice. Taken into schools across the UK, it achieved 100% engagement across 465 children in nine schools with zero behavioural incidents, including children with SEND, EAL learners, and reluctant writers. The research was conducted using Classic Grounded Theory across 318 children, identifying seven self-leadership transformations. It has been presented to the British Psychological Society, accepted by UK Parliament, and submitted to UNICEF. The methodology was built during the hardest period of Kate's life. One hour a week on FaceTime with her son. No desk. No classroom. No permission. What came out of that constraint became an Amazon number one bestseller, a validated research framework, and a movement now reaching schools and families across the UK, India, Pakistan, Canada, the United States, Nigeria, and Australia. Kate has been featured on BBC News, Times Radio, and in international publications across multiple countries. She has submitted evidence to the Justice Committee, the Independent Review of Social Work Regulation, and the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. She was awarded the PhysioTimes Women in Leadership Award. She was told she was the danger. She built the proof that she was the answer.

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