A LANDLORD in Urmston has held Manchester’s first ever human library.

James Laybats, landlord of The Bird I’th opened his pub doors to The Human Library, a not-for-profit charity.

A selection of human ‘books’ from across the UK and Europe visited the pub and allowed local people to visit and borrow one of the ‘books’. But rather then reading, they had a conversation, to hear and to share about their real-life stories, struggles,experiences and find a common ground over a beer.

The aim is to break down barriers and stereotypes and every ‘book’ in The Human Library is a real person with an extraordinary background.

Hannah Watson, aged 24, from Lincolnshire is one of the Human books. She is a young transgender woman who had the opportunity to talk about her experiences through her life-changing transition and how she uses her story to help others who suffer prejudice and stigma.

Around 30 local people turned up to the pub on Flixton road to loan a 'book' from the library.

Landlord James said: “Pubs are our business, but the pub belongs to the community. I was behind this campaign as soon as I saw it and feel a personal connection to the campaign myself as a gay landlord. The simple act of sitting down and having a conversation over a beer helps bring people together to show there is more that unites us than divides us.”

The real-life social experiment was part of an extension to Heineken’s Open Your World Campaign, where they are bringing to local communities across the UK, to explore if the benefit of finding common ground with one another, can ultimately lead us to be more open. Their aim is "to encourage everyone to actively choose tolerance, empathy and openness towards one another, the ability and willingness to find common ground."

They created a ‘Worlds Apart’ film as part of their campaign, where two total strangers meet for the first time. Divided by their beliefs they come together proving that when you see past the labels, even the most divided groups can find common.

The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wYXw4K0A3g&feature=youtu.be