Up to 60 parents and children were drumming at a time in the show, which also featured Tanzanian acrobatic group, the Black Eagles.

Drumvoice are now regulars at Cadbury’s, providing lots of family fun as well as teambuilding for Cadbury’s staff.

This is 20 years after Sarah used to do freelance artwork for the company – designing Easter Egg boxes!

Sarah will be teaching at the magnificent Rainbow Music camp again this summer. A great event for all kinds of practical music-making and merry-making, you can learn African drumming, samba drumming, didgeridoo, string instruments, African Kora (harp), singing, chanting, gong meditations – you name it! Lots of dance workshops too. Very family friendly and gloriously hippy!

Rainbow camper Alison Bowry, who works for High Peak Community Arts in Derbyshire, got in touch after last year to say, “I just wanted to say a big thank you for the djembe workshops and our fun performance at Music Camp last weekend. Your teaching is excellent – clear, and encouraging, and much fun.  My friend on the audience on Sat night also said how great all your energy and enthusiasm was, and how you knew just how to get everyone to join in.”

Looking forward to this year’s camp!

http://www.themusiccamp.co.uk/

Sarah met Annette Daley, Organisational Development Officer, on a business trip to London, and some months later Annette found the perfect opportunity to give drumming a go – her own team away day!

Annette said, “A big thank you for contributing to our Away Day on 29^th March. The drumming session was a big hit (excuse the pun!) with everyone – from the evaluation feedback we had from the group, all said the drumming was their favourite part of the day ─ it was so much fun and something very different!”

Speech & Language Consultant, Keynote speaker & Storyteller extraordinaire, Michael Jones, decided to make himself – and his services – first prize in a raffle at the Stafford Early Years conference recently.

And after taking part in Sarah’s ‘Ready Steady Drum!’ session at the conference, he decided a collaboration with Drumvoice would be even better!

Churchfield CE Junior School in Rugeley were delighted to win a day of specialist training from Michael and Drumvoice on exciting ways to stimulate language development in their children.

Michael will share his innovative ideas on making the most of storytelling, giving children lots of practical playtime around the themes of the African story before it even begins.

Meanwhile, Sarah will show staff rhythm & rhyme activities to reinforce the language and ideas in the story, using the famous ‘washing up bowl’ drums.

And the grand finale? An exciting African Drumming extravaganza for the staff of Churchfield and neighbouring schools! Sarah will demonstrate the power of drumming to draw people – big and little! – together and improve communication.

Visit Michael Jones at:

http://www.talkformeaning.co.uk/

The Hawthorns was resounding with the sound of 75 happy drummers in April at Homeserve’s team away day.

Drumvoice were joined by public speaking expert, Mike Venables, who had this to say:

“The atmosphere created in just a few minutes was so exciting. Each delegate had a different type of African drum and Sarah showed them how to create a brilliant rhythmical sound that echoed down the corridors of The Hawthorns.

“If you had told me at the beginning of the hour that such unity and great playing could have come from a group of complete beginners I would not have believed it. You could tell that everyone was relishing it – the power of a team!”

Based on national initiative, Every Child a Talker, the conferences were aimed at inspiring staff with creative ideas to encourage language development.

Sarah delighted staff with her ‘Ready Steady Drum!’ activities for the early language curriculum – Phase 1 Letters & Sounds – and provided an exhilarating finale for the whole audience with the African Drums.

Early Years Senior Teacher consultant for Stafford, Stephanie Jackson said,

Sarah’s enthusiasm for sharing her drumming skills through an exciting interactive workshop sent participants away describing the session as, ‘fantastic and so easy to implement, fun, time to go out and buy my bowls, brilliant I loved every minute’.

“The result can only be described as spectacular with everybody feeling inspired and wanting more.

“Sarah and her collection of drums, without doubt, bring a great deal of fun into the lives of both the children and adults with whom she works.”

Performing in front of over 1000 guests, the 10 & 11 year olds did themselves proud.

Leanne Webber from BCFG said, “We have had some really great feedback from the evening and the guests were extremely impressed. Well done and thanks again!”

Sarah has taught the group of 10 drummers for three years and is very pleased they will have lasting memories of their final term in school together. She says, “They always amaze the audiences at school concerts and it is wonderful to show them off to the general public!”

Before long participants are learning how to engage with each other musically and using the skills that make for great team-functioning: listening, positive interaction and co-operation.

People leave our events with a new experience of each other. They have witnessed being highly successful as a team and having fun together in the process. This change of perception has lasting value back in the workplace.

Drumvoice events will…

• Engage, motivate &  inspire
• Lower stress & improve well-being
• Improve listening skills & communication
• Increase focus & concentration
• Boost your team’s energy & receptivity
• Boost morale & build team & company identity
• Provide a platform for issue-based training

 Contact us now for a quote.

“An amazing experience and a fantastic tool to use within training… A great way to break down barriers and communicate with each other on all levels.”

Emma Jennings

The Orange Studio

“Our graduate program needed an event to help them ‘gel’ together. Drumvoice was recommended to me and they brought FUN and ENTHUSIASM to the whole event. I have already booked them for our next program.”

Claire Lawson

Management Development Manager, Tarmac

“Just to say how much I enjoyed your session at the bank’s Management Centre… It was obvious that the participants had a good time, and the feedback I received was MOST POSITIVE.”

Nick Stephens

Business Banking Manager, Lloyds TSB

“SIMPLY AMAZING! Drumvoice made our team-building day a memorable event that our staff have talked about over and over again. The teams had so much fun… I can recommend them completely.”

Carole Longden

MD, Longden Associates

“Our project group was a collection of people from different areas of the business. Sarah, Goggie and the team used their talents to bring our diverse group together and produced amazing results. We all loved the use of the drums – it was so DIFFERENT from anything we had ever done before.”

Tony Perry

Egg

“Many, many thanks for such a fun inspirational workshop. It was even better than I had hoped for. People really enjoyed it and it was all just what we needed.”

Annette Fleming

Chief Executive, Aquarius

“All the feedback was very positive and both Paul Lake who was the sponsor of the event and all participants were delighted with the session.  Paul’s comment was that it was ‘just right’ timing, style and activity and great fun.  The drumming session was the first thing to be mentioned on the ‘What Went Well’ board at the end of the 2 days! Thanks for a very professional session.” 

John Thacker

Learning & Career Development, Rolls-Royce

“One person commented how the feeling of achievement made goose bumps appear on her arms – very powerful”

David Evitts

AT&T Training

Case Studies

Drumvoice gives Aquarius counselors chance to let their hair down at annual conference

OVER 100 counselors from the alcohol and drug abuse service, Aquarius, got a chance to let their hair down with us recently for an African Drumming and Samba extravaganza.

Drumvoice was invited to the charity’s annual conference to add some fun and vitality to proceedings.

It wasn’t long before the normally quiet Quakers’ Woodbrooke Centre in south Birmingham was filled with the sound of drumming and singing as the group threw themselves wholeheartedly into the experience.

Even the venue’s porters and receptionists wanted to take part!

Director of Birmingham Aquarius, Annette Fleming, wrote to the Drumvoice team after the event and said: “Many, many thanks for such a fun inspirational workshop. It was even better than I had hoped for. People really enjoyed it and it was just what we all needed.”

Aquarius is a leading provider of alcohol and other addiction services and has been helping people since 1977. For members of staff operating in what must often be an intense and difficult environment, Drumvoice provided not only some light relief, but also an invaluable experience of working together as a creative and mutually supportive group.

Sarah Westwood, Director of Drumvoice, said she was delighted with the fantastic response from the delegates.

She said: “Annette had been particularly pleased when some of the more senior national directors joined in, playing drums just as enthusiastically as everyone else. What a healthy message for the organisation as a whole that it can work as such a united team.”

Drumvoice completes Britannia training event with a big musical finale!

DRUMVOICE transformed 60 weary Britannia delegates into an energised African drumming band as part of a special grand finale– and it went down a storm!

The Drumvoice team was invited to Keele University as part of a two day training event organised by Longden Associates on behalf of financial services provider, Britannia.

Arriving in snow and fog, Drumvoice facilitators were impressed to discover the group of 60 delegates had spent the previous two days in outdoor pursuits – enjoying the great range of team activities Longden are well-known for.

It was with some relief that the delegates discovered the final team building event of the weekend would take place indoors under the expert guidance of Sarah and the team.

The African Drumming Experience started with everyone seated in a colourful circle of drums and percussion instruments.

As the session progressed the group was introduced to the exciting range of instruments Drumvoice bring: the distinctive Djembe drums, the powerful Djun Djun bass drums, the mellow tones of the bougarabou and the plethora of hand-held instruments that create the wonderful textures of the rhythm orchestra.

The session culminated in a wild final performance, raising the roof of the University hall.

Carole Longden, Director of Longden Associates said she had been very impressed by the enthusiastic response the African drumming experience had generated amongst delegates.

“It was extraordinary how Sarah and her team manage to get everyone’s absolute attention, to see the look of concentration on their faces – it was incredible.”

Sarah Westwood said she too was pleased with how the event had gone. “People responded wonderfully to our mix of humour, focus and high expectations – and became a great band!”

The feedback from delegates after the event was that the drumming had been an exhilarating finale to their training, and an experience they would remember for a long time to come.

Contact us now for a quote.

Participants are invited into a colourful seated circle of African drums and percussion instruments…

We begin by introducing the distinctive Djembe drums. Then we bring in the powerful Djun Djun bass drums, the mellow tones of the bougarabou and an array of hand-held instruments. Together they create the wonderful textures of West African percussion music.

All our fully interactive drumming experiences include:

• Playing techniques & rhythm games
• Learning traditional African rhythms
• Responding to calls & signals
• Being the conductor!
• Building layers of rhythms to create a whole piece of music
• Grand performance!

People learn the skills of making music together and team up to play the interlocking polyrhythms of West African drumming. They identify and applaud the different sounds and dynamics of the rhythm orchestra, and soon recognise themselves to be a creative and united team.

Sessions culminate in a high-energy musical celebration, bringing everything together for a powerful team-bonding performance!

Find the ideal event for your team on our Packages page.

Contact us now for a quote.