Bringing 100 People Together with Boomwhackers – Compass Changing Lives Away Day
Bringing 100 People Together with Boomwhackers – Compass Changing Lives Away Day
In September 2026, Unbeatable Energy joined around 100 members of the Compass Changing Lives team for their Away Day at Ringwood Hall in Chesterfield.
Compass does incredibly important work supporting the mental health and well-being of children and young people. The Away Day gave the whole team an opportunity to come together, reflect on their shared values and enjoy some time together away from their day-to-day work.
100 people making music together
The musical part of the day began with all 100 delegates taking part in an hour-long Boomwhacker team-building session.
Our Boomwhacker experiences have been developing musically, increasingly bringing together the instrument with influences from West African music – something we’re now exploring across our corporate, education and community work.
For the Compass session, one of our established Boomwhacker arrangements was combined with singing – using a song from Mali associated with the Sunu rhythm, taught to me by Hans Sutton.
It created a rather magical moment. The different Boomwhacker parts gradually came together across the room underneath the singing, with 100 people creating the music together – and clearly having a lot of fun in the process.
From Boomwhackers to African drums
After lunch, the focus moved from Boomwhackers to djembes, with two smaller African drumming workshops during the afternoon.
It made for a great combination: the entire organisation participating together through Boomwhackers in the morning, followed by the energy and immediacy of African drumming in smaller groups later in the day.
The Compass team were an incredibly warm and enthusiastic group to work with, and it was a real pleasure to contribute to a day centred around the people behind such important work.
Could this work at your next Away Day or conference?
Unbeatable Energy provides interactive Boomwhacker, African drumming, Samba drumming and percussion experiences for corporate Away Days, conferences, team-building events and staff celebrations throughout the UK.
Sessions can range from a short, high-energy conference icebreaker to a longer team-building experience. Boomwhackers are particularly effective when you want to bring a large conference audience together, with hundreds of people able to participate simultaneously.
We’d be delighted to discuss your event and explore how African drumming could work for your team.
African Drumming at Poacher International Jamboree 2026, Lincolnshire – 36 Workshops in Six Days
African Drumming at Poacher International Jamboree 2026, Lincolnshire – 36 Workshops in Six Days
It’s taken me a little while to sit down and reflect on what an extraordinary six days we had at Poacher International Jamboree 2026.
Held at Lincolnshire Showground, Poacher is enormous. Around 11,000 Scouts, Guides, leaders, volunteers and staff came together this year, with different activity zones spread across the site.
We were just one little pocket of it, providing six African drumming and dance workshops every day for six days – 36 sessions altogether.
This was our third Poacher, following 2017 and 2022, and I think this might just have been our best yet. We had a fantastic location, glorious hot and dry weather and pretty much full houses throughout the week.
I was joined for all six days by my colleague Dimitri, who was absolutely superb accompanying the sessions on dunduns.
And then there was the red carpet…
The magic carpet becomes THE red carpet
I have an old red carpet that I often take to festivals. I call it our “magic carpet”, and usually it simply helps make a temporary workshop space feel a little cosier.
But at Poacher we were treated to the luxury of a fully carpeted marquee, so the magic carpet wasn’t really needed.
I decided to roll it out down the middle of our drum circle instead.
And then I realised.
This wasn’t just a red carpet. It was THE red carpet.
I demonstrated the full catwalk: strut purposefully down the carpet, reach the end, turn around and give everybody that deadly serious fashion-model glance back.
Then Dimitri got his Bluetooth speaker out and put on Madonna’s Vogue.
That was it.
Between sections of African drumming, the Scouts and Guides started taking to the catwalk. Friendship groups went up together, girls embraced it, boys embraced it, and some of the performances became wonderfully theatrical.
I hadn’t known how readily teenagers would embrace the dance and movement elements of the workshops. You can invite people to participate, but you can’t force that sort of thing – they have to feel comfortable enough to go for it.
And they really did.
We even had several friendship groups who enjoyed the sessions so much that they came back on subsequent days to do it all over again.
36 workshops – and lots of new ideas
One of the most rewarding things about Poacher was how much the workshops themselves developed over the six days.
We worked with 4/4 and 12/8 West African rhythms, exploring ideas inspired by musical traditions from Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Ghana.
Some of what we were doing became surprisingly sophisticated. I would try something with one group, realise that it worked, develop it a little further with the next group, and gradually a new workshop idea would emerge.
That’s one of the unusual opportunities you get when delivering 36 sessions over six consecutive days. Rather than simply repeating the same workshop, you’re constantly responding to the people in front of you and finding new ways of teaching and putting rhythms together.
By the end of Poacher, I had developed several new ideas and workshop templates that I’ll now be able to take into other African drumming workshops.
Would my hands survive six days?
Before Poacher started, I genuinely wondered how my hands were going to cope with leading six drumming workshops a day for six days.
Thirty-six sessions is a lot of djembe playing!
But something interesting happened as the week progressed. I became increasingly conscious of using dynamics and technique – playing lightly when that was all that was needed and bringing in the power at the moments when it really mattered.
Rather than the week becoming more difficult, we seemed to settle into a groove.
We camped on site, got into our daily routine and became completely absorbed in the strange little world of an enormous international jamboree.
And suddenly it was Friday.
I honestly couldn’t believe how quickly those six days had gone.
African drumming workshops for Scouts and Guides
We’ve worked with Scouts, Cubs, Beavers, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows for many years, from individual packs and units through to camps, activity days and major events such as Poacher.
African drumming works particularly well in this environment because everyone gets to participate. No previous musical experience is necessary, and within a relatively short space of time a group can be creating something together that sounds genuinely exciting.
The workshops can incorporate djembe and dundun playing, traditional West African rhythms, movement and dance, with the level of challenge adapted for different ages and groups.
Poacher demonstrated just how far we can take that. Across those 36 sessions we had hundreds of young people drumming, dancing, laughing, challenging themselves – and occasionally strutting down a slightly battered red carpet to Madonna.
Thank you, Poacher!
Having first delivered workshops at Poacher in 2017, returning in 2022 and then being invited back again for 2026 means a great deal to us.
A huge thank you to the Poacher team and the extraordinary number of volunteers who make an event on this scale possible.
And, of course, thank you to all the Scouts and Guides who joined Dimitri and me throughout the six days. Your enthusiasm absolutely made the week.
Poacher 2026 was an absolute joy. We hope we’ll be back.
With thanks to Poacher International Jamboree for providing the photographs accompanying this article, which are used with permission.
African drumming for your Scout or Guide group
Unbeatable Energy provides interactive African drumming workshops for Scouts, Cubs, Beavers, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, as well as Scout and Guide camps, jamborees, activity days and larger events.
If you’re planning an event and would like to find out how African drumming could work for your group, get in touch with Unbeatable Energy to discuss your plans.
We’d be delighted to discuss your event and explore how African drumming could work for your team.
Corporate Team Building in Manchester – African Drumming Workshop for Optimal Solicitors
Corporate Team Building in Manchester – African Drumming Workshop for Optimal Solicitors
There’s something particularly satisfying about watching a group of colleagues arrive expecting “a drumming workshop” and leave having created something they never imagined they could.
That was exactly the case when we recently visited Optimal Solicitors in Manchester to deliver a two-hour African drumming and samba team-building workshop for around 45 members of their team.
The event formed part of a relaxed summer afternoon at the company’s offices, with pizzas being served outside and colleagues enjoying the opportunity to step away from their desks and spend time together. Rather than hiring an external venue, the workshop took place in their own office – proving that, with a little planning, a familiar workspace can be transformed into a fantastic setting for a memorable team-building experience.
Before the event, we carried out a visit to the office to make sure everything would work smoothly. By looking at the layout in advance, we were able to advise on the best way to arrange the room and ensure there was plenty of space for everyone to play comfortably.
Watch the highlights
Here’s a short highlights video from the workshop, giving a flavour of the energy, teamwork and atmosphere created during the session.
More than just learning rhythms
People often assume that an African drumming workshop is simply about learning a few rhythms.
Of course, music is at the heart of what we do, but creating a successful team-building experience is really about understanding people.
Every workplace team is made up of different personalities. Some people throw themselves into an activity from the very first minute. Others prefer to watch, listen and build their confidence gradually. Then there are usually one or two groups who arrive determined to make everyone laugh!
One of the things we enjoy most as facilitators is recognising those different energies and working with them rather than against them. A little playful banter, a smile or a gentle reminder to focus is often all that’s needed to keep the session moving while still allowing people to relax and be themselves.
When people feel comfortable, something special begins to happen. The group stops thinking about whether they’re “musical” and simply starts enjoying creating something together.
Building confidence together
The workshop began with simple African rhythms that everyone could master quickly before gradually introducing new layers and musical ideas.
One of the highlights was a rhythm challenge where beats travelled around the circle in opposite directions. As the pace increased, the room filled with laughter, encouragement and friendly competition as each side tried to complete the challenge first.
It’s a simple activity, but it’s incredibly effective. People naturally start supporting one another, concentrating together and celebrating each other’s success. Before long, a room full of individuals begins to think and play as one team.
What was particularly enjoyable during this workshop was the quality of the listening. Alongside all the laughter and relaxed atmosphere, there were some excellent natural musicians in the room, and the group’s timing became remarkably tight as the session progressed.
By the end of the afternoon, we combined the African drumming with samba rhythms to create a powerful finale. The sound produced by forty-five people, many of whom had never touched a drum before, was genuinely impressive and a wonderful way to finish the session.
A memorable afternoon in Manchester
One of the things we particularly liked about this event was its relaxed atmosphere.
There was no pressure for anyone to perform. It was simply an opportunity for colleagues to enjoy themselves, encourage one another and share an experience that was completely different from a normal working day.
Events like this remind us that successful team building isn’t about creating perfect musicians. It’s about creating moments where people laugh together, support one another and leave with shared memories that continue long after the final rhythm has faded.
After the workshop, Rachel Simpson from Optimal Solicitors told us:
“It was certainly well received with lots of positive comments.”
Feedback like this means a great deal because it reflects exactly what we aim to achieve every time we work with a team.
If you’re looking for a corporate team-building activity in Manchester—or anywhere across the UK—that brings people together through music, energy and plenty of laughter, we’d be delighted to hear from you.
Interested in African Drumming for Your Team?
Whether you’re planning a conference, team-building day, staff well-being event or company away day, African drumming can provide an engaging and memorable experience for your team.
We’d be delighted to discuss your event and explore how African drumming could work for your team.
