Oliver has rapidly become one of the most familiar young faces at Jack Drum Arts as he can be found drumming with Get Set Samba Band on Tuesday evenings and socialising at Games Night on Wednesday evenings, as well as sitting on the Games Night Youth Steering Group and the Jack Drum Arts’ Youth Board.

Oliver moved to County Durham a few years ago. When he first arrived in the area some people were rude to him because he didn't have a local accent and he was also bullied extensively at school. To add to his initial experience as a newcomer to the region, it took a little while to get an internet connection installed so Oliver was feeling especially isolated.

New adventures

In 2022 Oliver and his mum first encountered Jack Drum Arts when they attended B.O.P Fest, Jack Drum Arts’ festival of sustainability and culture led by our fabulous Youth Board. He also attended a drumming workshop at Tow Law where he picked up the bug for samba drumming from Youth Music Leaders Brendan and Sam.

Music was always an important part of Oliver’s childhood, and his mum tells people that as a baby, she would lull him to sleep with a spot of AC/DC! He had some drumming lessons a few years ago and is now able to continue his passion at home using his mum’s electric kit and a practice pad for drumming standing up. Having joined the Get Set Samba Band, Oliver then enjoyed making even more new friends at Wednesday night Games Night where he gets to sit, chat and generally hang out in between the board games and fun.

Having been, as Oliver puts it, ‘kidnapped by Eve’ to be on the Youth Board, he now says that one of the things he most enjoys about being part of the organisation is that he gets to ‘decide some of the important stuff’ and he loves now being able to help organise B.O.P Fest, which is how he found out about Jack Drum in the first place. He also got to plan and pitch for a small grant from The Key to enable a group of young people to visit the ROF59 trampoline park in Newton Aycliffe.

Oliver says, ‘Coming here is fun because you can be yourself. I don’t think there is any discrimination about who can join which is nice!’

The sky’s the limit

Things are on the up now, Oliver’s currently looking forward to samba gigs over the winter and has just taken part in Crook Winter Light Parade. He says that people in the North East are now a lot nicer and he’s hoping to start at a new school in the coming months.