Rebecca shares her journey of uprooting, and reconnecting to County Durham, in an inclusive environment at Jack Drum Arts.

Rebecca spent most of her childhood living in Indiana, USA, having moved from County Durham when she was 2, a few months after undergoing open heart surgery.

Much to her parents’ surprise, the education system in America did not support integrated schooling - but with their strength and determination, Rebecca was able to attend her school as the first disabled student. There, she was an active and enthusiastic member of the dance group.

In 2017, Rebecca and her parents returned to County Durham - a move that was driven by a want and need to be closer to family in the UK, but which meant leaving Rebecca’s friends behind.

Rebecca is a social butterfly, and so this was a difficult transition for her to make, describing herself  as feeling “sad, lonely and scared to be here”. This feeling was overshadowed by an excitement to attend college in the UK, but which too was impacted, this due to COVID-19.

All classes were cancelled, and Rebecca and her parents were shielding as she was classed as high risk.

Discovering Jack Drum Arts

Having being recommended to Jack Drum Arts by a family friend, Rebecca began taking part in Dance sessions on Zoom in May 2020, and went on to take part in the socially-distanced Summer School.

Rebecca’s Mum Janet describes Jack Drum Arts as ‘saving their sanity’, providing much needed respite from their caring responsibilities during COVID-19.

Since then, Rebecca has continued taking part in Dance, and has performed as part of Jack Drum Arts’ Nordestinos project: a melding of traditional Brazilian music and dance from the North East of Brazil with the rich, deeply rooted traditions of folk songs and dance from the North East of England.

Rebecca said:

“[I was] so excited, I was so happy dancing. I loved the drums playing, I loved the singing.”

In November 2021, Rebecca danced in Crook Winter Light Parade. This was first time many of her family members had seen Rebecca perform, and they were impressed and immensely proud - and commented on how well she was looked after throughout.

A safe space for Rebecca

Janet feels it can be difficult to find activities for Rebecca that are safe, but that give her a sense of freedom - and that it can feel difficult to let go, especially in new environments.   

Despite this, Janet said:

“We felt that she was really looked after [at Jack Drum Arts], and to us that was really important.”

Rebecca said:

“I am so happy [Mum], because I’ve got a big family at Jack Drum.”

“Jack Drum is my favourite place. I like to work here because it’s my favourite. I feel like I can make a cup of tea, I feel like I can dance […] part of the job I want to do here is help people […] it is my dream, it is my life, it is my vision.”

Rebecca is continuing to participate in Dance at Jack Drum Arts, and will dance in the performances of Nordestinos taking place across Summer 2022.

She also expressed interest in learning how to drum, much to the apprehension of Janet!