Bang the Drum

Nearly 2,000 London school children set new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for Largest Drumming Lesson in support of street children across the globe.

SFL were proud to be part of this event on Monday 3 October when A new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the LARGEST DRUMMING LESSON has been set by 1,827 school children, aged 7 – 11, and their teachers from 25 London schools at the at the Copper Box Arena today in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The Bang the Drum 2016 event was held in support of UK charity Street Child United. The charity uses the power of sport and the arts to challenge the negative perceptions and treatment of street children worldwide. They are the organisers of the Street Child Games and the Street Child World Cup.

The GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS official attempt was led by world music facilitators Inspire-works, and streamed live on YouTube throughout the UK to up to 10,000 drummers of all ages and abilities. Street-connected children in Chennai, India also participated in the world record attempt via the live stream. John Wroe, CEO of Street Child United said, It has been incredible to see thousands of school children across the UK banging their drums in support of the millions of street children around the world.The drummers performed a unique piece of music that was developed by Inspire-works facilitators, local community drummers and 35 former street children from 9 countries at the 2016 Street Child Games held earlier this year ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The event also included performances from Inspire-works facilitators, Royal College of Music Percussion Department, the Young Drummer of the Year and beatbox legends Tyte & Mr Phormula. Bang the Drum 2016 has broken the previous GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the Largest Drumming Lesson set in 2012 with 1,651 participants by World Arts & Multi-culture Inc, in Brisbane, Australia. Mike Simpson, Inspire-works Musical Director, said:

What really excites me about this project is that in a former Olympic venue, and via live stream, thousands of children and teachers were banging the drum for street children’s rights by playing music created by former street children at the Street Child Games!

Also, over 50 teachers were trained as Arts Award Advisers and this project equips the workforce to design and deliver their own future projects so the legacy keeps on going.Bang the Drum 2016 follows on from the successful Road To Rio Samba project in 2014, when 1,675 London school children broke the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the Largest Samba Band at the Royal Albert Hall, London.