Our Top 10 Moments from 2024!
We have come to the end of what has been a fantastic year for Kinetika Bloco so we thought we would do a little roundup of our top 10 moments of 2024. It has been hard to narrow it down to 10 but here goes…
1) We Are Bloco: Steel Pan Takeover, Feb 2024 – Millie John led our Pan Section in a fundraising concert to help raise money for our trip to Cape Town and to showcase the super talented pan players who have developed so much over the last few years. Hosted at LCCM, the concert raised £2,700!
2) First collaboration with Wandsworth Council, Feb 2024 – we started working in Wandsworth with the Arts and Participation team running 3 holiday courses for young people as an Early Intervention programme. We hope to return there in 2025 for more workshops and performances. Catch the highlights video here
3) Cape Town, Mar 2024 – We had a life changing trip for 30 of our team and young people in Cape Town visiting 11 different organisations, working with 319 young people and performing for over 20,000 people. There were more than 10 highlights just in this one trip, so catch up on some of our favourite moments here
“I definitely came back re-energised and refreshed. I did a lot of reflection about what I had witnessed. It just reminded me that while there is so much that divides people, there is also so much to connect with people over.”
4) Playing on our first audio book, May 2024 – Penguin approached us to play a short piece for the audio book soundtrack to Passiontide by Monique Roffey which a few of our Pan Players performed on. This was a new experience for us, but one we are up for repeating!
5) Foxy Fridays, June 2024 – we commemorated 10 years since Mat Fox left us, with 4 super fun Friday nights dedicated to bringing the alumni back together. They dropped in each week and worked their way through old Bloco bangers whilst reminiscing about the “good old days”. It was a great way to celebrate Mat’s legacy.
“This took me back to all those years at Summer School and reminded me how much of an impact Kinetika Bloco has had on my life as a musician, creative and human-being. Also, I felt quite emotional not seeing Mat with us – something I regularly think about 10+ years later.”
6) First Summer School at Great Ormond Street Hospital, July 2024 – we were honoured to be asked to deliver a Summer School for the young people in GOSH. Our team had a wonderful week delivering dance, drumming and steel pan workshops with an array of inspiring young people. In 2025 we will hopefully be delivering a year of activity in the hospital.
“Our son has been in physio for 5 months and has been getting bored and frustrated. The music class refreshed the day and made him happier to focus on physio. They have been great for wellbeing, building friendships and preventing him from becoming institutionalised. The sessions have also given parents a break which means a better mood for the whole family.”
7) Created ‘Changing Key’, our own Music Curriculum resource, July 2024 – following a long period of curation and creation working with a team of Music Leaders, young people and Sir Kyle McInnis we released our first ever Music Curriculum for Key Stage 3. It is so far being used in 4 schools, if you’re interested in finding out more check out the details here
8) Our biggest Summer School ever, Aug 2024 – We had 160 young people at our Summer School which is the biggest….so far! It was an incredible 10 days of fun, creativity, joy, and friendship inspired by the trip to Cape Town – truly LEKKER! Catch the highlights video here
“I am simply proud to be a part of Kinetika Bloco. We create an environment where everyone feels welcome and can express themselves freely. The connections we form and memories we create are what make me incredibly proud to be a part of it.”
9) We employed 6 interns over the year – we have continued to grow and are committed to finding ways to employ young leaders in our programmes. We had 6 Interns working with us over the year, 2 on the Elevate Programme for 6 months and 4 on a 3-week London Youth Scheme in the summer
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to have taught at both Junior and Senior Summer Schools this summer. It has been a beautiful experience to be part of the creative process as an intern and to witness the final performances come together so wonderfully…The person I am today is massively due to the impact Bloco has had on me since I started three years ago…I’m deeply thankful to the staff who believed in me and helped shape me into the Young Tutor I am today. The same sense of belonging and confidence that the tutors instilled in me is what I now strive to pass on to the participants I work with at Bloco projects!”
10) Top secret shoot with one of our alumni that we can’t wait to reveal in 2025! – and finally one of the highlights of the year was collaborating with one of our super supportive alumni on a campaign that saw a film crew coming in, recording us working with another alumni, and taking us on location. We will have more exciting news to share about that in the New Year.
So now it’s just time to say Happy Christmas. We hope you have a blessed and beautiful time with friends and family and that the New Year is a fresh adventure. We will see you there!
Lots of Love from all the team at Kinetika Bloco.
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