Chiltern Therapies took advantage of Lu's hobby of African drumming to attend a fund raising event for Hope-Senegal, a project run by Jan Onione (who also plays drums).  The project is aiming to build a much needed school in Niankitte, southern Senegal.

The venue was the African Drum Village, a highly successful event held at Glenisla in Scotland, organised by Steve Haden and Afrodisiac, where several of the world’s most talented African musicians, singers and dancers combined to create an amazing 4 day festival of workshops and performance.

During the event, Chiltern Therapies raised £323.20 through donations for a seated massage.  Most of the recipients had been drumming for several hours and found the massage highly beneficial for relaxing and soothing their tired muscles.

Chiltern Therapies would like to thank Steve for his hospitality, and all who gave so generously to the project.

for more information click the drummer

Aug 2006 – Chiltern Therapies went back to Glen Isla in the Scottish glens for another memorable drumming week.  This year we provided reflexology and deep tissue massage in return for a donation towards the Manding Kaira tree project (see www.mandingkaira.com  for further information)  The important trees from which African djembe drums are made are likely to become extinct in some West African countries within 20 years so this is an important project to help protect employment in delicate infrastructures.  We are pleased to announce that £278.60 was raised in all.   This should help plant a great many trees.   One of the many highlights of the weeks was “Scottish day”. Our African tutors were presented with “traditional” Scottish clothing and were extremely keen to join in with the fun.  Tutor turned pupil for once.

August 2007

The UK Summer turned out to be extremely wet, and many parts of the country experienced severe flooding.  It was easy to become despondent about the amount of rain that kept falling, so with this in mind we decided that WaterAid would be the charity for whom we would try and raise funds, especially as Simon offers massage to the WaterAid marathon runners in London each year.  WaterAid works in 17 countries providing water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world's poorest people. www.wateraid.org  Thanks to the generosity of the African Drum Village, we raised £382.00.

August 2008

This year at the African Dum Village we wanted to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 90^th birthday by raising awareness of 46664 and accepting donations in return for reflexology and massage sessions.  www.46664.com Despite the almost continuous torrential rain, and the fact that the gazebo was under about 4 inches of water most of the time, we raised an amazing £404.00!   Thank you to everyone who contributed.