Helen Ward

Managing Director / Active Citizens Social Leader

Helen is strategic lead for the organisation, taking responsibility for the development of new projects, fundraising, managing key partnerships and leading on our flagship event Crook Winter Winter Light Parade, our Carnival Arts programme and international work. Helen has over 25 years working in the creative industries both as a practising lens based media artist and creative producer. She is a Churchill Fellow having travelled to Asia to research young people’s filmmaking projects and film festivals, a Clore Social Experienced Leader and a Digital City Fellow.
Helen is passionate about outdoor arts and supporting young people to have a voice using performing arts, music, film and media to develop intercultural skills and be the change makers of the future. A member of AESOP (Arts Enterprise with a social purpose), a 3 Towns Area Action Partnership Board Member, a County Durham Community Foundation EDF funding panel member and a trained Active Citizens facilitator; in her spare time Helen enjoys drumming, outdoor swimming (all year round!) and travelling.

Jack Burton

Artistic Director & Sustainability Officer

Jack is the creative lead for the organisation, taking responsibility for company strategy, fundraising, leading on our commitment to becoming carbon neutral and overseeing artistic delivery across our projects. Jack has over 15 years of experience in the creative industries as a performer, composer, and producer for a wide range of companies and creative practitioners including Theatre Sans Frontieres, World Beaters Music, and Georgian Theatre Royal Richmond, and brings a deep-rooted understanding of the creative sector and its unique value to our society, cultivated through many years of leading, participating, learning, and sharing. Jack’s lifelong association with Jack Drum Arts has embedded within him a strong passion for community collaboration. In his spare time, he can be found in his music studio in Newcastle Upon Tyne producing electronic music on his analogue synths. He has released music with independent record labels in the UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand, his greatest hit being ‘Who Gets The Cows?’

James Shepherd

Project Co-ordinator / Arts Facilitator & Green Champion

James co-ordinates our Feel Good Fridays group for adults; our annual BFI Network Film Academy for young people; as well as running our weekly Crook Games Club. James also supports the wider Jack Drum programme through the creation of marketing materials and the production of films. He has a degree in filmmaking, completed a production traineeship with Artichoke working on Lumiere 2019, is a trained Arts Award facilitator and has a passion for large-scale visual art and collaborative performance work. 

James Edwin Lane

Project Co-ordinator / Music Facilitator & Time to Change Champion

James primarily leads across our Youth Music programme inclusive of our Get Set Samba and Youth Music Rock Band Collective sessions. They support young people through mentoring, skills development, and The Key UK Social Action initiative, whilst also providing technological support across the organisation. James also advocates for more open discussion and destigmatisation of poor mental health in their role, as well as for the importance of creating safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth. Outside of Jack Drum Arts, James is a member of KCL’s Lived Experience Advisory Board, and an avid composer of music for moving image.

Brendan Swinney

Music Leader / Youth Arts Worker & Key Facilitator

Brendan supports our regular workshop sessions including Crook Games Club, Runaway Samba and our Youth Music Rock Band Collective.  He is a Level 2 trained youth worker and a trained Key facilitator supporting young people to deliver social action projects in the local community. As a proficient musician Brendan is a core member of our gigging bands Runaway Samba, Nordestinos, Baque de Ogum, and Backbeat Samba. In his spare time Brendan is a volunteer scout leader, enjoys rock climbing, playing Dungeons and Dragons and riding his motorbike.

Martina Vitale

Health & Well-being Facilitator/Volunteer Coordinator/Health Advocate

A qualified health trainer, Martina has 6 years experience in helping people improving their mental and physical well-being through lifestyle changes, mindfulness techniques and creative activities. Martina leads our Feel Good Fridays and Allotment groups, as well as coordinating volunteers. She is also a Health Advocate, providing health & well-being support for our participants and helping the team achieve the Better Health at Work Bronze Award. Passionate about good food and healthy eating, Martina has a Masters in Nutritional Science, works as a research assistant in nutritional neuroscience and volunteers for a local food partnership.

Eve Rose

B.O.P Fest Producer / Youth Arts Worker & Primary Voice Educator

Eve supports our regular weekly Get Set Samba junior drumming group and facilitates the Jack Drum Arts Youth Board. Eve is also a lead producer on ouraward winning free, family friendly climate action festival ‘B.O.P Fest’ and its related events. Eve is certified climate literate and IEMA Green Impact Auditor Approved. Outside of those duties, Eve is an avid drummer and young leader, performing and teaching across Jack Drum Arts’ in-house percussion bands, with whom she enjoys performing all over the country. A Primary Voices Educator, Eve is currently studying towards an undergraduate degree in Climate Science at Durham University.

Jill Chambers

Operations Co-ordinator / Lead Health Advocate

Jill supports the senior management in the administration, coordination and marketing across much of the programme at Jack Drum Arts. She is the company’s NCFE Assessor for the BFI Network Film Academy Short Course and leading on the company’s Better Health at Work Silver Award .
Jill has worked in the cultural sector in North East England for over 20 years, as a project manager, facilitator, maker, marketer, programmer and an educator. She has performed at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania, taken four shows to Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe and created immersive Halloween performances for audiences of up to 800 people at Plessey Woods Country Park in Northumberland.

Henry Dawson

Youth Theatre Facilitator

Freelance workshop facilitator Henry has been part of the Jack Drum Arts story since he was 15 when he started as a participant at Jackass Youth Theatre. Now with a degree in Drama & Theatre from York St John under his belt, Henry has his own arts company Stoke the Flame C.I.C and is one of our most seasoned workshop leaders, having led Jackass, Runaway Samba, Maracatu and numerous youth sessions at Jack Drum Arts.  Henry has previously lived in China, Quatar and Thailand, he spent 6 months as a volunteer at a New Zealand prep school and has learned traditional Maracatu drumming at workshops in Brazil.

Resound Theatre

Youth Theatre Directors

Resound Theatre was founded by Matt Wilks and Elliot Mann in 2022 after they met during a physical theatre project in Czechia and quickly connected over their shared experiences of growing up in the North at a time when access to alternative theatre was very limited. They are passionate about making high quality, home-grown physical theatre in the North of England with young people. Work on Resound’s debut show began in April during a two-week residency at The Plum Yard, (Czechia) under the guidance of mentor company Divadlo Continuo and is ongoing at Resound’s creative space in Sheffield, Abstra Studio. 

Sam Ward-Hardy

Baque De Ogum & Runaway Samba Creative Director

Sam is a freelance musician and facilitator currently based in Edinburgh. Sam specialises in Latin American percussion and drum kit
with a particular focus on the rhythms of Brazil.

A graduate of the Napier popular music course, Sam plays with various artists and groups. Sam has played samba with Jack Drum Arts since he was ten years old, progressing from participant to young volunteer and is now a director of Runaway Samba, Baque de Ogum, one of the creative leads on Nordestinos and a founding member of BackBeat Samba.