Second UK Government Legacy Report features the Pandemonium Drummers

The UK Government and the Mayor of London published the second annual report on the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, in which the Pandemonium Drummers feature as a case study.

While main headlines picked up by the media focus on the announcement of surpassing the economic four-year target in less than two years, the report lists a number of achievements in other areas, such as the impact on communities with a mention of the Pandemonium Drummers on page 63 and 64.

The Second Annual Legacy Report

Overall, the 84-page document Inspired by 2012: The legacy from the Olympic and Paralympic Games - second annual report describes the activities which took place in the second year since the Games to build a lasting legacy across a number of commitments, namely sport and healthy living, the regeneration of east London, bringing communities together, the Paralympic legacy and economic growth.

The report includes a foreword by the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London, and an assessment of progress by Lord Sebastian Coe, the Prime Minister’s Olympic & Paralympic Legacy Ambassador.

The Pandemonium Drummers feature in Chapter 5: Bringing Communities Together as a case study including a picture taken by our photographer Vilma Laryea at the Open East Festival in 2013.

The Legacy Role of the Pandemonium Drummers

The Communities chapter lists a number of activities with links to the Pandemonium Drummers, such as:

• The Go Local Festival in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where 100 drummers plus 40 working men and women and three Brunel actors from the Olympic Opening Ceremony faced a crowd of 30,000 people (section 5.3).
• The Team London initiative to encourage volunteering; the Pandemonium Drummers were recognised with the 2013 Team London Special Achievement Award (section 5.9).
• The Tour de France 2014, where the Pandemonium Drummers performed in Green Park close to the finish line of the third stage (sections 5.8, 5.25).
• The Open East Festival to celebrate the opening of the first section of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where the Pandemonium Drummers performed together with Barbican's Drumworks (sections 5.28, 5.29).
• Our Big Gig, the nationwide amateur music festival, which we helped launch in 2013 and participated in 2014 at Ruskin Park (section 5.37).
• Voluntary Arts, who recognised the Pandemonium Drummers' contribution to voluntary arts with a national Epic Award in 2014 (section 5.62).

Somewhat surprising is the report's omission of the Special Olympics, for which the Pandemonium Drummers performed in Bath 2013, which although recognised by the International Olympic Committee does not seem to have any links to the Government's legacy activities.

The Pandemonium Drummers' Second Year

Like the Government and the Mayor of London, the Pandemonium Drummers have been and continue to be very busy building a legacy of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

The Pandemonium Drummers have been so busy that event reporting on this website was falling behind - after all, we are still reliant on the goodwill of members as a 100% non-profit volunteer organisation, and the most precious resource, time, is occasionally high in demand.

We will take the upcoming second anniversary of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, the official birthday of the Pandemonium Drummers, as an opportunity to report on our second year, which was full of remarkable highlights none of our drummers would ever have expected.

Check back over the next few days to read summaries of our past twelve months:

• Check our website www.pandemoniumdrummers.co.uk
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• Follow us on Twitter: @2012drummers
• Like our Facebook page: fb.com/pandemoniumdrummers

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ABOUTPandemonium Drummers

The Pandemonium Drummers were originally put together by London 2012 Ceremonies for the Pandemonium segment of Danny Boyle's spectacular Olympic Opening Ceremony. Following the Ceremony, the volunteer drummers kept on performing at a variety of events.

Based on their extensive training, they performed at other Opening Ceremonies, including the UEFA Champions League Final 2013, the FA Cup Final 2014, and the Heineken Cup Final 2014, and at a variety of large and small festivals as well as sports and community events. The Pandemonium Drummers are a returning act in London's major parades, including the London New Years' Day Parade, St Patrick's Day Parade, and the Lord Mayor's Show, and they coined Cheer Drumming, supporting runners at major sports events across the capital and beyond. The Pandemonium Drummers have supported the Special Olympics, the Teenage Cancer Trust, and a wide range of other charities.

The Pandemonium Drummers are a constituted association with charitable aims, and are working on a non-profit basis as volunteers.

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