About Us

We believe we are all healthier and happier when we are connected to the people and places where we live, and people are given opportunities to grow and develop. That’s why we create opportunities for people to come together, have fun, and try something new.

Indeed, fun is at the core of what we do, and hope is central to our approach to social and environmental issues facing our and other’s cultures.

All our efforts are underpinned by the principle that removing barriers, whether financial, social, or cultural, is vital to realising our vision.

Our Key Objectives

To provide positive experiences for children & young people that foster their confidence, creativity and wellbeing and encourage them to be active members of the community.
To support people of all ages to stay active, connected, and healthy, thus encouraging stronger, more resilient communities.
To celebrate the arts and the diversity of art forms across the planet, with a particular focus on music and dance.

Over 20 years we have delivered community projects across the South West providing opportunities for people to come together in positive ways. We have worked with a range of customers including:

Our Clients

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

Our Story

In 2000 we were successful in applying as individuals for a Millenium Award, which was an initiative of Jon Snow, the Channel 4 news reader. The idea was to bring countries on the meridian line together to celebrate the millennium.

As a result, Jane & Ben went to Ghana to learn about life over there, we learned about cultural activities such as traditional African dance and drumming and learnt about village life and how sustainably people were living. We came back and shared what we had learnt with young people at City of Bristol College and an international environmental festival, Sort It. This experience ignited a passion in us: we wanted to share aspects of the world to encourage people to think differently and learn from different cultures.

Our work was to be underpinned by a commitment to

Community: respecting everyone around us, whoever they are.

Culture: using music, dance and play as ways to bring people together.

Sustainability: how we could make do with less and take care of our world.

And from there, World Jungle was born in 2006. Since then, it has been a wild ride. Here are just some of the highlights:

2007 Two young Ghanaians, Adolf & Odai, arrive and begin teaching African dance and drumming in schools around Gloucestershire & Bristol. We set up a cultural artist agency and send artists into schools to teach dance, drumming and art from around the world.

2007 We begin offering youth & play activities in Dursley and establish a youth forum talking to young people about their needs.

2008 We receive three-year funding from the National Lottery‘s Playful Ideas Fund celebrating play from around the world, sharing games from countries such as Jamaica, Ghana, Argentina and we trainplay workers to use play as a tool for exploring diversity.

2008 We raise £40,000 to develop a local park in Dursley. Co-created with young people, we design a youth shelter, bmx track and play area.

2009 We establish a Diverse Artist Network supporting cultural artists across the South West, giving them access to employment support, training and networking opportunities.

2010 We start running “Summer off the Streets”. Funded by Cotswold District Council, we organise holiday activities for children and families.

2011 Our Global Play project receives national recognition for its work bridging cultures and bringing people together.

2012 We join a European Erasmus programme exploring ways to engage adults into education using film and creativity. We visit Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and build an international partnership.

2013 We are supported by People’s Health Trust fund to run targeted programmes in Cam & Dursley for both children struggling at school and for old people in care homes helping to keep them connected to wider community life.

2016 We win Stroud Life “Business Award” for our community work.

2017 We have a whole programme of community classes taking places across Gloucestershire teaching Zumba, Yoga, Pilates, Fitsteps, Bellyfit. Our classes attract over 250 people weekly and we have a monthly club night called Coco Club.

2018 Jane Manning, our Director, is nominated for Gloucestershire Woman of the Year for her community work and comes runner up.

2020 We establish the Cotswold Youth Network and begin to develop more provision for children and young people across the Cotswolds including setting up youth clubs, inclusive provision, mentoring and building capacity of the sector in the Cotswolds. We are awarded £380,00 by TNL to develop the network over three years

2021 We begin to co-lead the development of the Department for Education’s Holiday Activities and Food Programmes in partnership with Gloucestershire County Council and Cotswold District Council

2022 We are asked to run the school’s programme for the 2nd year for the largest multi-cultural festival in the South West, St. Paul’s Festival. We work with children from Bristol schools teaching dance and drumming for the massive street procession (see video)

2024 We receive further support from the TNL to continue our work in the Cotswolds. Last summer we supported 2000 children and young people to access positive activities and ran over 25 events across Gloucestershire.