When I started Bowerbirdy, I was extremely passionate about creating an academy for children and young people to enjoy learning in a fun environment – where their imagination is key – whilst gaining skills that will benefit them for the rest of their life.

Since I launched Bowerbirdy Academy in 2017, we have taught over 25,000 children aged 5-15 for free in subjects such as Arts & Crafts, Stage School, Sports Club, Adventure Play and Creative Media.

This is a huge passion of mine, and the motivation behind the academy, for me, is very simple. I was very lucky with the schools that I attended, and I have benefited from this in my business and personal life.

When I was young, I thoroughly enjoyed sports, arts and drama. These activities taught me how to deal with pressure, understand competition, and gain resilience – thriving from a win and the eagerness to come back from a loss to win another day. This was mainly from the excellent teachers/coaches I was exposed to. Their unequivocal enthusiasm and encouragement to succeed, and teaching how to do so with grace, and also how to look at a loss as fuel & determination for the next test. I was taught that there will always be another opportunity to try again.

I also benefited from being part of drama productions, allowing me to understand that everyone gets nervous, and it’s natural to do so, but to be able to make that nervous energy work for good when your turn comes to perform on the stage – either on your own or as a group.

These are very simple yet essential life skills for every young person. Creating a level playing field for every age, sex, race and religion, where comradeship and full effort is rewarded. I love the Academy, and this is not a money-motivated venture for me. Instead I truly want to provide the best coaching and dynamic activities possible for children, to help and motivate them to be the best they can be, taking the experience with them for the rest of their lives – just the way my academic life helped to shape me.

Whether you’re an individual or an organisation, and are in a position to invest in this genuinely rewarding project, to help arm children and young people with life skills for the future, then please get in touch. Let’s make a difference, transforming the lives of the next generation for the better!

John-Paul White