The Groove Academy is a privately-run community music school founded by Hampton residents Mark and Angela Ramsay. We launched in April 2004 with the aim of offering unique opportunities to musically-gifted young people in our local community. With many public performances to our credit and the release of our first Groove Academy album in June 2005, the academy has grown significantly - attracting students and volunteers from across the borough and beyond.

Although we are not organised or governed as a charity, our goals are consistent with the principles of social enterprise:

"Social Enterprises are businesses with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners"

Our mission is to build a community of empowered young people, using music as the essential medium by which to establish commonality, create opportunity and encourage teamwork among students between the ages of 11 and 18. We are committed to providing a broadly-accessible learning centre of excellence in contemporary music and music technology where students - regardless of race, background, culture or gender, can express themselves freely and develop their abilities in an atmosphere of fun, purpose, respect, reward and safety. It is our desire to see our students mature as musicians, as individuals, and to realize the value of collaborating in music as a means of enriching themselves, their fellow-students and the community at large.

Our teaching construct is geared towards developing confidence, versatility and the ability to think 'out the box'. Our desire to balance excellence with community requires that we lead by example and that we establish high but reasonable expectations - for both behaviour and performance.