The Accommodation Office recently held a successful team-building event with accommodation providers A2Dominion and Unite PLC. The staff in each organisation work closely together, especially over the summer, to ensure that Bristol University students are suitably housed. Pru Archer, Head of the Accommodation Office, said: ‘We wanted to put on something that would boost morale and improve teamwork as enjoyably and effectively as possible.’

The workshop was run by Bath-based Jamma de Samba, which specialises in Brazilian Samba. The organisation has several years’ experience of extracting a performance from even the least musical. The morning started with clapping and singing games in groups, offering a unique opportunity to chant the names of root vegetables at full volume. By lunchtime, the ‘band’ had built up to a full-blown Samba performance using a whole range of South American percussion instruments.

Paul Thomas from A2Dominion said: ‘It was an excellent way of getting everyone to work together; you had to co-operate with one another or the whole thing fell apart. It was also great fun!’