Feedback from some of our courses:
‘We were looking to complete our Gold DofE residential but didn’t fancy any of the activities involving heights … when we found the grumpy moose dance course. All we can say is we didn’t know what to expect and this week has exceeded any expectations we did have, we have loved every second of this week and it has enhanced our passion for dancing even further. Grumpy moose is such a supportive environment and a great week to take part in new challenges and doing something you love or may have always wanted to try.
We can not recommend it enough, whether for DofE or not it is five days of fun!’
EG and HG, 2023 Dance
“I attended the Grumpy Moose Filmmaking course for my Gold D of E residential. I really enjoyed the course because it was hands on and educational. I went on my own and did not know anyone on the course. Making the short films in a small group was a great way to make new friends. All the staff were kind and very supportive. I had a brilliant time and would definitely recommend this for anyone wanting to do a D of E residential. It was a busy, structured five days and an excellent experience.”
AM 2023 Filmmaking
“I would like to thank you and everyone involved for all your hard work in providing the drama course my daughter attended this week. She had an amazing time with you and has spoken so positively about you, the other students on the course and the whole set-up and experience in general. It has been a busy summer for her so far, but of all the trips and activities she has taken part in this has clearly had the biggest impact. She has been quite apprehensive about going away to university next year but I really feel this experience has given her confidence to tackle it! Your work with these young people is invaluable and your dedication is much appreciated.”
JB (Parent) Drama 2023
“Thank you and your colleagues at Grumpy Moose so much for providing such an amazing residential course. My son came home absolutely full of excitement for all that they had achieved in such a short time. Perhaps the most notable comment was regarding how wonderful and creative the ‘space’ was. He has enjoyed drama all his life but felt that this was the one place where everyone was listened to and respected the most producing a fantastically creative space.”
HJ (Parent) Drama 2023
“I attended the grumpy moose drama course for my gold dofe residential- I was so happy that there was a creative option and I really enjoyed all the activities, receiving professional feedback and lots of encouragement- the staff are so supportive and went the extra mile to make sure we had the best experience, nothing was ever too much to ask. I was quite nervous about making friends but everyone soon came together as a group and I met some amazing people and know I’ve made friends for life. I’ve had an amazing time and would recommended grumpy moose to anyone doing their dofe or any one who loves the creative arts as it’s a fantastic course and a great way to spend a week of the summer holidays.”
EA, 2022 Drama
“My son signed up for the Filmmaking course to fulfil his DofE Gold residential requirement. However, I would recommend the course to any sixth former looking for an opportunity to spend a week doing something they enjoy or simply trying something new. The course was full on and structured from breakfast to bedtime and challenged him to try out new ideas in a friendly and supportive environment. It was also great for him to have a group of willing drama and dance students to film. Attending this course has confirmed that Film is the right degree for him to study at university and provided a few more films to add to his UCAS portfolio. Overall, a fun and rewarding experience!”
SR (Parent) Film making 2022
“My week on Grumpy Moose was more than I could have imagined. Adam and Hannah were incredible instructors, encouraging us to take our writing further and filling our day with laughs. As well as their feedback, a daily review gave us a chance to read each other’s work, and this really helped my confidence grow! The structure of the course meant we had the chance to be inspired by new styles or genres as well as the time to just write (something many writers never have!) Working with the artists also meant we got to know other creative minds as we created new fantasy characters and worlds! A week of laughter, creativity and surprises, my time at Grumpy Moose, and the people I met, will not soon be forgotten!”
EH, Creative Writing 2022
“Before going on the filmmaking course, I was quite nervous about having to work with people I didn’t know. After completing it, I feel I have a lot more confidence and belief in my own creative abilities. The experience wasn’t something I could have predicted would be so amazing or intense. I felt like everyone on the course really wanted to be there, and that this allowed us to work together and enjoy creating some great short films. One thing I really enjoyed was being able to work with the acting and particularly dance courses, as this wasn’t something I’d had the opportunity to do before. It was an extremely influential course that I won’t forget easily. None of this would have been possible without the guidance of the course staff, who helped us create and execute our (often ridiculous) films. They were encouraging and helpful, and I can’t thank them enough.”
CT, 2021 Film making
“I can’t exactly pinpoint what my expectations were for this course but Adam, Brad, Charlie and Hannah smashed them, whatever they were. The workshops were easy to understand for a beginner like me but also incredibly effective. Getting to work with the other groups that were at Grumpy Moose, being involved in their work, was an extremely unique experience and one that I’m lucky to have had. Grumpy Moose is a safe, inviting, queer, creative environment where we were inexplicably creating in hours what could have easily taken days, and I’ve made some amazing friendships because of it.”
KC, 2021 Drama
“My son has just returned from a 5 day residential dance course with Grumpy Moose. He arrived home yesterday evening exhausted but having had a fantastic time. He was already missing the new friends he had made. He was doing the residential for his Gold DofE. The course pre and during it was well organised. His group also were involved with the young people from the drama and film course that were running simultaneously. If you have a young person looking for something different to do for their DofE residential or just a fun week. I as a happy parent can highly recommend Grumpy Moose. Thank you to all staff involved for their efforts.”
KC (Parent), Dance 2021
“I had a fabulous time on the Grumpy Moose dance course. The way it was ran meant it was easy to make friends with people on all the courses. I felt very nervous coming onto the course but as the days progressed we became a tighter and tighter close knit group. Having the same meal times and being able to talk to many people made it easier to get to know everyone. Absolutely worth it. I have come away with so many friends. I am so lucky to have found and been on this course. Thank you so much to all the staff for amazing support and teaching. Also for accommodating and making time for us to get to know people in the other groups. Very enjoyable.”
SC, Dance 2021
“I attended the Grumpy Moose Creative Writing Course for my Gold Duke of Edinburgh Residential, but it was so much more than just a tick of a box. There’s no doubt about it: this course has been the best experience of my life so far. Besides the obvious of receiving professional feedback from encouraging mentors and being given the opportunity to explore the world of creative writing, the course offered 24/7 entertainment through the medium of new friends, various evening activities, and trips to town for socializing and finding inspiration. And inspired I was! I wrote, and more importantly completed, more pieces of writing during the five-day course than I ever have. The activities are unique from any Language Arts class you’ve ever taken and will help break down your writer’s block day after day. Over a month later and the sincere assistance from Charlie, Hannah, and Adam is still keeping me going. I bloomed as a writer in the progressive, safe, welcoming atmosphere designed specifically for creators. There’s not much else to say except that you won’t regret attending a Grumpy Moose Course.”
NB, 2021 Writing
“I would go as far as to say that the Grumpy Moose Drama course was one of the best experiences of my 16 year old daughter’s life. Following on from the isolation of Covid-19 it re-instated a sense of confidence in herself and her acting abilities. She was treated like an adult and this made her feel respected, heard and valued. It was clear that everyone was really supportive and the friendship group had a wonderful community feel.
It was difficult for my daughter to pinpoint her favourite activity but she greatly enjoyed the emotion workshop as it helped her learn to portray emotions realistically without overacting. Something that is hard to master. But the final big project where they were allowed to be creative and explore unusual approaches like miming was probably the one that stands out most for her. A catalogue of adventures that she will never forget.
All in all a fantastic experience and I cannot thank Adam enough for running this course and giving my daughter access to these life-changing opportunities. A big thumbs up from us.”
KF (Parent), 2021 Drama
“We looked for a residential course which would fulfil our child’s DofE section and found this Art Course. He certainly met his expectations and more. He found the staff to be engaging and inspirational. The topics suited his age group and working to time “slots” gave showed him that he can produce quality work within relatively short time frames. We would have no hesitation in recommending Grumpy Moose.”
JT (Parent) Art 2021
“The Grumpy Moose drama course was, quite honestly, an experience I’ll never forget. Right from the start we were thrown into a variety of workshops, including exploring character archetypes, a murder mystery evening, music interpretation, horror films, lip synch karaoke and emotion tasks. Many of these challenged us to work outside of our comfort zones and attempt new techniques/methods which resulted in some truly memorable performances, such as a particularly dramatic horror trailer (How the Cookie Crumbles), a moving war time piece exploring emotion (Holes in the Heart), and a spectacular musical interpretation of ‘Honey, Honey’. Throughout the week we were also given the opportunity to collaborate with students on the dance and film courses, and this, along with the freedom given to take our pieces in whichever direction we wanted, meant we got to explore even more avenues and create work that was uniquely our own. On this course I gained many new technical skills, but it wasn’t just that- Adam (and Charlie, Hannah + Brad) managed to create an environment of absolute acceptance, and it was this that allowed us to be simply and entirely ourselves, something not always possible. Experiencing this for a week meant I could grow hugely in confidence, and built strong connections with the others on the residential, making it a genuinely meaningful and utterly fantastic course!!”
IM, Drama 2021
“An amazing five days on the cookery course! Not only did I develop my (very) basic cooking skills to the point I can now say I’m a confident cook, I have learnt how to budget and cater for a group of people. I have also met like minded people and made friends along the way with whom I have stayed in contact with after the course. Thank you so much to all the staff at Grumpy Moose for being so welcoming, I thoroughly enjoyed my time!”
HM 2019 Cookery
“Though I didn’t know what to expect from the course, I was pleasantly surprised; Adam and Hannah are such approachable, conversational and creative individuals that they brought even the shyest of writers and artists out of their shells. In terms of writing we were guided towards inspiration in the beauty of the surrounding environment, in various existing literature, music and RPGs, and in each other’s work. Being able to roam freely in the creative spheres we love whilst being coached on areas such as plot, style, setting and genre and being encouraged to dabble in unfamiliar territory such as fanfiction, sci-fi and children’s story writing made for a highly fruitful and diverse work environment. The social atmosphere of the week was also brilliant; I would recommend Grumpy Moose courses to anyone who loves and wishes to spend a week relishing in, creating and discussing their chosen artistic medium.”
– HRH 2019 Creative Writing
“As an extremely introverted writer, I expected to spend this course writing, keeping my head down, and not speaking unless spoken to. Instead, I’ve felt entirely comfortable sharing every single piece of writing I’ve produced, and felt entirely supported by my peers. Adam and Hannah have been simply wonderful, the contents of the course have been the highlight of my year, and the work I’ve been producing has been of an unprecedented quality. As an openly transgender student, I have felt accepted, welcomed, and supported by Adam, Hannah, and all of my peers, and I would happily repeat the experience.”
EVH 2019 Creative Writing
“As I’ve been interested in filming and creating my own films all my life, Grumpy Moose was the perfect opportunity for that dream to become reality. From stop motion to music videos we experimented with many different techniques that’ll help us in the future to create even more films. I would highly recommend this experience to anyone looking for a new activity and a great chance to meet others that share your own interests.”
FJH 2019 Film Making
“I chose the Grumpy Moose film course for my DofE residential, to develop my skills in filmmaking. I am particularly interested in editing films, and the Grumpy Moose course has given me many opportunities to bring my ideas to life. I have experimented with new styles of filmmaking on the course, including stop-motion animations, music videos, movie trailers, and a final short horror film. The Grumpy Moose staff are very friendly and supportive, and very knowledgeable about filmmaking, which was very helpful, and meant I could learn many new post-production techniques throughout the course.”
LH 2019 Film Making
“I really enjoy making films, but the Grumpy Moose course has allowed me to express my interest with other individuals who are as just as excited as me. The range of styles made every day different and enjoyable. Working with the dancers and actors allowed us to take more risks as we had a talented group to work with. I strongly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in film as a career or a hobby.”
TA 2019 Film Making
“Since an incredibly young age I have always had a love for dancing, however since attending the dance course as part of the Grumpy Moose residential, not only have I developed my love for dance, but I have also gained a new sense of confidence, which I can now use in the future. During this course I have had the opportunity to explore various genres of dance, as well as improve various skills in aspects of both dance and drama. The staff at Grumpy Moose are constantly inspiring and supportive, and therefore make the residential incredibly enjoyable. I would highly recommend this experience to anyone who has an interest in dance and the arts.”
HW 2019 Dance Course
“Thank you so so much for the last five days! I’ve had an absolutely amazing time, you’ve all obviously put in so much time and effort into making the course as wonderful as it is and I really hope to return in the future. I loved trying so many new things that put me right out of my comfort zone, scaring people in the streets of Whitby as a vampire is definitely an experience I’ll never forget! Having not known what to expect for the murder mystery night at all, I enjoyed it so much and it was a great ice-breaker at the beginning of the week. Working with the film students was a lot of fun as I’ve never done any film work before, so it was a whole new experience for me which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for everything!”
IM 2019 Drama Course
“The Grumpy Moose film course was undoubtedly the best week of summer for me! I loved everything, from the location we were staying in and the people that I met. It was so great to meet and work with new friendly people of similar interest and learn new skills whilst working towards my DofE residential section. A huge thanks to Adam and his team for setting up such a great course, I really recommend Grumpy Moose to anyone! Whether it’s for your DofE, or for a summer activity, Grumpy Moose is definitely the way to go!”
-BR, 2017
“I absolutely adored my time on the Grumpy Moose film course. The ability to learn about film and how it’s made was incredible and will prove valuable no matter what I end up doing later on in life. The teaching was superb, and made our projects substantially better than they would have been, had we not had the resources that we did. The students were all incredibly passionate and loved film as much as I did, and we gelled really well together, leaving me with a group of friends that I hope to keep with me throughout my life. I especially enjoyed the fact that the film course was interlaced with the art course that was happening at the same time, and the fact that our projects would often involve the artists, whether simply as actors, all the way to having stage makeup applied for our horror movies, was brilliant. Adam and Olly were both so enthusiastic and inspired us all to make the best films we could and I would highly recommend the course to anyone that has an interest in film.”
-SO, 2017
“I really enjoyed my time on the Grumpy Moose drama course – Especially because it gave me the opportunity to explore new areas of drama such as working to put a story to a piece of music and experimenting with stage makeup. I particularly enjoyed the work we did on emotion as I feel like it really helped me in an area of acting which I struggled with. I got to take part in short skits as both male and female parts (equally funny and challenging) such as lip syncing to Les Mis songs as Marius and being the hero in a short melodrama piece. Some highlights would definitely be getting to explore Whitby and taking part in an amateur horror film. By the end of the week I had made some unforgettable memories, new, talented friends and I hope that anyone else who is considering this course enjoys it as much as I and all my fellow actors did. Thank you Grumpy Moose for a brilliant 5 days.”
– ZE 2016
“During the Grumpy Moose Drama course, we practised a wide range of skills including movement and dance, use of props, music and the challenge of directing. Although the activities varied greatly, I found that there wasn’t a single activity that I didn’t enjoy, and all workshops improved an aspect of my performance. We were encouraged to participate enthusiastically, and by the second day I felt that the entire group supported each other and were able to work together without hesitation. The venue of the course is also excellent and extremely accommodating, especially to dietary requirements, however specific they may be. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in drama, whether you have years of experience or simply want to try something new – you won’t regret attending the course.”
– JE, 2016
“Thank you so much Adam and Hannah for an amazing drama and performance residential course for D of E. Each day was packed full from 9am to 9pm with various workshops including music inspiration, working on emotion, contemporary dance, stage makeup, a short horror film, lip sync battles and a flashmob in Whitby. The Murder Mystery was great fun on the first night and it was the first time I had done something like it. Keeping in character for a whole evening (including the evening meal) was challenging but a great new experience. The group got on so well and quickly developed friendships. Adam was so enthusiastic throughout the 5 days that I have gained confidence with performing onstage and I engaged with the group during workshops. Sneaton Castle was an amazing setting and the food and accommodation was superb. Adam and Hannah made us all feel welcome from the beginning and made everybody laugh and relax and enjoy the 5 days. If you want to meet new people away from home I would definitely recommend this residential course.”
– AD, 2016
“I really enjoyed myself on the Grumpy Moose Drama course over the summer. Originally I was worried that I wouldn’t be as experienced as the others but the course is tailored in a way that fits all abilities. The days were packed full of interesting activities that I had never tried before such as contemporary dance and an emotions in acting workshop. Some highlights for me were the murder mystery evening and the Dracula experience; both of these, as well as being hilarious and challenging, also brought us all closer as a group and I believe we have all become very good friends over the week. The castle itself was beautiful to work in and about, and the town of Whitby itself was amazing. I’m really glad that as part of the experience we got to explore Whitby and the Abbey as I had never been to the town before and so also got the opportunity to visit a new and interesting place. All the other staff were welcoming and valuable to our experience and the group of different tutors was very versatile meaning we learnt a lot. Overall it was an extremely valuable, friendly and fun experience. I can not wait to come back next year!”
-SG, 2016
Feedback from our Creative Writing Course:
“My son Jacob has just returned from the Grumpy Moose Creative Writing course which he chose to do for his gold Duke of Edinburgh residency. He came home buzzing from his week away, from both his creative achievements and the bonds he’d made with the staff and students in the group. Adam and the team really offer that rare combination of learning and fun and Jacob loved every minute. He was most impressed with Sneaton Castle too and was particularly taken with the food! This experience has been just brilliant and we couldn’t recommend Grumpy Moose highly enough and I have no doubt, Jacob will be back for another course in the near future.”
– Deborah Chancellor, London, 2016
“The Grumpy Moose creative writing course was a wonderful experience, both for practicing new skills and meeting new people. Having started the week too nervous to voice my ideas and share my opinions, I couldn’t have imagined becoming so close to some of the people there and more confident about my work. Adam really encouraged me to be proud of my work and try new styles of writing and I’m so pleased I shared such an experience with a group of people I otherwise would never have met.”
– O. Shackleton 2015
“My week with Grumpy Moose was, to put it plainly, splendiferous. I met some incredibly intelligent, engaging and thoroughly charming people who influenced and enriched my work to no end as well as filling me with a confidence in my writing I never knew before meeting them all.
It honestly is a course for people of all abilities, from complete newbies like myself having written no more than a short script and a couple of monologues to young people with entire novels looking to be published.
The discussion based and informal workshops are such a rich way of learning as they allows you to draw ideas from different lines of thought that you would never have considered alone; by nature writing is quite a personal experience but having so many people who share a love for what you’re doing in the same place gives off an energy that is so very rare to find with writing. Having entire chunks of the day dedicated to just sit quietly and write is something that you just don’t get in day to day life, so that was lovely to just have the peace to get on with it.
The tutors are there because they love writing and they want to share that passion with you and they are so supportive of what you write. All week Adam and the other tutors push you to try new things but never force you to write something to fit one way or another. It’s not about being grammatically perfect or being the next generation’s poet laureate, it’s purely about sharing what you love, finding a new confidence in yourself to try things you wouldn’t expect and meeting people you otherwise never would!”
– Freya BH 2015
“The course helped me to develop a really in-depth portfolio of work that I was proud of, not only because it had been checked over by others, but because it enabled me to explore new genres and styles of writing that I had never had the drive, time or confidence to complete before. Reading the work of others and reviewing their writing techniques was also invaluable because it gave me the ability to evaluate and improve my own work. It wasn’t all writing though; we had workshops with some brilliant teachers to give us new ideas and help us to improve. They were really fun; one of them included everyone having to write a line of a story each and then giving it to someone else to write the next line and so on. We ended up with loads of dark, funny, romantic, sad (and just plain strange) short-stories. We went out and explored the local area too, doing fun activities and visiting new places to give us inspiration. Most importantly though, I lived away from my family and friends and so developed self-confidence and independence. I made some wonderful new friends on the course, and I’m still in touch with them now. I had a brilliant time, and would definitely encourage anyone else to go.”
– AW 2014
Grumpy Moose 