Iian Pattinson and Tamara Arom-Hobbs are the reason I ever got into samba. I often jokingly call them my samba parents. They have a lot to answer for.

They run an incredible samba group for young people called Uniao da Mocidade (Union of Youth), which is where I started. It’s a group of Londoners aged 12-19 years old uniting through Rio drum rhythms. They get to mingle, play, learn and work really, really, really hard to put on incredible gigs and parades around the country.

I could gush for days about what a fantastic opportunity this group is for the teenagers of our fair city, but I won’t.

Instead, I’ll let the rhythm do the talking in this video, made by Chris Bicourt.

The energy and enthusiasm coming from these charismatic young people is all real. I’m so, so proud of them – and proud of everyone else involved in…