Our mission

Leonie Mary Hallam - Director

Leonie (more commonly known as ‘Lee’) is the founder of Aardvarker and it is her drive and passion that created and continues to develop this project.

She is an experienced travel and events professional, specialising in luxury group and special event travel and has worked in this profession for over two decades both in Australia and the UK. Her most recent employer being ITC Sports, a luxury sports travel-company, for whom she worked for eight years as their Operations Manager. She organised and accompanied their clients on numerous sporting events and celebrity hosted tours including the Ashes Cricket, Rugby World Cup and the Monaco Grand Prix.   Most recently, Leonie worked with Allan Lamb (Global Sports Travel) on the first part of a very successful Ashes 2010/11 cricket tour to Australia.

When the time came for change Leonie wanted to draw upon the knowledge she had gained from her career and do something that could utilise her expertise, creative mind and personal interests as well as help causes close to her heart. From this Aardvarker was born!

Jayne Wilson

Jayne is an experienced marketing professional, currently working as a part time Marketing Manager for a Chester based company.  She also enthusiastically spread her talents on assisting Aardvarker’s initial creation .

We love her boundless bubbly energy, creative ideas and ever thankful for her overall support.

Sally Teasdale

Sally has been supporting  Aardvarker from the  beginning. A talented art teacher at a local school near Henley where she lives, fluent in several languages and with a ‘fun, laid-back, amiable’ reputation following her wherever she goes.

‘When Aarry met Sally’

Sally penned her skills in to the creation of our very own Aarry the Aardvark.  We all fell in love with his cheeky look immediately and as such have kept him as our mascot.  There are many plans ‘on the drawing board’ for Sally’s cute Aardvark.
Sally is an integral part of the ‘Aarry’s Army’ and will continue to  assist us with fund raising, promotion and  other Aardvarker related tasks coming up in the future.

Barrimore Barlow

Barrie “Barriemore” Barlow  is best known as the drummer and percussionist for the rock band, Jethro Tull, from May 1971 to June 1980.

John Bonham on Barriemore Barlow: “The greatest Rock Drummer England ever produced”

Barrie owns the renowned riverside residential, Doghouse Studio in Shiplake, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, England.  He has had many famous names pass though his studio over the years and we are absolutely delighted to have him on board as  he has been an invaluable support to this project and in the recording of the two charity song releases ‘Walk Tall’ and Be Free’.

There are more plans on the table with our new ‘mentor’ and very good friend Barrie.

More information on the Doghouse Studio below:

www.thedoghousestudio.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2008/06/23/barrie_barlow_feature.shtml

George Williams

Multi-talented George Williams added his magical touch with his wonderful production of the 2 charity songs Walk Tall & Be Free. His musical talent and creative input has been invaluable.

George was a member of ‘Kiss of the Gypsy’, met Barrie Barlow (many moons ago), and has been working at the Doghouse and for many famous names there ever …since. We are ever grateful to George for his professionalism, talent and support

Aardvarker,  The 9ines, George and Barrie are now very much a team!

Charlotte Russell

Charlotte Russell is the beautiful and hugely talented young dancer who features on the Be Free video.  Charlotte had choreographed dance to the whole track herself , we encourage everyone to watch this music video, as she certainly adds beauty and class to it – thank you Charlotte!  Hopefully we can showcase even more of Charlotte’s talents in the future. 

She started ballet at the age of 3 at Nina Gaskill’s School of Dance in Chester, where she currently assists her dance teacher with the younger classes every week .  She has  now also added modern, jazz, tap and street to her weekly classes.  She  was in the 2009 season of National Youth Ballet and attended a Spring course this year (2011) at the English National Ballet.   Attendance at these confirmed her love of dancing and wish to pursue dance and alsomusical theatre and singing .  Charlotte is currently aiming to attend The Royal Northern Ballet School after finishing her GCSEs which should  set her up for her future career in dance and musical theatre. We have no doubt that she has a fantastic career ahead of her.

Anne Wright

Luke Moore

Luke Moore

Luke contacted Aardvarker in Summer 2011 to express an interest in collaborating with the organisation after a friend pointed out a newspaper interview with Leonie Hallam.

As a creative with experience working within a charity, Luke saw Aardvarker as encompassing his own beliefs for working together to use creativity and performance to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes. It wasn’t until exchanging several emails that it became apparent that Leonie had already seen Luke perform (with the rest of his band The Fifth Movement) at Chester Rocks just a month before and the band had made a lasting impression.

Having come on board initially just to organise a string quartet to perform at the Aardvarker Launch Party, Luke went on to score string parts for several songs by The 9ines especially for the live event and help organise The Fifth Movement stepping in as backing band for The 9ines’ permanent members, Justin and Alex. In addition to some design work and future recordings, Luke is looking forward to being involved in various aspects of Aardvarker’s ongoing campaign, including a 2012 fundraising show in the North West.

As well as being a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and occasional songwriter in The Fifth Movement, Luke’s passion for making fresh new music has led to collaboration with other artists for session recording, performing and writing for a variety of artists in the North West, plus a role as an editor with the online magazine Independent Music News.

www.TheFifthMovement.com

Phill Hatton

Phill is a freelance artist and supporter of Aardvarker and The National Autistic Society.

His passion for portraiture is in large part due to a desire to show the unique qualities and talents that lie within every individual.

www.phillhatton.com

Do take the time to check out Phils website and work. 

Aardvarker is looking to collaborate with artists such as Phill & Anne in the near future – subscribe to our mailing list to be kept updated.

Vilochna Patel

Vilochna has been involved with her husband’s company ‘Flight Connection’ In London for many years. However, on learning about Aardvarker, she has now offered some of her spare time to assist with various tasks.

Vilochna is the best dressed person we know!

Justin Gregson

It was Lee’s meeting with Justin Gregson in June 2010 that was the catalyst for Aardvarker Music’s creation. Aarry the Aardvark, events and charity were already on the drawing board.

A mutual passion for the piano, The Beatles and having very similar musical tastes overall led to Lee listening to many demos that had been created by Justin both independently and also with his collaborator for many years and now band colleague, The 9ines lead singer Alex Wright. The catalogue of music that was sent to Lee ranged from advertising pieces – some synchronised with visual (Sony, British Airways etc), instrumental pieces; and a large eclectic mix of songs.

After much research via newly found and current music industry experts, it was soon confirmed to Lee that her belief in their talent was indeed not unfounded. Hence, the Aardvarker, Justin and Alex relationship was formed and of course has now led to their new band ‘The 9ines’ creation, followed shortly by the release of their 2 debut singles Walk Tall & Be Free.

From early 2012, Justin will also be spending some of his time assisting Aardvarker with music & label operational tasks. Plus of course, helping to develop his own band, The 9ines future career.