SIX representatives from the Isle of Wight's New Carnival Company (NCC) and the Viva Carnival Club have just returned from the home of carnival in Brazil in a project aimed at boosting the participation of disabled people.

The group's Alegria Samba School project comprised of disabled and non-disabled members and first visited project partners and most inclusive carnival organisation in the world, Embaixadores da Alegria in Rio in 2017.

They returned to Rio again this year and to the UK in November, having successfully integrated Brazilian carnival style into UK and European events.

The Alegria project is paid for by an Arts Council England grant and supports the development of disabled artists.

It has changed the face of integrated and disability-led carnival in the UK. Using Embaixadores da Alegria’s model.

NCC and Viva created a fully inclusive Brazilian-style samba school encompassing drum, dance, costume, theatre, song and workshops.

Over the last year, Alegria has been presented at Isle of Wight Mardi Gras, Luton Carnival, the Southbank Centre and Newham International Carnival in London and Viarregio, Italy.

While in Rio, the group went to Paraiso Do Tuiuti, one of Brazil’s top Samba schools to share the results of Alegria to an audience including its director and president.

They were also special guests at the Olympic sports centre Miécimo da Silva, where they ran a headdress workshop and gave a presentation to more than 200 disabled and non-disabled guests, performers and dancers.

Yetta Elkins, project co-ordinator said, "The whole Alegria project has been an amazing experience and we were so proud to be able to showcase our work in Rio, where it all started. This project was all about finding a way to include everyone in Carnival Arts, despite the many barriers there can be, especially for disabled people. During the past year we have seen noticeable changes to many of our artists and performers in terms of confidence, and they’ve developed a ‘can do’ attitude."