People United News Feed http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/ (Marzena Forristal)
Taken from Sarah’s blog

We are gearing up towards the first set of performances of The Empathy Roadshow, as part of our empathy commission supported by Kent County Council. Artist, Sarah Woods, will be taking the show to a number of community groups in Kent in July, but we also have opportunities for the wider community to see the performance, and share their own experiences of empathy, on 9 and 10 July 2013 in Canterbury, Kent.  Sarah will also be performing for volunteers, and artists and arts organisations. For more information and to book a free ticket, please take a look here.

]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#34 19/06/13 GMT It's been a busy year here at People United. We've been developing our website, our first paper has been published and we've set up our artists' commissions programme. 200 artists applied for the commissions back in November. We now have 5 artists creatively exploring the themes of values, belonging, empathy, learning and kindness. Planning has now started for commissions and partners for 2014.

We've also been helping other organisations to develop good practice. One of our key aims is to be a catalyst; sharing our work so that it can be adapted and replicated in other areas of the country. Most recently we've been working with Oldham Council who are developing a community-led programme celebrating kindness through the arts, and we've visited Plumcroft Primary School in South London who are dreaming up a whole range of altruistic creative ideas and neighbourhood actions for next term. In all, we've spent over 82 hours helping 179 individuals and organisations develop their work and a similar amount of time talking to others about the work that we do. Let us know if we can help you….

There have been over 10,000 unique visitors to our web site, 19% of these registered to download our resources. In fact there were 2,833 downloads – including the Arts and Kindness paper - and we are currently finding out how these were used.  At the beginning of 2012, just over 200 people had signed up to receive our newsletters and now we are delighted to report that there are nearly 1,000 on the list. If you have downloaded resources or received our newsletter please let us know what you think (email us at info@peopleunited.org.uk). We'd love to hear from you.

]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#33 22/05/13 GMT One of the aims of our commissions programme is to build a community of practice for those interested in using the arts to affect social change. At the end of January, we began this process by gathering the partners (from the National Theatre, Turner Contemporary and Kent County Council) and artists (Sarah Woods, Janetka Platun, Maria Amidu, Phoebe Marsh and Penny Klepuszewska) together to start building the foundations and to establish the principles of how we want to work as a collective.

The weekend was facilitated brilliantly by our associate, Deepa Patel, who asked each of us to bring an object that was illustrative of our work. Through talking about these objects (which ranged from a crystal to a playing card to an art object made of a shell and a cast ear), we began to determine our values and codes of practice, thinking about how we will work together towards our shared aims.

We shared a meal in the evening at the Veg Box Café with our special guests, Peter Firmin, Lucy Steggals and Carl Jeffrey. This gave us all a chance to get to know each other a little bit more before we spent the following day thinking in more depth about the detail of each proposal.

During the process Deepa quoted Martin Luther King:
"Our lives begin to end" he said, "the day we become silent about things that matter". 

We think the arts matter, and that by developing arts practice through empathy, belonging, learning and values, we can help build a kinder, more caring society. We want to be rigorous in the way that we measure this, and will continue to draw on academic and practice research.

Keep up to date on the progress of the commissions by visiting the projects page.

]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#32 28/02/13 GMT We always hope our projects and research will have a multiplier effect and a real legacy both in the places in which we work, and the wider community. So, we were delighted when we were able to welcome a delegation from Oldham who had heard about the We All Do Good Things project in Herne Bay, and wanted to find out how they could use some of our learning in their own community. The group comprised of arts representatives from Oldham Council and a community representative from a women’s support group.  We spent a day together sharing People United's work and practices, describing our key learning from the project, and explaining the theories behind our work.  We were also really pleased to invite Colleen Ashwin-Kean from Herne Bay in Bloom to share her experiences of the project and in particular the Giant Picnic. The group were keen to discuss how these ideas and principles could be replicated in Oldham, while still being flexible and adaptive to local needs and context. It was a packed day but enjoyable and we’re looking forward to supporting the nascent ideas to flourish over the following months.
For more information about our work supporting others, please click here. 

]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#31 04/02/13 GMT Over 200 proposals landed in our inbox for our inaugural Artists Commissions programme and we have been delighted with the high standard of submissions. Artists from far and wide, of different backgrounds and art forms applied but all shared a common goal of wanting to learn about and demonstrate the potential of the arts to inspire social change.  It has been heartening to hear from so many artists and organisations who share our aspirations and we'd like to thank everyone who applied as we appreciate the time and effort that goes in to writing applications.

Informed by our Arts and Kindness paper these four commissions will focus on the themes of empathy, belonging, values, and learning and artists will be supported, connected with wider conversations across disciplines, and feel part of a community of practice.

After four days of interviews, and much deliberating and discussion, People United and our partners, Arts Council England, Kent County Council, National Theatre and Turner Contemporary are very pleased to announce the artists who will be working on this exciting series of commissions in 2013. 

They are:
Empathy in association with Kent County Council: Sarah Woods
Sarah is a playwright and campaigner, writing for theatre, radio and television. Sarah will ask through writing, performance, multimedia and science - what actually IS empathy?

Belonging in association with National Theatre: Janetka Platun
Janetka creates work to interpret the lives of people through alternative archives, photographs and installation. For this commission she will be working on a site-specific installation that explores interpersonal relationships and how we find ways of belonging.

Values in association with Turner Contemporary: Maria Amidu
A visual artist, Maria will use participatory practice to explore and reveal the commonality (and division) of values between visitors to Turner Contemporary. Maria's artistic practice explores the social relationships between people mediated by objects and places.

Learning in association with Kent County Council: Phoebe Marsh
A solo performer, producer and recent postgraduate from The University of Kent, Phoebe will share her learning through blogs, podcasts and performance.

In addition, Penny Klepuszewska will be creatively responding to the overall programme. As a photographer interested in exploring and revealing aspects of contemporary life, Penny will develop a series of photographs investigating the four themes of the commissions programme.

We are thrilled to be working with this group, and over the coming months will profile the work of each artist. In addition, we’ll be regularly blogging, posting photographs and film and keeping you up to date with the progress and results of each commission.

]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#30 13/12/12 GMT People United are delighted to have been chosen as one of the partnerships for the Prosper programme. This programme offers support and investment to discover how working together and the power of the arts can enable East Kent and its people to thrive. We have partnered with the University of Kent and Michele Gregson, an independent arts educator. Using the framework described in Arts and Kindness we are developing a tool which evaluates the social impact of the arts based on what we know about the science behind kindness.

Our collaboration is yielding valuable insights and throwing up plenty of challenges; we want our tool to be easy to use, interactive and creative whilst at the same time preserving academic rigour. We are due to start trialling the first version of the tool with arts organisations in January.

Canterbury Festival, Workers of Art and The Map Consortium are the partnership behind Prosper.

]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#29 05/12/12 GMT here or you can purchase a hard copy for £5 - this price includes post and package. To obtain one of our lovely hard copy versions please send a cheque for £5 payable to People United, to the address below and please remember to include your name and address.

People United
Canterbury Innovation Centre
University Road
Canterbury
Kent
CT2 7FG
]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#28 13/11/12 GMT Could arts be a 'superconductor' for kindness?

Written in association with the Centre for the Study of Group Processes at the University of Kent, this paper is for practitioners, arts professionals, policy makers, researchers, funders, and all those who have a passion for building kinder, more caring communities.

Much is claimed for the transformative power of the arts.  Driven by curiosity and a desire to understand how our work can be more effective we have been exploring those claims and examining them more closely. Drawing on evidence and research across a range of academic disciplines including psychology, sociology, philosophy, economics and neuroscience, this paper proposes a model for how the arts might create the conditions for kindness to grow.

People United thinks the arts have an important and unique role to play in exploring questions of kindness and inspiring change. This paper is just the beginning of our exploration, and we look forward to your creative ideas and thoughts on how we might develop it further. To read the paper, download it from here.
]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#27 23/10/12 GMT New commissions explore empathy, belonging and values

We are delighted to announce the launch of a new national Artists Commissions programme to take place in 2013. In collaboration with the Arts Council, National Theatre, Turner Contemporary and Kent County Council, we are looking for four artists from a wide range of art forms and disciplines to deliver stimulating and ambitious work that can help grow a more caring society.

Stephanie Fuller, Regional Planning Senior Manager, South East, Arts Council England says:

"We are really excited by People United's new artists commissions - they are challenging, thought provoking and completely have the enrichment of both society and individual artists at the heart of them. The collaboration with National Theatre, Turner Contemporary and Kent County Council gives the commissions a wonderful sense of place and time and will anchor them in Lambeth, Margate, and Kent.

These commissions remind us that art should take risks but can also be about social change. They are well placed during a time when the value of art is being questioned – with a focus on empathy, belonging, values and learning as social outcomes, People United’s commissions truly show how great art can make our lives better."

For more information about this national programme and for details of how to apply, please download the brief by visiting http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/resources.php 

The deadline for submissions is Monday 5 November 2012, at noon.

]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#26 26/09/12 GMT Join us on Saturday 22^nd September, the first day of Autumn, for a gentle walk in the lovely Blean Woods just outside Canterbury and then a picnic.  People United staff and their families will be meeting at 11am by the picnic tables.  If you’re interested in our work, have worked with us before and would like to catch up, or would just like to spend a morning on a nice walk, please just turn up.  All welcome.

The walk is in support of the first ever Waste Less Live More week run by Waste Watch between 17^th and 23^rd September. To find out more about the week visit www.wastelesslivemore.com

Details
Meet at the picnic tables by the Car Park at 11am – the walk will take one to one and a half hours – bring a picnic.
Blean Woods National Nature Reserve Car Park CT2 9DD  Grid TR122594  
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bleanwoods/directions.aspx ]]> http://www.peopleunited.org.uk/news.php#25 11/09/12 GMT