People United is a participatory arts organisation and creative laboratory.

Our work explores, celebrates and demonstrates the values of altruism, creativity and a sense of community through our artistic practice. We do this through commissioning artists, creating imaginative new work, and supporting and sharing good ideas.

Our work is thoroughly researched and professionally evaluated (in partnership with the internationally recognised social psychology department at the University of Kent).

We are based in East Kent, where we create and deliver our projects and where we are actively involved in developing the arts sector (particularly around community engagement). Our work though is designed to have a national as well as regional legacy, through sharing practice, sparking initiatives and replicating successful work.

Our work is focused on artistic excellence and social engagement, it involves people from across society, it crosses different art forms, and it reaches new audiences. It takes place in a range of settings from bingo halls and beach huts, to shopping centres, hospitals and at home in front of a computer. We believe that the arts should be a central part of everyday life. Our work demonstrates (and provides evidence to show) how the arts can enrich lives and communities.

We also believe that being kind to one another is fundamental to making the world a better place. From a neighbourly smile and a helping hand to ongoing ethical conduct and active altruism, kindness is demonstrated in many different ways. And whereas a lack of kindness breeds intolerance, injustice and inhumanity; kindness grows trust, friendship, and a common sense of community.

All our work is:

Participatory and Creative: Our work is imaginative, accessible and high quality. We use a whole range of art forms (from music, theatre and photography to storytelling, visual and digital arts) to engage and inspire people.

Well-researched and Evaluated: We use evidence drawn from theoretical and experimental research studies on positive motivation, creativity and behaviour to inform our work. It is important that our work builds on, and adds to, the academic research in this field. This lends a distinctive focus to our work: all our projects involve reflection, empathy and engagement. All our projects are professionally evaluated.

A Catalyst: We develop projects that have a multiplier effect and have a real legacy. Our projects are run on a local level but are designed to be replicated and shared nationally and internationally.