insideKENT Magazine Issue 87 - June 2019 | Page 160

CHARITY
Art & Charity CONT.
In Kent...
PEOPLE UNITED
People United
www.peopleunited.org.uk
People United is an inno vative arts c harity and cr eative laboratory based in
Canterbury. Founded in 2006, their work focuses on exploring how the arts can
be used as a vehicle to increase kindness and empathy, and encourage people to
be more community minded. T hey work in sc hools, youth groups and local
communities to bring people together with artists and other partners from across
Kent and beyond to explore how to increase kindness and ultimately make the
world a better place.
They also work closely with their academic partners from the School of Psychology
at the University of Kent to underpin everything they do with rigorous academic
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research. They are a small team of five passionate and creative individuals, all
working to embody People United's core values. The four main strands of their
work are place-based projects, artist commissions, supporting others and research.
They have published two research reports; the fir st focused on w hy People
United has chosen to explore the links between arts and kindness, and the second
focused on what evidence they had gathered from 10 years of projects. This year
will see the launch of their third research report, which will focus on the how:
People United's methodology. They plan to launch the report at a symposium
in November.