Barbara O'Brien

People United

People United is a charity that works in communities and nationally using the arts to make a positive impact on people's lives. We work with a range of art forms to bring different people together and encourage them to do something beneficial in their communities. We use the arts as a catalyst for community action and volunteering. In 2015 we involved 3,500 participants in our work in schools, care homes, and deprived communities. We have several approaches to our projects including: Commissioning artists to create imaginative new work that explores universal themes such as ‘empathy' and ‘kindness', Working with schools to encourage positive attitudes and behaviour with students and measuring this impact, Supporting communities to create their own new creative initiatives that benefit their neighbourhood, offering mentoring to sustain these, Collaborating with the School of Psychology at University of Kent to research and evaluate the short and long term impact of our work.