The board and team of Aesop have been devastated by the death of its founder and CEO Tim Joss. It has been of some comfort to hear and read the huge number of tributes to him by email, on social media and in person.
Tim had a vision for how arts programmes can work effectively to address problems in health, social care, education and criminal justice, without compromising artistic quality.
We intend to continue that vision, under the interim leadership of Professor Kevin Fenton CBE, the current chair of Aesop, who has been in that post for 6 Years, and is an extremely experienced and influential director within the NHS.
We have existing programmes that we are fully committed to supplying and are awaiting the results of new grants and contracts that Tim and his team had set in train. Going forward, we are intending to apply for more philanthropic grants and opportunities with local authorities and care home providers.
We have excellent relationships with organisations such as Innovate UK, Oak Foundation, BOP Consulting, the Peter Sowerby Foundation, Arts Council England and others, and we will build on these. Dance to Health, our national exemplar falls-prevention programme, continues to grow and we are very proud of it.
Aesop’s staff have been terrific in these tragic circumstances and have acted professionally throughout. They, along with our dance artists, volunteers and programme participants continue to be our greatest asset.
– Professor Kevin Fenton CBE on behalf of the Aesop Board of Trustees
For any enquiries, including questions on existing or future programmes, please contact Charley Utton on charleyutton@ae-sop.org.
