A year ago today, Aesop founder and Chief Executive Tim Joss died in a cycling accident. Tim was many things, to many people. A loving husband, a dad, an arts entrepreneur and a lover of literature, music and dance. He wanted everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy and participate in the arts throughout their lives. To Aesop colleagues, he was a leader and a friend, and we’re grateful to celebrate the continuation of his vision and work.
Tim founded Aesop with a simple mission in mind: to contribute to solving problems at a societal level, using the power of the arts.. He saw the arts as fundamentally democratic and belonging to everyone.
Tim thought that artistic experiences are fundamental but often undervalued in terms of what they can accomplish. From health and social care to criminal justice, education to environmental conservation, he championed the increasing body of evidence that arts activities can make a difference.
When founding Aesop, Tim first set his sights on the role of the arts in improving health. He identified a neglected health issue, older people’s falls, where dance could possibly be of benefit. By combining evidence-based exercise programmes with creative dance, Aesop’s exemplar programme, Dance to Health was developed. It is acknowledged as gold-standard arts intervention, one of the first of its kind to build a robust evidence base, and get the seal of approval from the NHS and local authority funders.
This year we have celebrated Tim’s legacy by launching new Dance to Health programmes in the West Midlands, South Wales and South London as well as developing and testing an online provision model. We’ve received new funding from the Oak Foundation and the National Lottery’s Reaching Communities fund. Testimonials and gathered data show that the programme continues to make demonstrable, powerful differences to our participants’ lives by reducing their risk of falls, and fostering creative, sociable communities. We’re proud to continue working on Dance to Health, and we know Tim would be too.
In other areas of our work, we continue building on and developing Tim’s ideas. Our Prescribe-Arts.com community of arts organisations is growing as a forum in which practitioners can discuss and showcase good practice in arts and health. Tim thought it vital to convene and champion the vitality of the creative health sector and Aesop has continued this endeavour, and will continue to do so.
We’re a small team, but Tim always told us we can punch above our weight. It’s been a unique and challenging experience attempting to do so in his absence. Starting 2025, though, we’re holding our heads high, thankful to continue what was previously set in motion, and collectively taking ownership of a vision that we all believe in. We miss Tim, but we honour him in our work, and glean joy from the knowledge that he continues to make a difference.
