Eight Great Things

As he reflects on his first two months in post, our new Chief Executive, Max May looks back at where he's been, where we're going, and Creative Lives' ongoing commitment to help everyday creativity flourish . . .

Today marks eight weeks as Chief Executive of Creative Lives. It’s been an amazing journey so far, connecting and collaborating with our brilliant staff, Trustees, freelancers and partners across the UK and Ireland. It’s also been a little different than expected, having broken my ankle three days before I joined!

I think how the team has showed up and supported me during this time really reflects their kindness, attentiveness and ingenuity – the Creative Lives’ spirit. I’ve also been so impressed by the sheer scale of work we deliver, supporting as many local creative groups as possible to have the capacity, confidence and skills they need to support their communities.

To celebrate eight weeks in post, I’ve chosen eight great things that I think reflect not only my journey so far, but the great work we do – and a little bit about where we might go next.

1. Meeting people in their place

This was really important to me, particularly as we’re a fully remote team, with presence in many nations. On what I ended up dubbing my 'snail trail', I spent sunny days in Belfast, Cardiff (pictured), Edinburgh and London where I was welcomed with open arms (and ample space to elevate my leg…)

In every place, I’ve been struck by the commitment of our team - to both the organisation and its mission - and the real need for our work supporting local creative groups.

2. Featuring in UCL’s video celebrating Art Cure

Daisy Fancourt recently joined Creative Lives as an ambassador, and her book Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health is a real seat belt moment for the arts.

It was a pleasure to be able to share a little about how the impact of creativity is supported by 63,000 volunteer groups across the UK and Ireland in UCL's new video 'How important are the arts for our health?' (and as it was only week two for me, this was also a savvy test of whether I could stay on brief!).

3. A Royal visit

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh visited four groups we’re supporting on the Isle of Wight through our collaboration with Creative Island: The Young Farmers, the IW Indonesian Community, In Focus, and HMP Isle of Wight.

Conversations highlighted how traditional crafts, mural painting, and reflective creative practice are being used to connect people and celebrate local identity. You can read more about the visit, and our collaboration on the island here.

4. The launch of Know Your Neighbourhood research

Creative Lives was a key partner on DCMS’s large-scale programme Know Your Neighbourhood, which saw us distribute £1.3m of grants to community groups and organisations.

Our report explores how creativity can support social connection, reduce loneliness and inspire pride in place, celebrating over 60 local creative projects we funded across England.

This supports the robust external evaluation published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England, which demonstrates that community-led creativity can also improve wellbeing and create volunteering opportunities.

Click here to read our report 'Know Your Neighbourhood: Exploring how creativity can support social connection, reduce loneliness and inspire pride in place'.

And you can read the DCMS evaluation of Know Your Neighbourhood here.

5. Hosting a post-election roundtable in Wales

Wales saw significant change in the most recent Senedd elections, with Plaid Cymru forming a government for the very first time. We were thrilled to bring together senior leaders and decision-makers from across Wales to reflect on the new landscape – and how this can be leveraged to better support the 4,000 local creative groups across the country.

We’ve also written to Heledd Fychan AS, the new Minister for Culture and Sport, to outline the key ways we know everyday creativity supports communities, and the three main recommendations for how this can be strengthened within Wales.

6. Listening to one million voices

Our annual Creative Lives Monitor survey is a health check for the sector, listening to local creative groups about what’s important to them, and how we can best support them.

We track the opportunities and challenges they face year-to-year to see what’s changing and to inform our work. The groups we heard from collectively support over one million people a year – how incredible is that?!

This year, we've also run a series of focus groups, where we invited local creative groups to help us interrogate the key findings of this year’s survey, giving real context and character to the headlines.

We'll launch the findings of this year's Creative Lives Monitor later this month, so keep your eyes peeled for the report. In the meantime, you can read the 2025 report here.

7. Being featured in The Big Issue

Our friends and collaborators London Arts and Health, Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance, and Arts and Homelessness International curated a very special edition of The Big Issue, celebrating all things Creative Health.

It was brilliant to contribute a column to the edition, 'Creating Connection on Your Doorstep', all about how grassroots interventions can support people, whether as part of treatment or prevention, to be well through social engagement, active participation and a sense of belonging.

8. Embracing change – and starting the journey together

Each year, the full Creative Lives team and Trustees come together for an away day; a vital time to connect off-screen, and to explore the charity’s strategic direction.

This year’s gathering, six weeks into my tenure, came at a great time. We know creativity and community are needed now more than ever. Together, we celebrated how we work at both hyperlocal and national levels, and often in partnership. We reflected on our special ability to work across nations, and serve as a convener, advocate and amplifier.

We also recognised our significant ambition; sometimes to do more, sometimes less – and definitely differently – as we step into our next chapter.

In a world that looks very different to five years ago (let alone to 35 years ago when we were founded), and with a new Chief Executive, now is the time to come together, to embrace change; to distil, refine and rearticulate.

Over the rest of 2026 we will explore how we can be the loudest voice possible for everyday creativity across the UK & Ireland – and we welcome you to join us on this journey.

You can reach out to me to share your thoughts or set up a meeting by clicking here.