Cliftonville is one of Thanet’s most diverse and vibrant neighbourhoods, but it is also its most disadvantaged with high unemployment, low life expectancy and over half its young people living in poverty. Conversely Margate’s arts-led regeneration has resulted in a rapid population change, with newcomers attracted by a burgeoning arts scene and low house prices. These factors, plus an increasingly hostile narrative towards refugees and asylum seekers, pose a real risk of social fragmentation.

ARK stands in the community as a warm, welcoming creative space for everyone. We work with young people, established Margate families, and refugees and migrants, building on everyone’s ideas and talents. Through festivals, workshops, clubs and a relevant public programme, we aim to boost wellbeing, confidence, and connection, and foster social cohesion by bringing Cliftonville’s different communities together, to celebrate, learn and experience new ideas through the power of creativity.