What we do

Invisible Palace create accessible and welcoming activities where a broad range of people can come together through shared interests for collective activity.

We believe in a place where arts, heritage, and green activities are available, affordable, and accessible to everyone.

People. Palace. Place.

Invisible Palace works across three strands: heritage, arts and growing.

Everything we do is rooted in our local landscape—a hilltop suburb in South London—and the stories that have shaped it. Inspired by Crystal Palace Park, the area's unique geography, and its legacy of exhibitions, temporary spectacle and circus innovation, place is at the heart of everything we do.

Heritage events and co-creative practice

Our heritage programme includes walks, talks, visits, creative sessions and collaborative research.

People taking part help to shape what we do next. Together we create new ways to explore and share local stories.

Visit Things to do to discover the learning resources that have been made.

Why heritage?

Everyone has a story to tell. By exploring local history together and sharing different perspectives, we help people build a stronger sense of belonging and connection to place.

Circus for local children and young people

Defy Gravity Social Circus is our partnership with My Aerial Home, inspired by South London's rich circus heritage. We provide affordable opportunities for children and young people to discover the fun of circus arts in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Why circus?

Circus helps children build confidence, resilience, creativity and teamwork while developing balance, coordination and problem-solving skills.

Along the way, they also gain strength, flexibility and a love of movement.

Gardening along the Anerley Hill edge of Crystal Palace Park

Join us on Friday mornings for our friendly drop-in gardening sessions. Led by a socially engaged professional gardener, each session offers the chance to learn new skills, care for nature and connect with others in your community.

Why gardening?

People join us for all sorts of reasons—to make the local area greener, support wildlife, meet new people, improve their wellbeing and learn practical gardening skills.

Spending time in nature can do all of this. Whether you're an experienced gardener or have never picked up a trowel, everyone is welcome.

Work with us

Heritage and interpretation projects

We can help you to bring heritage and storytelling to life through relevant, community-driven narratives, inspiring audiences to engage with your project in a meaningful and impactful way.

Take a look at our Capability Statement to find out more.

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Invisible Palace works to a set of principles for inclusive co-creative practice

Access ingrained and embedded

Attention to the details of people’s needs and where they are coming from, with access considerations built in at every stage and the starting point for all planning.

Consistent structures for capturing content

Establishing a framework to consistently capture and filter content which is led by what comes up from participants and feeds into how decisions are made on content and direction.

Equity and responsiveness

Listening and responding to where the group are at and adjusting activity in line with their needs and interests, giving flexibility to follow up on an idea, genuinely making time for difference and valuing ways of doing things and ensuring project activity is responsive, connective and audience led.

Pace

Making room for different paces within activities and leaving room for those who need more time to get an idea and build confidence.

Relatable subject matter

Focusing on visual, tangible stimulus and human subject matter which people can relate to, giving permission for people to open up emotionally and have personal reflections within the wider narratives being explored.

Valuing different knowledge and expertise

Valuing of different knowledge and expertise ranging from personal experience to academic knowledge, with no weighting of value in one particular direction in recognition that each type of knowledge enriches the project and one does not work without the other.

Socially engaged practitioners

Working alongside experienced practitioners with skills in socially engaged practice who are keen observers and able to adapt to people’s needs.

Core community partners

Building sustained relationships with a small network of community partners to enable reach and maintain contact with a breadth of local people who might not engage without the encouragement of the familiar organisation they already connect with.