Two months in to the Vice and Virtue project and coordinator Dr Edson Burton is already beginning to gain a fascinating insight into the history of this much loved Bristol High Street. Former Old Market residents and visitors paint a colourful picture of a street where you could: dance 'the waltz and foxtrot; buy oranges and, even more exotic, bananas  when none were available elsewhere; play skittles at the drill hall; watch Barbarella at the infamous Kings Cinema; shop at Hurwoods; worship at the imposing Methodist Central Hall; pawn suits and buy them back in time for Sunday.

Over the course of the project year we will keep you up to date with our findings. We will also upload audio and visual content as it comes through to us.

Vice and Virtue would like to extend a special thanks to the Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society, historian John Penny, community activist Mariateresa, the IC-Lab for their advice and support.

Lots of people already have informal ceremonies at The Trinity Centre and we also get lots of enquiries as to whether people can have the whole ceremony here. We carried out a survey to see whether or not people thought it was a good idea to proceed with licensing the venue for Civil Marriages and Civil Partnerships - which opens the venue to more use for weddings but the ceremonies have to be without any religious/faith aspects.

By proceeding with the licence we will be able to offer people the whole package - people will be able to get legally married at the venue, with a ceremony of their choosing. 98% of respondents said yes, they would like us to license the venue for Civil ceremonies - here's just a selection of some of the positive feedback in support of the move:

Stunning location, nice opportunity to get married in local area

It is a venue I've always imagined having my civil partnership in

It would be such a fantastic venue

Those wishing to have a religious based ceremony will no doubt carry this out in their temple/place of worship and then come to Trinity for their party

Having ceremony and reception under one roof would be a great idea

Yes yes yes! Such a brilliant vibrant place; perfect for a diverse wedding! I'd happily get married there!

What's the difference between a religious marriage and a civil marriage or civil partnership?

Marriage in England and Wales is recognised in the forms of both civil and religious unions. There is a distinction between religious marriages - conducted by an authorised religious celebrant - and civil marriages/partnerships - conducted by a state registrar. Civil marriages may not take place in religious venues and vice versa - civil marriages cannot be conducted anywhere with a current religious connection.

What next?

In line with the application process, our application can be viewed at the Trinity Centre, Trinity Road, Old Market. Bristol BS2 0NW between 10am and 5pm Monday to Friday. Anyone wishing to oppose the application must give notice in writing to: The Bristol Register Office The Old Council House Corn Street Bristol, BS1 1JG , within 21 days, specifying the grounds of opposition. Persons objecting to the grant of a licence will be given the opportunity to attend the meeting of the Licensing Committee.

We are taking provisional bookings from 2014 onwards. If you would like to get in touch with us about this please email info@3ca.org.uk or call 0117 935 1200 to speak to someone in the Trinity Office.

You can now check out the links to individual websites for artists selling & exhibiting at our Christmas Art Market this Sat 7th Dec 2013

We'll have unique and creative gifts for every person on your list, including you! Browse for some inspiration and join us to shop or simply soak up the atmosphere!

Entry is FREE to the public

To view the gallery click here!

The Ithaca Axis, 2013

"It pulls you in, and claws away at your very core. When the show is over, there is a terrible feeling of loss." - Thou ART

Scripted by Edson Burton
Directed by Nick Young
Production by Kate Hartoch and Netty Miles
Additional material devised by the company
Core cast: Glyn Dilley, Heidi Dorschler, Carlotta Cutrupi, Dominic Wolf, Paul Beech

Braving the wrath of the Gods, Odysseus has returned to the ancient kingdom of Ithaca - now modern day Bristol - to reclaim his seat of power within the Poseidon Foundation. But is he still welcome?  An incredible journey taking place through several, secret locations across Bristol. Part theatre, part adventure, The Ithaca Axis is a modern reinvention of the myth The Odyssey.

Performed over two weeks in April/May 2013, The Ithaca Axis was a fully interactive immersive show that used the city of Bristol as the set. A modern retelling of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey it tells the story of Odysseus' return to Ithaca, expecting to be welcomed as a hero, only to find that all is not how he left it.

A distant wife, a playboy son and a revolutionary daughter all have their own reasons for not wanting him back as he struggles with his own demons from his travels. Utilising ten locations, including Redcliffe Caves, Broadquay Fountains and St Stephen's Church, the show took four seperate audiences on a simultaneous journey that told one story from each of the main characters' perspectives before all coming together for the finale at the Trinity Centre. Power, family, loss and the traumas of going away to war are all themes that play out in The Ithaca Axis.

Lots of people already have informal ceremonies at The Trinity Centre. We also get lots of enquiries as to whether people can have the whole ceremony here - currently we direct people to the Bristol Registry Office for the licensed part of their marriage.

If we do not proceed with a licence, people will still be able to continue to have the legal part of their Civil Marriage/Civil Partnership at the Registry Office. Then they can come to Trinity to have a second ceremony - in whatever format they choose - and/or their wedding reception.

If we proceed with the licence we will be able to offer people the whole package - people will be able to get legally married at the venue, with a ceremony of their choosing. However...the caveat is that the ceremony cannot contain any religious/faith aspects. This includes Humanist/Druid/Pagan ceremonial elements, Hand-Fasting, as well as prayers, readings from pastors/ordained minsters.

We need to decide whether we choose to allow people what they want whilst in essence also restricting possibly on another aspect of what people might want.

In order to get an idea of public opinion, I have created a one-question survey, which you can respond to by clicking here: (closes Friday 6 December).

I am happy to hold a meeting about this if people are interested. Please do feel free to circulate this to anyone else whom you think may be interested in having their say. You can find out more about our current wedding offer here.

Thank you in advance for your input!

Emma Harvey, Centre Manager

MC Beth was an edgy adaptation set in contemporary Bristol where MC Beth is a respected rapper and loyal member of a local gang. This original take on Shakespeare's Macbeth clearly helped the young cast of non-professional actors, to engage with the subject matter and make it their own. They performed with confidence and clear ownership of the material creating an exciting and engaging production.

A good mix of comedy, contemporary music and action engaged the diverse audience who on the whole appeared not to be a typical theatre or Shakespeare audience. The text was cleverly adapted mixing modern dialogue and poetry with Shakespeare's original words.
The use of a number of performance spaces with the audience in and amongst the action helped break the barrier between spectator and performer, making the performance feel accessible and 'dangerous' at the same time.

Clearly the performers were restricted by their limited acting experience and training but their commitment and engagement with the work made it a very cohesive and inspiring event. As with any project that brings together young people who may be participating in theatre for the first time, or who have had no connection to live performance before, we see a clear mixture of conventional performance style with a highly individual and unconventional interpretation and practice.

It would be very exciting to see how this group could develop given more time to work together, especially if they were encouraged to explore their individuality and create a performance style of their own.

MC Beth was staged as part of the Tank Theatre Project, funded by The Ernest Cook Trust and Avon and Somerset Constabulary Trust.

The researcher will support the Vice and Virtue project coordinator in conducting research into existing archival sources documenting the history of Old Market Bristol, from the 1900s to the present.

Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, the project will consist of activities designed to engage the community of all ages in sharing their experiences and stories connected to the locality. It will also involve carrying out detailed research into the area, with a focus on key themes.

Together, the project team will achieve the following aims:

• Documenting the social history of communities who lived and worked within Old Market High Street before these stories are lost.
• Telling the history of Bristol marginalised communities whose stories are often excluded from mainstream history and heritage activities, i.e. gay and lesbian culture, black servicemen, sex industry workers.
• Documenting the changing population of Old Market with the settlement of migrant communities.
• Documenting the transformation of business and industrial history of Old Market
• The production  of a rich and diverse local heritage to promote a positive image of Old Market to counterbalance media and local negative perceptions of the area.

The project will culminate in an exhibition, booklet, and a series of workshops to produce an Old Market Heritage Trail (hard copy and online), as well as a detailed research project into the area's history, which will build upon existing online and hard copy archive information.

Application deadline

• Project Researcher: 31th January 2014

Click here to visit the job vacancies section of our website and download the individual job specifications. Applications to be made using our application form. Please note, we cannot accept CVs.

The Trinity Centre were pleased to welcome Lord Mayor Faruk Choudhury yesterday to launch a new open-access play area in the Trinity Gardens.

Funded by The Veolia Environmental Trust the aim of the project was to create a new space for children and young people in the local area, where current play provision is limited.

The play area was designed and built by The Green Play Project who specialise in uniquely exciting playscapes inspired by nature, built to promote creative and interactive play.

Children on the day commented that the new space was "amazing!" and "really fun" and parents also commented how great it was to have something like this in the area. Paul Taylor, Executive Director of the Veolia Environmental Trust joined us on the day and was able to see first hand the benefits of such a resource for the local community. The Lord Mayor spoke of how great it was to have such a facility for the communities of inner-city Bristol and visiting officers from the Avon & Somerset Constabulary also expressed their thanks to the Veolia Trust for investing in the area.

The project was also supported with a grant from the Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Partnership.

The play area is open every day and we welcome families to bring their children to come and play in the new space as well as to enjoy the surrounding community garden. There is also a wider programme of capital works taking place, funded by The Big Lottery Fund, which will help to further improve the facilities for the community. Read more about it here.

Thanks to funding from the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Buildings Fund we have started works on-site. Headed up by Bristol-based contractor CW Duke, we have now begun to realise the ambitions that many people have had over the years to make the Trinity Centre into a versatile and comfortable space for the people of Bristol.

Works have begin to create a new loading bay entrance and daytime reception area and works have also started on the upstairs hall space, with the steel framework installed to support a new partition wall. This will create two usable spaces in the upstairs of the venue - a large main hall space with sprung wooden floor and underfloor heating suitable for a range of large community meetings and private functions as well as music, dance and theatre performances, also a second 'community common room' space, with IT terminals and furnishings suitable for any community meeting or learning activity.

gcp Chartered Architects, the lead architect team, have created artist impressions of what the new space will look like, to give an idea of the range activities that could take place following the completion of works in January 2014.

If you are interested in the project and would like to find out more, why not join us for our free open day this Thursday, 17 October from 10am - click here to find out more.

click to view artist impression

Vice & Virtue took a look beneath the area's reputation to explore the many cultures that have lived here, its national significance as an area of architectural conservation and key moments of historical interest.

Themes included: the riots of 1932, the British and GI experience, business, trade and leisure in Old Market, the sex industry, the Gay quarter and new communities in Old Market.

The project - funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, Quartet Community Foundation and the Old Market Community Association - consisted of oral history and reminiscence activities designed to encourage members of the community, of all ages, to share their experiences, photos, documents and memorabilia.

This rigorously researched project built upon existing online and hard copy archive information. It culminated in an exhibition, book and heritage trail featuring all the work gathered through the project.

Old Market history

Much coverage given to the area often refers to it as having a 'seedy reputation'. Comments from other residents and traders have worked to counter this image, including Mr Ferris, a local publican commenting in a local newspaper article, “It's amazing we've done so well in the recession...more and more people are choosing to live here.”

Paul Bradburn, Chair of the Old Market Community Association said; “a project that celebrates the rich heritage of the area and allows the general community to appreciate that heritage will be a great benefit to the people of Bristol”.

The Vice & Virtue Project ran from Autumn 2013-Spring 2015.

Buy the book here!

17 October is a big day for Bristol’s much loved Trinity Centre. The Big Lottery-funded development work on the building has begun and Bristol West MP, Stephen Williams will open a new open-access children’s play area. The open day from 10am onwards will be a great chance for Bristol communities to come and see what's happening and what will be on offer in the newly developed Centre, as well as to try out the new play area (weather permitting!).

Funded by The Veolia Environmental Trust with a grant of £23k and a £2k Community First grant, the open-access play area designed and built by the Green Play Project has been created using high quality, sustainable materials and will include environmentally-conscious features - including a bamboo corner and tunnels which can be used to grow climbing flowers and vegetables - in order to inspire and challenge children and young people.

Bristol West MP, Stephen Williams said:

“The Trinity Development Project is an excellent candidate to receive this funding. The local people are working together to create valuable community green space and a safe children's play area and I would like to say a big thank you to The Veolia Environmental Trust for their help. Old Market is pulsating back into life.  A decade ago hardly anyone lived there but now in 2013 it is home to thousands. I am sure the play area will become a vital part of this new Old Market spirit!”

The Executive Director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Paul Taylor, said:

“We are pleased to support this project that has created a safe and exciting space for children and families to enjoy outdoor activities and connect with their environment. I hope that the opening event is a success and that the new play area is enjoyed by the community of Bristol for many years to come. Congratulations to all involved.”

The Trinity Centre is internationally renowned for its music events (famous bands like U2, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Clash, Roni Size and others have played there) and locally it provides a much loved centre and resource for community activities. Trinity Community Arts have been awarded a grant of £460,000 towards redeveloping the Centre, which will improve access and increase the space on offer for community activities. The grant is from the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Buildings Fund - aiming to help people and communities most in need through giving funding to improve community buildings where a wide range of community activities take place. The work has also been supported by the Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust who have provided matched funding for the Big Lottery grant to replace the boiler.

Centre Manager, Emma Harvey said:

“The Lottery grant will be used to create a new entrance and reception area and install heating, a sprung wooden floor, lighting and drapes in the upstairs hall space to make it suitable for activities such as conferences, dance and fitness and performance. There will also be a second, smaller, hall space suitable for IT classes, community meetings and smaller functions.”

Click here for more information.

Press management on October 17^th, Nigel Locker, Bud Communications nigel@bud.uk.com

We are looking for a team of volunteers to help with the distribution of flyers & posters.

As we get busier and busier we need to expand on the small team we have at present. Work depends on how many gigs/events we have coming up each moth. Some are busier than others but there is always work to be done.

We offer 2 FREE tickets to each volunteer subject to availability.

If you are interested or would like more info please contact: jamell@3ca.org.uk

The Trinity Centre was pleased to welcome iconic poet Benjamin Zephaniah through our doors today as part of a national research tour into the history of black radical poetry in the UK. Writers and activists drawn from the local community attended a meeting to share ideas and sources with Benjamin.

The meeting was coordinated by writer and literary consultant Kadija George (of Peepal Tree Press), in partnership with Trinity's Project Coordinator Dr Edson Burton, through the Trinity Community Initiative. Trinity has been a base for community arts and creativity since the 1970s and the meeting served as a homecoming for Benjamin, as he recalled performing here in the Centre's early years as a venue.

This was an exploratory meeting to discover what information is available within Bristol. The project is ongoing and we may hear soon of a call for more sources to support Benjamin in his quest to compile a comprehensive anthology.

‘10 to 10’ Old Market Community Photo-Shoot

Thursday 19 September 2013, 10am-10pm at the IC-Visual Lab photo office, 58 Old Market St, Bristol, BS2 0ER

Free photography event following the theme “Community”. The project aims to bring together the local community in a fun activity using photography. The event, led by IC-Visual Lab is designed to encourage locals and the wider Bristol community to explore and document Old Market Quarter - bringing attention to the area by building a live photo archive - The Old Market Diaries.

From 10am-10pm participants can capture the everyday life of The Old Market community. The participants can choose to photograph their homes, gardens, work places and streets. The activity is open for everybody - photographers and non-photographers, locals and the wider public. Instructions and map will be provided from the IC-Visual Lab office (58 Old Market Street) during the event.

Participants can then upload their images to a dedicated website www.icvl.co.uk/10to10 which will be available during the day. Our editors will select the final images that shall be uploaded to the project’s online archive. The IC-Visual Lab office will also contain facilities for downloading the images from cameras as well.

Up-and-coming photographers have been invited by One Giant Arm to come along during the day to take their own view of the area. The final images will then become part of the online archive and will be published in a photo booklet co- edited with OGA.

Also available on the day:

• Mobile Portrait Studio - professional portrait photographer Kirsty Mackay will taking pictures of passers by in Old Market, who will be able to get their prints afterwards on Clifton Colour.
• Digitising old photographs and family albums - bring along your old photographs and family albums related to Old Market to be digitised. The activity will review the past of the area, trying to find unique events that took place and recording the stories behind them. The digitising studio will be based in IC-Visual Lab office.

More about Old Market Quarter

Old Market Quarter has been selected for this project as it is one of Bristol’s fastest growing communities with residents originating from over forty different countries. Yet, Old Market, with its changing worlds and its connected histories, hasn’t ever had its stories told. Via the interventions of the IC Visual Lab collective of photographers and local participants Old Market will act as a catalyst to construct living archive of the area that will enable and enhance greater community cohesion, both within the local community itself but also within greater Bristol as a whole.

Emma Harvey, Centre Manager for the Trinity Centre said; ‘’Trinity has run several heritage projects about the area and we're happy to support IC-Visual Lab in running this great project that explores and celebrates the rich and diverse heritage of local communities"

For more information contact ibi@icvl.co.uk

The British Red Cross memory garden was officially unveiled on 30 August 2012 - the International Day of the Disappeared - an annual commemoration of people who have gone missing in armed conflicts or other violent situations.

Speaking last year to the Bristol Evening Post, Red Cross Service Manager Liz Abbey said: "The coming together of the British Red Cross with Trinity Community Arts highlights the importance of the Day of the Disappeared. There are thousands of people who are going through the agony and pain of losing contact with loved ones. The day remembers those people and gives the Red Cross the opportunity to let them know we are here to help them."

The memory garden has grown well over the past and includes flowers, a kiwi tree and is a space for people to come and pay tribute to the missing and provide a safe place for people to come and remember loved ones they have lost contact with.

Read more about the 2012 memorial garden day here.

If anyone has any memories of seeing particular bands, photographs, flyers, posters or tickets we would love to hear from you.

We would also be very interested to hear from anyone who may have had family celebrations there when it was a church, such as weddings and christenings. These can be from any period in time and we would be especially pleased to hear from elders in the community who have stories to tell. ​

We will build on our current archive to create an exhibition of photographs, gig/event posters, letters, people's memories and memorabilia for an open day on 17 October.

The Centre is about to undergo an extensive programme of renovation and improvement to the upstairs hall and external grounds to create new facilities for the whole community. The open day will provide a change for people in the local community to come along to the Centre and learn more about the improvements, meet others, share their stories and join in the fun.

Please email us your stories to or write to us at Christina Robino, C/o The Trinity Centre, Trinity Road, Bristol BS2 0NW.

The Bridges project was a great success - we produced two new commissions and had an audience of 774 across our events and show. We ran 67 activity sessions involving 238 participants, with 120 of these being 18 or under. 97 artists and actors were involved in the project, representing a total of 392 days of employment for artists. For more info about the project check out the Bridges Project Report.

The success of the project owes much to the tenacity and resourcefulness of all involved. This was a project that was in many aspects much bolder than had been budgeted for, and in excess of the available capacity. Effective management by TCA ensured that these deficiencies did not diminish the quality of the artistic experience.

Overall the project was successful in terms of participant numbers, audience numbers and profile and TCA hopes to build upon this for future community arts projects and big thanks have to be made to Edson Burton and Nick Young for delivering such an inspiring and aspirational project.

We've submitted an application to HLF for 'Vice & Virtue: Old Market Heritage Project' so bring on the next big challenge! Thanks again to everyone involved for making the project a success.