Image Credit: Sophia Stefelle

Trinity collaborated with the local community organisation Somali Kitchen and creative collective YESIDub to programme a series of free-to-access family cooking sessions for local families. The sessions aimed to create a space for connections by exploring Somali culture through food and play.

“I like going to school and coming here afterwards, playing with my mum and cooking”

Taking place over six sessions at Trinity, the team at Somali Kitchen led workshops in cooking traditional Somali food, including ‘Soor’, a dish that is accompanied by a tasty vegetable sauce. Children also had opportunities to get involved with their parents and they learned how to prepare and cook fresh vegetables. Alongside this, YESIDub facilitated the ‘arts corner’, a space for children and parent/carers to take part in craft, games and play activities. Trinity’s Community Producer was on hand throughout to help support the sessions.

The project was a great success, welcoming 11 children alongside their parents/carers. All the families told us that they really enjoyed taking part in cooking and facilitated play. They also shared how they have learned how to cook new dishes including vegetable curry and pancakes. Children shared that they really enjoyed experiencing new things such as chopping the ingredients and sharing their cooking with the group.

The sessions are delivered as part of the wider-inactive Eastside People and Places that is connecting people, reducing loneliness and isolation and helping people feel included and welcome through community-based activity.

Father Paul moved to Bristol in his 20's and is well loved in St Pauls @Khali Ackford

Before Father Paul’s talk I did not know much about him and his life in Bristol, but afterwards it was clear that he is regarded as family by the community in which he serves.

As the push continues to #SaveJWB, we look back to Trinity's 2018 Heart & Soul project and our series of talks where both national and international speakers shared their knowledge and experience on the positives and pitfalls of re-imaging historic buildings. In this blog we reflect on Father Paul's talk the re-purposing of churches as community spaces.

On the evening of Tuesday 29th May 2018, we were very grateful to Father Paul who stepped in to cover the planned speaker who was unfortunately unwell. He appeared an unconventional priest, wearing camouflage combat trousers and a shirt, very much living up to the talk title ‘Rebel Conformist’.

Before Father Paul’s talk I did not know much about him and his life in Bristol, but afterwards it was clear that he is regarded as family by the community in which he serves. He has touched the lives of a lot of people in Bristol, particularly the St Paul’s area where he has lived and worked most of his life.

Father Paul talked about the need for the church to respond to contemporary issues @Khali Ackford

Father Paul wants to be able to conduct these ceremonies and to celebrate love without judgement. He told many anecdotes about individuals from the community where he has worked, mostly to show that, "where there is life, there is hope".

Heart & Soul project coordinator, Dr Edson Burton, gave a warm introduction to Father Paul. Several audience members as well as Dr Burton clearly hold him in great affection, indicative of the widespread impact Father Paul has had over the years. In a childhood anecdote, Father Paul remembers growing up in Pontypridd, Wales, wishing he had a brother to play with as he only had one sister. Not until his twenties when he had moved to Bristol and settled in St Paul’s did he realise he was lucky enough to be surrounded by many many brothers and sisters now.

Father Paul started by talking about gay marriage, and the fact that in Wales and Scotland you can have a gay marriage in church, supported by the Church. However in England although you can have a civil partnership or gay marriage, you still cannot conduct these ceremonies as a vicar in a church. It saddens him that there is nothing in the wedding hymn book dedicated to LGBTQ marriage. Father Paul wants to be able to conduct these ceremonies and to celebrate love without judgement. He told many anecdotes about individuals from the community where he has worked, mostly to show that, "where there is life, there is hope".

On many occasions people have gone to Father Paul for help and he has been a huge support throughout the community. These pillars of the community that have not faded despite the move towards communities being started or maintained by technological means.

A lot of people fear that the sense of community relying on face to face contact is being lost due to societal changes- we all spend more time looking at screens. However, Father Paul is an example that where there are people living together in an area, there will always be community leaders and supporters, no matter the advances in technology. It is our human nature.

Many local residents attended Father Paul's talk @Khali Ackford

He says; "Things fit together in ways I don’t always understand but don’t object to." I enjoyed Father Paul’s talk because it shed light on the positive influence one person can have in a community. Tess Sieling, project intern

After Father Paul’s talk, he invited a friendly discussion within the group. We moved on to explore what is the role of the Church now? Is it to serve the spirit or to serve the law? There seems to be an openness particularly in Bristol and other large UK cities that is calling for the Church to serve the spirit. In contemporary society, issues that need addressing and the nature of human struggles have been changing, so there is a need for the Church to serve them in an equally contemporary way.

Perhaps a testament to Father Paul’s openness is the fact that at one stage, he was visiting a convicted murderer in prison in Cardiff while also planning the victim’s funeral in Bristol. He says; "Things fit together in ways I don’t always understand but don’t object to." I enjoyed Father Paul’s talk because it shed light on the positive influence one person can have in a community.

This write up was by Tess Sieling, who was the project intern on the Heart & Soul heritage project. The talk was part of a series exploring the challenges and achievements of transforming and preserving historic buildings and was programmed in collaboration with Bristol's Architecture Centre and the University of West England (UWE).

How to get involved

Click here to sign the Hotwells and Cliftonwood petition to Save Jacobs Wells Baths

Further reading

Read more from our Heart & Soul talk series - Dr Katie McClymont, Fidel Meraz and A Million Bricks of Love.

Read more about the Save Jacobs Wells Campaign here.

We apologise to audiences of the Mikey Spice gig that was scheduled to take place Monday 10th April 2023 at Trinity Centre. We understand ticket holders are disappointed and frustrated that the headline act did not perform. We were equally disappointed given that we have a proud history of hosting Reggae artists.

This event was booked at the venue by a third-party promoter. The show was originally booked at Bristol’s O2 Academy and Trinity took on the show as a last-minute capacity downgrade in good faith, with the hope that this would mean fans who had already purchased tickets would get to see the planned show.

On the night, Trinity staff slowly became aware that the headline act had not arrived at the venue. The promoter was unreachable, and they did not provide us with any indication that there had been this change to the line-up.

Though the event took place, we appreciate this wasn’t the event that people paid for. As such, Trinity will issue refunds automatically to any fans who purchased tickets through our own ticketing platform.

Unfortunately, we are unable to issue refunds to those who purchased tickets through third-party sites. We recommend fans contact their ticket provider directly if you wish to request a refund. We contacted Bristol’s O2 Academy who declined to offer a comment.

We are sorry that our due diligence to check promoter credentials fell short of what is expected of us and we will take greater care in future to ensure a greater degree of care for artists and fans.

We would like to give thanks to the talented support acts who did perform and will do what we can to ensure anyone who performed receives a fair payment We hope that the negative experiences of fans will not reflect badly, either on them as artists or us as a venue.

Kabaka Pyramid performs at Trinity on 07 April

Ahead of his show at Trinity on 07 Apr as part of Trinity Presents, we spoke to Grammy award-winning Reggae artist Kabaka Pyramid about performing to UK audiences, the Reggae Revival movement, and much more.

Tell us a little about your musical journey up to this point, and any upcoming plans for 2023

My journey has been great with ups and downs of course, from sound system days to small home studios, starting an independent label, to working with Damian Marley, to winning a Grammy. It’s been amazing. This year we are touring worldwide and continuing to push my album The Kalling.

As a key pillar of the reggae revival movement, how do you feel the international recognition of new reggae artists has impacted the scene as a whole?

I think the international recognition has shone the light on our generation’s movement, and that helped to elevate our status and profile in Jamaica, so overall it’s been a very positive thing.

What have your experiences been like playing for a UK audience? Have you noticed any difference in the atmosphere and energy at UK shows compared to other international audiences?

It depends on where in UK, festivals like Boomtown are similar to other festivals around Europe and even the US, but a club show in South London is closer to the vibes in Jamaica. People react more to the popular songs so I usually have to change my setlist in the UK.

Are there any UK artists that you’d like to work with in the future or other Jamaican artists you'd like to highlight?

Man like Stormzy and Giggs are legends, I also rate Ashley Walters and Kano, looking forward to releasing something with Maverick Sabre and also Plan B - we’ve been in studio before. I like Little Simz's vibe as well.

For someone who’s never seen you perform in person, what can they expect from Kabaka Pyramid live?

My live show is really high energy, a lot of fun for fans, nuff lyrics and some reggae classics mixed, and look for songs off my Grammy album 😉

Kabaka Pyramid will be performing at Trinity on 07 April as part of Trinity Presents - click here to get your tickets.

About Trinity Presents:

This is part of Trinity Presents - our in-house programme of music, bringing world-class artists and emerging talent to inner-city audiences.

Photo credit: Ice Road by Raucous, Jack Offord, Jacobs Wells Baths

"Bristol is brimming with dance talent in many forms, and it is well overdue for a dedicated space of its own" Deborah Baddoo MBE, Bristol Dance Futures Producer

Former dance centre and Victorian swimming pool, Jacobs Wells Baths has recently been saved from potential disposal by Bristol City Council following their announcement to launch an open process for expressions of interests to manage the building via a Community Asset Transfer.

In 2019-21 we were part of Bristol Dance Futures, a consortium dedicated to building dance profile, capacity and infrastructure in Bristol. The project highlighted the rich potential of dance in the city and created legacies including cross-sector working across health and community development.

We asked Bristol Dance Futures Producer, Deborah Baddoo MBE, to reflect on the project and to share how it could help reimagine a community space, such as Jacobs Wells Baths.

"During my time as producer for Bristol Dance Futures it was clearly evident that there is a huge gap in terms of a dance specific space in Bristol.

Obviously, it is important to bring dance into other organisations who may not normally have access to dance activity, but there is a thriving dance community throughout the city, hiring commercial studios, performing in unsuitable spaces and trying to book spaces in venues for rehearsals, classes and workshops.

Post Covid-19, now more than ever, the powers that be are recognising the valuable role that dance and indeed all the arts have on helping individuals on their journey to wellbeing and the special role that dance has in connecting people, improving mobility, releasing stress and enhancing creativity, to name only a few of the benefits of dance.

A dedicated dance space such as Jacobs Wells Baths has potential to be a place where many exciting initiatives can flourish, a networking space for dance, a rehearsal space, and importantly hub for dance and wellbeing activity in the city.

Dance in Bristol has gone through many changes and manifestations over the last 25 years, but these have always tended to be piecemeal, short-lived initiatives having limited long-term impact for the sector as a whole.

Bristol is brimming with dance talent in many forms, and it is well overdue for a dedicated space of its own. A dedicated space will help enable the dance sector in Bristol to continue to grow and be a catalyst for exciting new developments and a much needed home for dance in this vibrant city."

Deborah Baddoo MBE, Dance Producer

If you would like to join a conversation on what the future for Jacob Wells could be, please click here.

Trinity are pleased to be welcoming independent food vendor, The Digg Inn

"Independence is at the heart of what we do. I’m not gonna lie it’s not always easy, good things rarely are, but it is rewarding. There’s a satisfaction about creating something from nothing." Isaac Snow

New independent kitchen The Digg Inn opens at Trinity this week (16 March) offering Louisiana-style soul food.

The Digg Inn is a collaboration between the Ill Repute and Isaac Snow, who previously co-opened a restaurant on the Isle of Wight, called ‘Call it What You Want' and will be open for walk-up's Tuesdays - Saturdays, alongside serving food at our outdoor events including The Den Socials.

The company are the first residents in our outdoor kitchen that was installed as part of the updated Diggs project, which included a detailed community consultation to find out what the community wanted from us in a post-pandemic environment.

Ahead of their show as part of Trinity Presents on 19 March, we sat down with Brian and Jackson from Dundundun to talk about how the group came together, the Bristol music scene, and more.

First off, could you tell us a little bit about how Dundundun formed?

It started out as a group of percussionists, slowly adding more instrumental players - the original focus, and something which we’ve continued with, I might add, was to play seamless ‘DJ sets’ with live musicians. That was the idea anyway, as the band has evolved, we’ve become more creative as to how this has happened and written in some real bangers to lift the set at the right points.

There are other groups in the city like Dundundun that feature musicians who work across several different projects – what do you think it is about the Bristol music scene that encourages this kind of collaboration?

Bristol is a small city, with a huge array of scenes. It’s inevitable that there’ll be a crossover with musicians/filmmakers, artists etc. "someone knows someone who knows someone who wants to work with a sax player - you up for it?” that’s basically how it goes. You say yes and suddenly you’re embroiled in another scene that you know existed but were on the fringes of. It’s always happened this way.

What other artists in Bristol should people be keeping an eye out for?

Well, there’s some great bands - particularly on the ‘Bristol Jazz’ scene. Run Logan Run are killing it right now, experimental, interesting and diverse music; Snazzback have got another album coming out with a heap of vocalists. Oh and Waldo’s gift - they were awesome at We Out Here festival in the wee hours!

Has being on the label Worm Discs influenced your sound?

No. We shape our sound. Although, literally speaking, Jackson who co-runs the label plays percussion in the band so in a sense - there is some truth to Worm shaping the sound!

And finally, what can audiences expect from your show at Trinity?

Expect a high energy, charismatic show with floor fillers and some great new material featuring guest vocalists. We’re really looking forward to this one on home turf.

Dundundun are performing at Trinity on 19 Mar as part of Trinity Presents, our in-house programme of music and arts. Click here to get your tickets.

Team Trinity during our AGM in 2022

As we celebrate International Women's Day, we wanted to take a moment to shine a light on some of the incredible women in our own workforce and find out how they are challenging the sector, pushing for change and paving the way for a better future for all.

Esther

Esther is Trinity’s Combined Arts Producer, working to pull together all the different moving parts of an artistic project from concept to completion - whether it's an engagement programme or an arts festival or working with artists to create work. She’s been in the industry for about four years now, working in Bristol for public events, art projects, venues such as Trinity as well as recently programming stages at festivals around the UK.

Esther is currently working on a BBC 1XTRA funded project Speak Out which is a creative development programme for 16 - 18yr olds, giving them a supported platform to learn an art form of their choice to express how they feel about issues they face.

Alongside this, Esther helps to programme Afrika Eye, the South West’s biggest annual festival of African film, music and arts, creating amazing expanded events with talented artists in some of Bristol's best cultural institutions.

Jenny B

Youth Programme Manager, Jenny joined the Trinity team in December 2022, bringing her rich experience in working with children aged 0-25yrs and their families.

Having worked in the community for many years, Jenny understands the barriers to engagement and is working hard to overcome challenges. Since starting, Jenny has been developing a programme of work to give children, young people and their families the opportunity to be creative, including our new music education programme 'Next-Gen Sounds'.

Jenny believes that everyone is an artist and is passionate about creativity and giving voice to those who are quietened by society and giving them a platform to amplify their voices.

In her spare time, Jenny enjoys singing in a community choir and is involved in ACTA production ‘Silent Heroines’.

Aysha

Trinity’s Production Coordinator, Aysha, started her journey at Trinity in 2019 on a three-month internship. Since then, she has become a core part of Team Trinity, dealing with important relationships between the venue and promoters, as well as leading on EDI, anti-harassment, and mental health and wellbeing across the organisation.

Passionate about diversifying the live events industry and increasing safety through doing so, Aysha’s work has led to 15% of Trinity’s live programme being operated by female/non-binary technicians. Learning alongside our in-house technicians and enrolling on Saffron’s Sound Engineering course, she has built her way to becoming the venue’s first Black technician.

Aysha recently led a successful application for Music Venues Trust funding, providing much needed investment into production equipment such as adding to our lighting rig and making our outdoor venue, The Den, fully self-sufficient.

Aysha has used her position to speak out on sexual harassment within the music industry and wider night-time economy. Subsequently, she has been selected to be part of the Bristol Nights Advisory Board, working with organisations across the city to deliver campaigns focussing on harm reduction, safety, and anti-harassment within the night-time economy.

Sarah

Initially taking on a fixed-term contract in 2016 Sarah now manages and oversees Trinity’s comms and development.

Sarah is interested in community-led action and solutions and recently successfully secured a grant from Power to Change so Trinity can invest further in developing community tech. She has also worked extensively across the community and arts sectors, once featuring in the Guardian due to getting ‘pretty annoyed’ by ‘arts speak’ and recently supporting arts organisation gentle/radical during their Turner Prize nomination.

In her spare time, Sarah offers small grassroots organisations pro-rata comms and marketing support and is currently working with a volunteer-led SEND organisation to strengthen their offer. Sarah was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dyspraxia in primary school.

Ishmael Ensemble, Trinity Present. Photo credit Khali Ackford

We have, once again, been shortlisted for Grassroots Venue: Spirit Of The Scene at this year’s Music Week Awards - can you help us win it?

Over the past year, we have welcomed some of the best up-and-coming artists in the Bristol scene and beyond, as well as expanding our music and arts offering by opening The Den, welcoming Grove, Booty Bass, Ishmael Ensemble, Yemz, Sister Nancy, Gardna, and Don Letts to name a few.

Plus, we have continued our commitment to diversifying the music industry and creating opportunities for those who are historically underrepresented in the sector. 15% of our live music events were operated by female/non-binary technicians, and 64% of the in-house programme showcased artists from underrepresented backgrounds.

It's great to see all the hard work we've put in over the last year being recognised on a national scale. If you love Trinity and want to support us, please help us win Grassroots Venue: Spirit Of The Scene by doing the following:

• Vote for Trinity by clicking here
• Spread the word - Share the link on socials alongside pictures of your favourite shows at Trinity
• Be quick - Voting closes at 5pm 31 March 2023

The Award is supported by Music Venue Trust who advocate for Grassroots Venues in the UK.

We are nominated alongside Boileroom, Brudenell Social Club, Dubrek Studios, The Globe, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Leadmill, Le Pub, Night & Day Café, and Windmill. Congratulations to all the other great independent venues that have been nominated.

Activities coordinator, Stefan Boakye connects with UK-wide partners as part of the Fun Palaces project

Trinity is a key partner in Fun Palaces, a national campaign that is making arts and culture more accessible by supporting people to plan and deliver creative events in their communities.

As part of my role, Community Activities coordinator, I have connect with local residents and community groups to offer help and support so they can set up their own creative activities. This includes Ruth Harrison and her ‘Recycle City Project’ and new resident group Impact Bristol.

"I learnt that many other organisations where also exploring developing networks between organisations and we discussed ways to make this more effective"

In January we hosted an 'action research meeting' with the Fun Palace partners. These meetings are a way to collectively gather feedback, improve working practices, learn from each other and create new connections. Partner organisations are based across the UK and included the Albany Centre, The National Trust for Wales and Rotherham Council Libraries.

We began the day by introducing ourselves and checking in on what each organisation was currently focusing on. We had a fun icebreaker which involved us talking to each other about what our ‘special’ skills were.

Following this we took part in an evaluation session with Sarah Boiling and shared our progress within the program, success stories and challenges. This session was more focused on the things we liked about Fun Palaces and how we can develop these themes. This was very valuable as we all explored the ways in which the Fun Palaces message helps us all in our individual roles to talk about the importance of making arts and culture more accessible.

After this we had lunch delivered from a local Caribbean takeaway ‘Nadine’s Caribbean Cafe’ and we had another opportunity to chat and bond with each other before we went back into our final ‘Open Sessions’.

‘Open Sessions’ brought the group together to raise any topics they wished to discuss. If someone wanted to raise a topic, they would announce it in the centre of the room and then find a designated space to host the discussion.

I took part in several of these discussions and it was useful to pick up tips and hear the experiences of other partners and makers. The fact that we were encouraged to talk freely amongst ourselves meant that we covered a lot of important topics. For example, I learnt that many other organisations where also exploring developing networks between organisations and we discussed ways to make this more effective.

We finished by sharing what we had gained from the day, how we were feeling and any final thoughts. I mentioned that my involvement in discussions about building networks would be very useful in helping me to form ideas to develop a community network which will connect individuals and organisations.

The event was really positive and it was great to see so many people who were passionate about what they do and the communities that they are trying to reach, which made me feel more inspired about my role.

To find out more about the Fun Palaces campaign, how to get involved and how to create your own Fun Palace contact our Community Producer Stefan on: stefan@trinitybristol.org.uk

Image credit: Nova twins

“Bringing the venue up to spec will not only benefit us as a venue, but the artists, technicians, and promoters who come into the space; increasing creative possibilities and audience experience."

Production Coordinator, Aysha Tailor - Whyte

Trinity are one of 13 venues to have been awarded funds from the Music Venue Trust’s Pipeline Investment Fund to purchase new equipment for our live music/club programme and our outdoor venue, The Den.

The £4134.69 investment from MVT, at time of rising energy costs and a cost-of-living crisis, will enable us to reduce production costs and increase capacity. The costs saved alongside additional revenue generated will help us to build upon our free/subsidised space hire for community groups and residents.

The grant will help towards the purchase of additional lighting fixtures and replace existing fixtures for our live-music spaces, The Den and the Main Hall. The grant will also allow us to purchase uniform for the team to make our staff easily identifiable for those in need of assistance during events.

The Pipeline Investment Fund was established last year with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance and was primarily funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s recent ‘Revive Live’ programme of gigs around the UK, which was a partnership with The National Lottery.

In 2022 Trinity took part in the Thriving Communities initiative, to develop a programme of creative activity in response to the increased isolation that many people - including older people and those caring for young children - experienced during and post-pandemic.

The year-long initiative, led by specialist 'arts-on-referral' practitioners, creativeShift pioneered a new model of using the arts to improve health and well-being. The pilot project helped to connect key partners in the arts, health and social care setting, to help communities rebuild and recover.

“The art helps you to manage your own feelings and learn how to cope with things. It has given us transferable skills, and I have noticed how the participants have grown in confidence”. Anita, Gentle Creative Dance

Building on our previous Moving Bristol project that explored how dance can be used in a social prescribing model, we connected creativeShift with some of Trinity's resident community groups to design a programme of activity that was subsequently delivered to service users who were referred by local health and community partners due to their health needs.

Over the last year, we have been able to utilise our unique position as a trusted community arts hub to build resilient cross-sectors partnerships, including strengthening links with community health providers Wellspring Settlement, who referred patients to our free-to-access programmes.

Social prescribing delivery in practice

creativeShift worked with Gerry's Attic - an over 55's dance group who meet regularly at Trinity - to create Gentle Creative Movement, a weekly programme designed to increase well-being and confidence for those who may be experiencing long term health issues effecting their mobility.

One Gentle Creative movement participant now volunteers at a local dementia café saying that going to sessions had “... given me the confidence to do that.”

Social prescribing specialists from creativeShift also collaborated with Bristol Children’s Centre (CBCC) to design a play-based programme for parents and carers of young children born during the pandemic to connect with their children and with each other.

Image Credit: Sophia Stefelle

Speak Out is a new project from Trinity and BBC 1XTRA that offers young people (16yrs - 18yrs) the opportunity to take part in a free-to-access course to learn how to use arts to address social issues.

"Speak Out is a really exciting project that will connect the next generation with present diverse grassroots artists and activists and the wider creative industry" Esther Afikiruweh, Speak Out Producer

Launching in September, the project will invite leading industry creatives to deliver master-classes and workshops that will give young people artistic tools to tackle subjects that matter to them and develop solutions to issues they and their local communities face.

In partnership with organisations including Noods Levels, as well as prominent Black artists and activists, young people will have the opportunity to explore different creative tools including poetry, design, audio and film through workshops and masterclasses.

Alongside this young people will be  able to help shape Speak Out, including co-creating elements of the project and its visual identity.

Throughout the programme, there will be an opportunity for participants to connect with creative industry professionals through artistic skills-based sessions as well as interactive workshops and external trips exploring the future of social action.

The project will culminate with Noods Levels collaborating with young people to create platforms for showcasing the content, stories and artistic ideas created throughout the project. Young people will have an opportunity to connect with broadcast media, film-makers and other professionals to kick-start their next steps as future change makers.

How to get involved:

Sign up to Speak Out here

As funded by BBC 1XTRA, we welcome attendees of Black heritage.

Set the vibe for your weekend at The Den Socials in our outdoor venue

Nestled in the grounds of the historic Trinity Centre, uncover The Den; a place for food, friends and some of the best music from the underground scene right now.

From March 03 head down to the The Den Socials on Thursday and Friday evenings and enjoy food from local vendors, drinks and music from resident DJs and collectives.

The Den will be hosting local independent food traders and resident DJs each month. In March, local vendors Ceylon and Beyond and Small Fire Pizza will offering an array of Sri Lankan Street Food and handmade stonebaked pizza.

DJ collective Booty Bass - fresh off their sell-out New Year's Eve event at Trinity - will help set the tone for the weekend with their Friday evening residency (6pm-9pm). On Thursdays the Trinity team have connected with some of Bristol’s best producers and DJs to bring you an eclectic mix of artists including Mr Fitz, Kreed and Discobobulator.

Launching on 03 Mar the Den Socials will run Thursday/Friday evenings throughout the spring.

There is no booking required and entry is free – just bring good vibes and good friends.

Find out more about The Den Socials on trinitybristol.org.uk

March lineup:

Thursdays: Mr Fitz/Kreed/Discobobulator + more TBA

Fridays: Booty Bass DJ's

This series is part of Trinity Presents - our in-house programme in our brand new outdoor venue The Den.

Jacob Wells Baths, a Grade II Listed building holds within its walls a wealth of of architectural and social heritage - from its time as a public swimming baths to its 30 year history as a dance hub. A grassroots campaign is underway to bring back the building into the community.

From its time as a swimming pool, to being a multi-use arts hub, we are exploring and sharing the stories of the building over the years. Here, Trinity’s Heritage & Engagement Curator Dr Edson Burton tells us about his Jacobs Wells Baths’ Story...

"It was 2017 and I was coming to the end of my residency at Pervasive Media Studio, where I was working on a project called The Last Blues Song Of A Lost Astronaut.

I was looking for a space that had depth and height because I wanted to test the four aspects of what was going to be quite a tech-heavy, immersive theatre experience.

We looked at multiple venues across the city but nothing quite fitted. In particular, sight lines were an issue as we were looking to project at scale and most spaces just weren’t big enough for the concept of these 'four areas' that we could project onto and perform within.

I got in touch with Artspace Lifespace who were meanwhile tenants at the time of Jacobs Wells Baths at the time. We went down to look at the space and it was absolutely perfect.

There are very few spaces that have that much height and width. This means then that, in terms of creating an immersive show, it is a fantastic space for this type of performance, especially as it has one of the best sprung floors around.

I know other companies like Racous have also used the space brilliantly - it'd be great for the city to keep that creative spirit alive."

Get Involved

Click here to sign the Hotwells and Cliftonwood petition

Share your JWB story on social meda using #SaveJWB or send it to sarah@trinitybristol.org.uk

Further reading

Read more from Dr Katie McClymont from her talk about resusing heritage spaces

Read more about how the community is fighting for Jacob Wells here.

Next Gen Sounds is a new open-access music education session for young people aged 14-25 that offers the chance to gain knowledge and skills from expert tutors in Trinity’s fully-equipped rehearsal room and production studios.

The sessions will be student-led, meaning that young people will be able to shape the programme to suit their interests and ambitions; whether that be learning to play instruments, music production, performing live, or anything in-between.

Trinity’s in-house music tutors, Fern and Pete, will also be on-hand to offer support and guidance to students during the sessions. Students will learn together as a group, offering a chance to work collaboratively and meet other young people.

Next-Gen Sounds is free to-access and is part of Trinity’s ongoing commitment to offering music education to young people that may not otherwise have access to music equipment. There will be free food at the end of each session, provided by Pret a Manger, as well as any travel costs covered (to and from the Trinity Centre) to ensure that the course is accessible to everyone.

The course starts on 9 Feb 2023 with an introductory session, allowing participants to meet the tutors and other students, to take a look at the space and discuss what musical skill students may want to explore.

To find out more about taking part in Next-Gen Sounds, click here.

Image credit: St Paul's Carnival

In partnership with St Paul’s Carnival/Trinity and David Jubb of Citizens In Power, we are exploring how to co-create a cultural strategy for the city and surrounding region with citizens.

During this research phase, funded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), we invited a range of collaborators from the sector who place participation at the heart of their practice to hear from some of the best speakers working in democratic decision making right now.

Part 3: Becoming A City Of Culture

In our third blog we reflect on the thoughts and experiences of Bradford 2025 team members, May McQuade and Jack Lynch who used the Citizens’ Assembly model as part of Bradford’s successful UK City of Culture 2025 bid.

May McQuade was the Programme and Community Coordinator for Bradford 2025. It was her role to explore what they would do if they were to win, and what programming could happen during the bidding period. This involved lots of consultation work, spreading the word around the bidding and getting people on board. 

Jack Lynch worked on creating the campaign and brand for Bradford 2025. His role looked at how the City of Culture bid looked and felt, and the story they wanted it to tell. Jack spoke about being particularly keen to make something that felt truly original in Bradford, particularly with regards to how people normally spoke about the area.

The group were interested to explore what the catalyst was for this groundswell of positive engagement with the Bradford 2025 campaign. Jack shared that there was a focus on taking public opinion and universal truths about Bradford, and working them into the campaign. They found this was a way that everyone – from people in the arts sector to people in the street – could understand the aim of winning a City of Culture bid, and that this helped create a high level of engagement. The group discussed that ‘finding the city’s universal truths’ could be an important part of a City of Culture bid for Bristol.

Delving into the local authority’s involvement in Bradford 2025, May shared how the council had set up and invested in the trust then fully supported the bidding process. The decision for the bid to be separate from the council gave the team creative freedom.

There was a question posed from the group about the high number of people of Pakistani heritage living in Bradford, and how the bid was representative of this community. May spoke about several staff and steering group members being of South Asian heritage and the broad consultation events taking place in every ward of the district. May also shared that part of the bid’s focus was around improving representation in decision making roles within the arts, and supporting growth of the South Asian arts offer in Bradford. She went on to say that there are also many other Global Majority groups living in the area, and they wanted to make sure everyone was involved - which was admittedly difficult. The group spoke about Bristol’s arts sector not being fully representative of the diverse population of the city, and how there would need to be careful thought put into that during the bidding process. 

When asked what the biggest takeaways were from the process, Jack spoke about understanding that from a marketing perspective this is essentially a political campaign. May shared that, on a personal level, she felt it was important to start with a pace that makes sense with the communities you’re working with and not push too hard from the beginning – it’s a fast paced process and can easily become overwhelming.

Interested in finding out more?

• Read the blogs so far: Part 1 What is a Citizen's Assembly? and Part 2 Art, for, with, by the people
• Keep up-to-date about the project by joining our mailing list
• Read Freddie Wulf's article: Identity Capital
• Watch Trinity's take over of the Radix Big Tent
• Join in the conversation using #67MillionVoices

Students from local secondary taking part in an Industry Insights session

We have joined forces with leading youth providers Creative Youth Network (CYN), Aspiration Creation Elevation (ACE) and Basement Studios to offer the opportunity for over 2.5k young people to access free music-making provision. The project is supported by Youth Music using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

During the next 18 months, young people from Bristol and South Gloucestershire will have the chance to explore their musical talent and pursue careers in the music industry. Each organisation in the partnership are working closely with communities within Bristol and South Gloucestershire to ensure that there will be a variety of programmes to suit the interests of those taking part.

Across the project, Youth workers and mentors from across the partnership will work together with young people, helping individuals to plan out their personal journey to making music, building creative confidence and nurturing their ambition. Activity will focus on three key areas: building confidence, upskilling, and industry experience and insight and will include developing a 'youth voice' where young people will have the opportunity to be co-designers of the programmes.

As part of the project Trinity is hosting open access music sessions alongside Music Masterclasses where young people are able to meet and learn from professionals as well as network with other emerging musicians

Click here to find out more about the project or sign up to our mailing list to keep up-to-date about activities for young people (up to 25yrs).

Dr Katie McClymont's talk '...and The Spirit Lingered On' explored the idea of community spirituality photo@ Khali Ackford

As momentum builds to save Jacob Wells Baths and return the listed building to community use we are looking back at our archive and sharing our blogs exploring the importance of community spaces. In this blog, first published in 2018 as part of our Heart & Soul heritage project, we reflect on Dr Katie McClymont's  (UWE’s Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning) public talk about municipal spirituality and its social context.

"Before Katie’s talk I did not understand much about the subject but it was an enormously interesting presentation with many specific examples from around Bristol." Audience member

The talk began with an explanation of the meaning of municipal spirituality and the way it occurs in places with civic and spiritual functions. The term is quite broad and can be applied to music venues, libraries, ex-churches, parks, public spaces and community centres. The factor of whether the space is inside or outside is irrelevant, it is the sense of potential for togetherness or inclusivity that is the key. This feeling does not have to respond to an existing religion, it can be responding to something beyond the everyday realm. For example, cemeteries are not necessarily places of religion but to many people have an enormous sense of the spiritual.

As part of her talk, Katie showed examples of church buildings around Bristol that have been re-purposed. They are all buildings that she happened to be passing on her route around the city on a given day, showing how many church buildings are scattered across the city, and the great proportion of them which are being used for something different than the original purpose.

Katie talked about how, through the 1970s and 1980s, there was an exponential rate of church closures. Some of these still have a social function, such as a former church in Easton that is now a centre for supported independence. Currently the Church of England (C of E) closes around 20-25 churches per each year.

A report from the charity Locality documents this selling buildings and what comminities are doing in response to this.

"I found it very interesting to hear that C of E churches are available for sale, listed on the C of E website for the public to peruse. Some of them have descriptions about their future use, for example ‘for continued worship’, ‘community work’ or ‘suitable for a wide range of uses’." Tess Sieling, project intern

Katie cited the strange feeling around seeing churches for sale in such a matter of fact, straightforward way when in fact they are very special buildings. This raised the question: can you put a price on a church? Also, what judgements are being made about the buildings before they are sold? The example of the Bill’s restaurant chain taking over old church buildings was used, as Katie said that in some cases the insides are ripped out but the strong ethos from the church remains. Even in its new function, sometimes a feeling of the old spirit lingers on. Katie is a very passionate advocate about the amazing idea that churches will always be a place to create connections between people and others; people and the past; and people and something bigger than themselves.

Katie made a film about community art spaces around Bristol including Trinity, Jacobs Wells Baths, Barton Hill Settlement and St Mary Redcliffe Church. As well as being a great medium to communicate the joys of community spaces, Katie said that when they were interviewing people from these spaces, after being asked a question, the interviewee would often give a very telling pause before answering which she believes shows the sense of the community space working beyond its physical and material achievements. Sometimes when churches are changed into private use buildings like a holiday home it can feel wrong and perhaps this is due to that change away from its original ethos. Is it because there is a feeling of loss of the shared community space that once was there?

What is the value of a church when it no longer is a church? Photo credit @Khali Ackford

Sometimes when churches are changed into private use buildings like a holiday home it can feel wrong and perhaps this is due to that change away from its original ethos. Is it because there is a feeling of loss of the shared community space that once was there?

Churches have value. They have a common purpose and a built heritage. The debate is what is their value is and when is it lost? If the value is the sense of people coming together and socialising with people they would not normally, then spaces like Trinity offer us examples of activites that do this with great popularity and with no religious aspect.

Churches closing have caused massive losses to local communities. In addition, a lot of us now live in self selective communities, so where do you meet people different from you apart from in a doctor’s waiting room or on a bus?

Katie's talk highlighted the importance of having inclusive places where different people can engage in a meaningful way. Do we define using a church as a multi use community space as adapting the church or losing the church? As an increasing number of us are of no religion, perhaps we are adapting churches to keep them relevant and concerts, gigs and other actitivites offer us that place to congregate in our secular state.

This write up was by Tess Sieling, who was the project intern on the Heart & Soul heritage project. The talk was part of a series exploring the challenges and achievements of transforming and preserving historic buildings and was programmed in collaboration with Bristol's Architecture Centre and the University of West England (UWE).

How to get involved

Click here to sign the Hotwells and Cliftonwood petition to Save Jacobs Wells Baths

Further reading

Read more from Katie McClymont in her published journal, Spaces for Secular Faith

Read more from our Heart & Soul talk series - Father Paul, Fidel Meraz and A Million Bricks of Love.

Read more about the Save Jacobs Wells Campaign here.

Image credit: Dr Edson Burton

From exploring the history of Trinity's building, documenting Bristol's rich history of activism to boldly retelling of Homer's The Odyssey Trinity Associate Director, Dr Edson Burton has been the driving force behind Trinity's heritage and cultural offers. As part of this yrs Honours list Edson was awarded an MBE for his services to the arts and to the community in Bristol and we caught up with him as he shared his reflections upon receiving this award.

"I received an email telling me I’d be nominated for an MBE, and initially I thought it was a hoax – one of those scam emails that you get, some kind of con for unsuspecting but egotistical people. As I realised it was true, initially I didn’t feel any great qualms about saying yes, and I also didn’t have much time because the email had been written a few weeks before and came into my inbox late. So, I said yes, and I think for me the reason why it felt like an easy decision, at the time, is partly because, when it comes to it, I don’t see it so much in terms of the Empire and the nomenclature of Empire, but more as a civic award. But at the end of the day, to be honest, it’s nice to feel that you’ve been doing something useful – and I still dispute how useful I have been – but I was honoured that whatever contribution I’d been making had been in some way recognised.

"At the end of the day my politics isn’t going to shift or change in anyway – I'm still going to wear gaudy costumes and run around half-naked at Shambala and be an advocate for all kinds of things. None of that is going to change"

It’s always loaded when someone of Colour accepts an MBE. The concern is that it’s loaded in a way that it isn’t for White people. I suppose it’s probably loaded if you were a member of the socialist left, if Billy Bragg got awarded an MBE for example, so maybe it’s more about politics than race. We’re at a point in history where notions of decolonisation are to the fore, alongside what British identity means and the injustices of the Empire.

We live in a progressive city, but there are tribes within it, and while we might share broader aims and agendas, sometimes within our tribes, there’s really different ways of thinking about monarchy and status.

But I'm curious about it – I didn’t need it, I haven’t asked for it, but I also recognise that we all stand at a point in history and I’m part of that story, that moment in history in which this civic award means a particular thing, and that still has some weight and impact. That weight and impact is also an echo of my family journey from the Caribbean to growing up in Bedford to where I am today. I think it [the MBE] being part of that particular story is quite powerful.

I think [accepting] the offer of it is greater than a gesture of a no because it may open some doors and add some weight to conversations, but also in the wider story it lands with a particular gravitas that not having it wouldn’t...The problem is, there are two challenges associated with the award: the monarchy and where one sits with that, and the Empire word. As a writer, if we think about the deconstruction of language and its usage and meaning, it completely changes. It’s [Empire] an anachronistic term for something that means something completely different now. It feels a bit facetious, in this day and age, with our awareness of meaning and how meaning shifts, to be still insisting that that’s what it means. It’s a civic award with an anachronistic title. I guess it’s one of those things that any kind of shift gets massively politicised, and the ruptures that come from that shift can, ironically, create an even more hostile environment for progressive thinkers.

So, when all is said and done, I go back to the original thing of curiosity, what might it confer, and I’m also chuffed that some people I know said thank you for doing whatever it is you do. For me, the arbitrariness of this, and why I’m also uneasy about it, is that among my networks there are so many brilliant people doing amazing work, selflessly and being under-recognised – I do a lot of forward-facing, public work which gets noticed, and I’m also aware that friends are doing stuff that I admire but their sense of service is quiet. So, there’s also a sense of humility, not out of some kind of imposter syndrome, but it’s just an understanding that there’s a whole raft of people that go unrecognised".

I can’t say I’ve started an organisation or done this, but sometimes occupying a space is really important, especially if that space isn’t normally available, especially if arguments can be seen as very binary. There’s so much emotional pain when we talk about race, class, sexuality – so much pain of people not being seen, othered, ostracised. Trying to hold those things in respect and balance and have those conversations is so important.