From Foundations to Transformation
Over the next 18 months, LIFT: From Foundations to Transformation grant will help Trinity strengthen its creative programmes, develop its workforce and explore new approaches to community-led decision-making.
Trinity Community Arts is embarking on its next stage of development with support from Arts Council England, building on its established role in East Bristol while creating the foundations for its future.
Through LIFT: From Foundations to Transformation, Trinity will invest in its creative programmes, workforce development and digital infrastructure, alongside exploring new ways for communities to shape cultural activity and organisational priorities.
The 18-month project will support Trinity's core programmes across Creative Communities, Creative Health and Wellbeing, and Trinity Presents, its in-house programme of live music, performance and events. Together, these programmes create opportunities for people to take part in creative activity, support artists and connect culture with the needs and experiences of local communities.
A key part of LIFT will be developing and piloting a new Membership Panel, creating opportunities for community members to play a more active role in shaping Trinity's cultural offer and organisational priorities.
This builds on Trinity's involvement in Citizens for Culture, a programme exploring how people can have a greater say in the cultural decisions that affect them. Drawing on this learning, Trinity will explore how to move beyond consultation towards more meaningful shared decision-making.
Adam Gallacher, Deputy CEO at Trinity Community Arts, said:
“LIFT is about building on what we’ve learnt and creating the conditions for Trinity to keep developing. We want to strengthen the work we’re already doing with communities and artists, while making space to test new approaches and think differently about how decisions are made.
“Our involvement in Citizens for Culture has helped us explore what citizen-led cultural decision-making could look like. This project gives us the opportunity to build on that learning, work out what it means in practice for Trinity, and develop an approach that gives communities a more meaningful role in shaping our work.
“It’s about recognising the value of what we’ve built so far, while creating the foundations for what comes next.”
LIFT will also support Trinity's longer-term development as a multi-site cultural organisation, building on the experience and relationships established at Trinity Centre as work develops at Jacobs Wells Baths.
Alongside its creative programmes, investment in workforce development and digital infrastructure will strengthen Trinity's capacity to work across both sites, connect with audiences and communities, and build a sustainable future for its work across Bristol and the wider region.
For the first time, communities will have the opportunity to directly influence and choose the programmes that best meet their needs
Jamell Ackford, Director of Culture at Trinity Community Arts, adds:
"It’s exciting to have this opportunity to take our engagement with local communities a step further. Through our Membership Panel, we can listen directly to what matters most across our key priority areas and give communities a genuine voice in shaping the programmes and services we commission.
"We have worked in partnership with communities for many years, but decisions have often been based on what we believed people wanted. This initiative changes that. For the first time, communities will have the opportunity to directly influence and choose the programmes that best meet their needs.
"The Membership Panel is the next step in ensuring the right voices are around the table, helping us strengthen and elevate our programme through meaningful community-led decision-making"
Jake Mensah, Youth & Children Services Manager at Trinity Community Arts continues:
"For more than a decade, our children and young people’s programmes have provided a constant, trusted presence within the communities we serve. This new funding will help us build on that foundation, ensuring established programmes such as Next Gen Sounds, Speak Out, Girls Group and Hype Dance can continue to provide safe, inclusive and empowering creative spaces where young people can shape activity, develop their creativity and confidence, and build a sense of belonging. It will also allow us to strengthen existing programmes and partnerships, building on the trust, relationships and local knowledge developed over many years.
Working alongside partners including Bristol Horn Youth Concern, Bristol Youth Connect, Love Stapleton Road and local schools such as Easton CE Academy, St Nicholas of Tolentine Primary School, Hannah More Primary School, City Academy Bristol and Oasis Academy Temple Quarter, we will continue to create opportunities for children and young people to have their voices heard, develop their potential and play an active role in shaping the future of their communities through the creative arts."
