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.

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

Garden Party 2022 - Image Credit: Sophia Stefelle

Trinity is one of ten organisations that have been awarded a Community Tech Maker and Maintainer grant as part of Power To Change’s Flagship programme to support the development of community tech across England.

“The tech grant allows us to rethink how communities could take back ownership of their data whilst also investing in the Open-Source community”

Sarah Bentley, Trinity Community Arts

We have been awarded the grant to develop our Open-Source customer relationship management software, CiviCRM to effectively gather impact and monitoring data. We will also be collaborating with stakeholders to explore how as users we can take back ownership of data and use it for the benefit of local communities.

The Tech Maker and Maintainer Grant further cements Power to Change’s support in our commitment to investing in Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) for community organisations.

Through a previous grant we were able to embed an effective strategy for our CRM that focused on data segmentation and internal training which has allowed up to maximise income generation via ticket sales and/or direct mailings.

CiviCRM however, is not universally accessible or fit for purpose for all our programmes of activity - which may happen off-site or without user registration. There may be other barriers, for example, language or age and this often leaves us with gaps in data. This investment will help us co-create solutions to bridging this gap – and we will share any development with the wider and active FOSS Community.

We are looking forward to collaborating with other organisations in receipt of the grant, alongside partners across tech, education, culture and community. If you would like to find out more about the project email sarah@trinitybristol.org.uk or read more about the grant on Power to Change’s website.

Booty Bass - Credit: Khali Ackford

Ahead of their collaboration as Obsidian this New Year's Eve at Trinity, we spoke to Ngaio of Booty Bass, and Betty from Shade Cartel about inclusivity, creating safe spaces for everyone on the dancefloor, and what makes Bristol audiences the best. Booty Bass are a collective of female/nb DJs formed in 2018, while Shade Cartel are an inclusive dance and performance collective of colour, consisting of drag artists, aerial/pole artists and professional dancers.

How did Booty Bass come about, and what was the idea behind it?

Ngaio: When I first began DJing I was shocked by how few women, women of colour or queer people were on the line ups I was being booked on and how intimidating the spaces were when they were filled with predominantly white, cis, men. Even if a lot of them were my friends and they were good people, I felt an overwhelming sense of having to prove myself because I was the only one who looked like me behind the decks. When I was given a residency at the Plough in Easton every other Thursday, I was able to see the type of crowd and sense of community that could be cultivated when they saw a woman behind the decks having a great time, dancing for myself and no-one else. As that gained popularity, I was given a weekend slot once a month and opened up the warm up to other women; queer women, women of colour and non-binary people. At the end of 2018 I was given New Year's Eve where some of the warm up DJs from the year joined me and from then on, that was the beginnings of Booty Bass. That was also the last time we threw our own New Year's Eve party!

How did Booty Bass come into collaboration with Shade Cartel?

N: Funnily enough me and Betty grew up a town away from each other in rural Wales but never properly spoke until 2021 when Booty Bass and Shade Cartel were booked at an event at Lakota Gardens. We knew of each other but hadn't had space to properly chat until then I think and then it all came out! That we grew up in a similar way, had worked in the festival and events industry for years, and were trying to diversify the landscape with our crews - me with Booty Bass on the music side and Betty with Shade Cartel on the dancer's side. Every time our crews got booked to play the same stages, we would have the best time, so when 2022 came about we thought let's not wait for others to put us together, let's take control as we have already and carve out space for ourselves.

Betty: Booty Bass does in the music scene what Shade does in the dance scene; so it made sense to bring them together. Both collectives are run by two creative black women (myself and Ngaio) committed to inclusion, self-empowerment and creating safe spaces. Bringing our babies together has been pure vibes and it feels great to perform onstage with DJs where you feel completely comfortable and free; it’s a beautiful queer family affair.

2022 has clearly been a big year for you both, what have been some stand out moments from this year?

N: Launching Obsidian has got to be the stand-out for me, I think. It was hard work for sure and took a lot of planning and grafting but being able to do it as 2 crews pulling together being led by 2 women of colour was seriously special. The last day our venue was open at Boomtown, me and Betty watching Grove perform Black in our venue for our community that we put together was amazing. We stood in the crowd hugging; it gives me goosebumps thinking about it now!

B: Shade have performed on lots of great sets and festivals this year but the highlight has got to be creating and growing obsidian; bringing our collectives together. We’ve had so much fun with it.

Creating a safe space on the dancefloor is clearly important to Booty Bass, do you think venues are doing enough to make people safe, and if not what more could they be doing?

N: It's very important to us, because namely on that New Year's Eve night 4 years ago, one of our friends was sexually assaulted by a man who lied to get himself on stage and even now refuses to acknowledge that what he did was wrong despite being banned from our events. It wasn't someone who came regularly and clearly thought he could get away with it. After that I began a series of Halt Harassment dinners where venues, promoters, security teams and audience members for together to talk about how to tackle this as a unit. Through that project I created a policy that we in Booty Bass adhere to and talk through with each venue we work with but these conversations need to continue. I think there is a responsibility that artists, venues and promoters have to try their best to police the spaces they invite people into and take action if they see something wrong. Booty Bass rarely runs events in venues where the dancefloor can't be seen by the DJs because I think we all have to work together to push the message that harassment is not something we will sit back and let happen.

There’s been a focus over the last couple of years about the importance of promoting diverse line-ups – have you seen this change happen or is there still work to be done?

B: I think there was a drive for diversity a couple of years ago but it feels like the movement's since fallen flat. I can’t say I've seen a massive change. Most lineups are still predominantly male. I feel like promoters and platforms still have lots of work to do here.

N: I think there's still a lot of work to be done. A lot of the music and entertainment industries made a big show and dance of putting up black squares and bringing in a tokenistic artist here and there during 2021 but since then the push for a lasting change I think has diminished. Since 2020 the number of BAME people in the music industry has actually dropped despite the claim that this was one of its focal points post-BLM. For me the question isn't just 'who's on your line up' but also, who is running the space? Who is backstage? Who's on the door? Yes, representation is key but alongside that needs to be industry-wide training around how to be actively anti-racist and uncover your unconscious biases to understand what the experiences are for those people that you put on the line ups. There should be a push in representation across the board - not just for the performers on the stage. Which is why Booty Bass and Shade Cartel make such a great match, because we understand what those experiences are - of being marginalised on the stage, in the offices, behind the scenes, and recognising all the things we would do differently to make that space once that in inclusive and diverse. It's also why I work as a trainer and consultant in this field, because I feel passionately that if everyone participated in learning and growing, the scene would be much stronger for it.

What do you think makes the club scene in Bristol unique?

B: People within the Bristol music scene are super creative and vibrant and there's always loads of cool collaborations going on. The close proximity of the music venues means there’s a concentrated party feel which is fun.

N: The fact that people ultimately want to go and dance the night away! Bristol audiences are the best - there's no pretence. No trying to look sexy the whole time or standing at the side of the dancefloor not getting involved - we go in! We dance hard, we sweat, we laugh, we meet new people, we smile at strangers, we love polyrhythms and big Bassy bangers. We are a fusion of cultures, music styles, Soundsystem children. We like to hear things we haven't heard before - we thrive on the unknown. And we're also political, we want to be part of the change and hold each other and ourselves accountable. It's a very special scene to be a part of.

And finally, any big plans for 2023?

N: SO MANY!!!! Can't talk about them yet but keep an eye on the socials! I myself am working on some new music that I'll be releasing in the new year and we've been hatching plans to build on some of the incredible work we've done this year. 2023, we ready!

B: Other than world domination we’ve got some very exciting festivals and events planned for 2023. We can’t spill quite yet, but keep your eyes on those line ups; we there!

Booty Bass and Shade Cartel will be joining forces for Obsidian this New Year's Eve at Trinity - tickets are now on final release, click here to get yours while you still can. Find out more about Ngaio's work, or check out Obsidian, Booty Bass and Shade Cartel on Instagram to stay up to date with what's next for the collective.

About Trinity Presents:

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

Over the summer we joined forces with Travelling Light to shine a light on how, with the support of the Coutts Foundation, we are both working to create opportunities for some of the youngest members of our communities to take part in creativity and begin their creative journey.

“Its good to have this so close. Have been walking past for ages and I didn’t know they could come in. Would really like to come again because we don’t have anywhere to play outside as we live in a flat” Feedback from the family garden sessions

Travelling Light Theatre Company are based in Barton Hill - just up the road from where Trinity is based. They create theatre for children and families, run a youth theatre and programme free events and activities.

Their work, like ours, is embedded in local communities and they, like us, are committed to creating opportunities for children and families/carers to take part in culture, to play and celebrate together.

At Trinity this includes weekly Forest School sessions for children aged 12 and under and Family Sessions throughout the school holidays. The sessions aim to support children to develop or build upon their skills. In 2021/22, out of the 357 children who took part in Forest School activity, 97% showed increased confidence.

We also work in partnership with organisations to co-create a programme that responds to need. For example, the Creative Play Sessions - delivered with East Bristol Children's Centres - supports families with young children to connect through art. Read more about this project here.

If you are a resident of Barton Hill, Lawrence Hill, Newton or the Dings and would like to find out more about taking part in family arts activities you can sign up to Trinity's mailing list here and Travelling Light's mailing list here.

Community Paint Day, credit Khali Ackford

During the summer, Trinity and other members of Bristol's DIY Arts Network teamed up with Radix Big Tent Ideas Festival to shine a light on the city's cultural offer.

Cultural leaders from across the city came together to share their experiences of how culture can drive change in the city. Leaders such as Carolyn Hassan, Director of Knowle West Media Centre, who talked about the importance of investment in arts and culture (see above). Watch the full series of provocations about how culture can drive change here.

As a community arts organisation Trinity are committed to creating pathways for people to take part in civic life, to have the right for freedom of expression and to celebrate both the heritage we share and the differences we may have.

From our Art of Resistance project exploring the human stories behind activist movements in Bristol to supporting residents to programme activities in their neighbourhoods and celebrate local successes, Trinity supports access to culture to give people a voice and the freedom to make positives changes about the things that matter to them.

In partnership with Eastside Community trust and Somali Kitchen, we are collaborating with local residents to create opportunities to learn more about taking part in civic life. From Night Clubs for the over 55’s, to supporting local artists to develop their ideas, to celebrating the places people live.

Through funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) we are collaborating with St Pauls Carnival and David Jubb of Citizens In Power to explore if a Citizens Assembly model could be used to co-create a cultural strategy for the city and surrounding area. This model of participatory democracy brings people together from all walks of life together to collectively tackle issues and has been used successfully during Coventry's City of Culture.

Over the next year we are going to be pulling all these strands of work together to further explore how co-creating with communities and creating the space for democratic decision-making can enable people to use culture and creativity as a vehicle to empower, amplify and respond to the issues they hold true.

Interested in finding out more?

• Follow #67MillionVoices on socials and join in the conversation about what culture means to you.
• Sign up to our mailing list to find out how you can take part and get up-to-date
• Read $ Identity Capital $

Thanks to the flexibility of funders we have been able to deliver planned works in spite of the challenges of COVID19.

As part of Trinity's Phased Capital Works programme to improve Trinity's spaces, grounds and enable us to increase our cultural offer, we undertook a series of renovation works between 2019-22, supported with funds from Power to Change, Nisbet Trust, Tarmac Landfill Trust, Bristol City Council, private donors and other match funders. ​

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with new people within the art world where I would never before.” Member, Programming Forum

Work included much needed accessibility adaptations to our Community Garden, improvements to Trinity's Graffiti Room and the design and build of a new outdoor event space -  The Den - set in our historic grounds.  ​

As well as carrying out significant capital works, with increased capacity and resources thanks to Power to Change, we were able to strengthen our live events team through a new internship that has enabled us to grow our in-house Trinity Presents Programme - a platform for promoting underrepresented and emerging talent. Through this support we were able to develop a new Community Activities Coordinator role to help rebuild our community activities offer post-pandemic, building meaningful connections with local groups in response to need. ​

We have continued to put people and communities at the heart of decision making, reviewing and updating our democratic tools to ensure our communities influence what we do. Work included a targeted Board recruitment campaign in 2021 and further development of of participatory decision making forums.

Click here to read our Capital Works 2019-22 report.

Afrika Eye at Trinity

South West of England’s biggest celebration of African cinema and culture - Afrika Eye - has been going for sixteen years and this year presents an 11-day programme between 7 - 17 November.

The festival will feature new and classic films, street art, spoken word, dance, music, food and photography at city-wide venues including Trinity. As part of the festival, we will be hosting More Than A Number - an exceptional and thought-provoking exhibition from photographers across Africa caught between modernity and tradition, curated by Cynthia Sitei.

As part of the exhibition, there will also be a symposium on the 15th, followed by an evening of music and a film screening of Casablanca Beats directed by Nabil Ayouch (Certificate - 12).

We are proud to have hosted events as part of the festival and have been working with Afrika Eye to screen films and deliver workshops since 2015.

Past festival highlights from Afrika Eye @Trinity (pictured below) include:

Kure Kure in 2019 - workshop with Anna Mudeka, taking participants on a journey through the ancestral mbira music of Zimbabwe and bringing the Shona-Bira experience to life.

Amazina in 2017 - film screening, Q&A and participatory dance workshop What Happens When with Rachael Nanyonjo.

Visit Afrika Eye's website for full festival details.