Community painting day with Rose Popay. Photo credit Khali Ackford

Trinity is a charity whose work connects communities and contributes to urban regeneration, through a progressive programme of live music and creative activities.

Following the success of Trinity’s recovery post-Covid we are in an exciting period of change and growth in the organisation and are looking for new team members.

Youth Service Manager

Join our Arts Programme team in the newly created, full-time, Youth Services Manager – in response to consultation, we are expanding our programme of activities for children and young people and require an experienced Youth Services Manager to help us build on our longstanding offer in music and nature play, developing  new areas in dance & performing arts, alongside an enhanced outreach offer for schools and neighbourhoods.

The successful candidate will be experienced in designing and delivery of creative programmes for children and young people and will be passionate about using arts and creativity to help build skills, confidence and progression for those taking part.

Duty Manager

We're also looking for a part-time Duty Manager (15hr pw basic) to join our team in time to help us with the delivery of our late-night programme alongside our varied community events.

The ideal candidate will have a passion for working in a community and live-events setting and  will be flexible and adaptable, ideally with previous experience as a key-holder or event/house manager.

To find out more about the roles head over to Get Involved to download the recruitment packs or if you have any questions about the roles, please get in touch on info@trinitybristol.org.uk

Trinity is committed to creating opportunities for people to gain access to the arts industry and gain experience in the creative sector, particularly amongst groups with lower representation in the arts industry.

“At Trinity the opportunities for cross-departmental collaboration are massive. I’ve learned so much being here that I wouldn’t have at other venues” Aysha, Event Production Coordinator

Many of our permanent team members initially joined Trinity on an internship. Aysha, Trinity’s Production Coordinator, started her journey at Trinity in 2019 on a three-month internship. A role was created to suit both Aysha’s skill-set and the needs of Trinity. Trinity feels that this individually focused approach to hiring staff leads to more meaningful, fulfilling employment, and means that employees are in roles that best suit their skills, experience and long-term ambitions.

Like many members of Team Trinity, Aysha was offered a permanent contract after the end of her internship, moving into the role of Production Coordinator, and having additional responsibilities such as line management.  Further to this Aysha is part of a city-wide campaign to create safer environments for everyone to enjoy nightlife in the city.

Trinity believes strongly that investment in staff is one of the most effective ways to democratise employment in the arts industry.

We are working in partnership with South Bristol Youth (SBY) to provide opportunities for KS4 students to experience insights into working in the creative sectors as part of their 'insight into apprenticeship' initiative.

We also became an accredited Living Wage organisation and have created opportunities for young people to develop skills in the creative sector. Through the Kickstarter scheme we offered entry-level roles to nine individuals including CPD, training and mentorship for young people to gain paid experience in the cultural sector including in event production, marketing and communications and operations.

Over ¼ of employees who start at Trinity on internships go on to stay as permanent members of staff. By offering both secure and meaningful employment alongside opportunities to progress and develop a career in the sector, Trinity can help ensure that careers in the creative industry are a viable option for everyone.

Peachin' Day Festival. Photo credit Khali Ackford

In our commitment to platform emerging talent and provide access to quality facilities for the community, we’re excited to announce a summer season of live music and spoken word events in our outdoor space, ‘The Den’.

Between July-September 2022, we will be showcasing some of the best breakthrough artist from Bristol and the South West alongside a wider programme of family friendly arts activities and events.

“Trinity have always been there providing a space for us and many other artists to do what we do best and always put creativity and community first” Ishmael Ensemble

We’ve joined forces with collectives who are making waves in the region including Bristol poetry collective Raise The Bar, who are bringing Youtuber Leena Norms to perform, 31 July and multi-disciplinary Arts organisation Beyond Face, who will take over The Den to showcase spoken word artists from the global majority.

Head over to our What's On section to find out more about events and activities at The Den.

About The Den

Our vision for The Den is to increase our presentation of creative and performing arts, and alongside this provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure for community groups and local residents.

Funded by Power to Change, Bristol City Council, Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund and match funders, our revamped outdoor space feels like a secret, magical corner of a festival. The space - including bar, kitchen, outdoor seating and stretch-tent – is set within our beautiful garden and heritage grounds.

The works form part of Trinity’s phased capital works programme, that paused in 2020 when the impacts of COVID19 and Brexit caused delays to planned construction of a larger scheme of work, including a two-story kitchen/bar with offices and outdoor area.

Venue Director, Jamell Ackford said; “Like many music venues, we began to get creative with our outdoor space in response to pandemic restrictions, launching the ‘Garden Sessions’ in 2020.

Following support in 2021 from the Architectural Heritage Fund to to revisit and revise our Feasibility Study, a detailed community consultation helped us to find out what the community wanted from us in a post-pandemic environment. From this, we updated our original plans and the idea for ‘The Den’ was born.

With this new bespoke setup, The Den will provide wider opportunities including supporting local food and community activities, as well as giving audiences a unique experience.”

As part of Trinity’s post-pandemic responses, a Community Activities Coordinator has been appointed to support ‘Community Kickstart’ activity – working with local residents, grassroots groups and charities to establish new activities from the space.

If you are a local resident or group and would like to run an activity for the local community, get in touch with stefan@trinitybristol.org.uk to find out more.

Ashton Court Future Ville Launch. Photo credit Caroline Thake

Bristol City Council has announced The Community Resilience Fund to be made available to community groups delivering provision in some of Bristol’s most deprived areas. The announcement of the grant follows the publication of Trinity’s 100 Beacons Report that we submitted to the City Council.

The report, created in partnership with other venues and the Council, shines a light on Bristol's community and cultural assets, including the critical role they played in providing local services as part of the COVID19 response.

"Huge thanks to Trinity for advocating for other community buildings in some of Bristol’s most neglected areas and to Bristol City Council for engaging and responding to this need” Katherine Chiswell Jones, Art Space Life Space

We created the report with the intention of building a collective case for capital investment in the city’s youth, community and cultural assets and we are pleased that Bristol City Council has now announced the commitment to funding these much-needed spaces.

The one-off pot of £4 million is also available for city-wide self-organised equality groups and is intended to help groups invest in costs, such as works to improve access, upgrading ICT infrastructure or works to a community building.

Our 100 Beacons report was part of our continued commitment to advocating for shared community and cultural spaces. We are members of Locality, support a ’Community Power Act’ and, have invested in Stokes Croft Land Trust.

Find out more about the funding and how to apply here

Lineup:

• FFF
• Samurai Breaks b2b S.Murk
• UKJ Takeover featuring:
• Supa Ape
• Omen Breaks
• Charla Green
• Disjointed x Quantum Audio Takeovers featuring:
• Ade (Quantum Audio)
• Cidlid (Quantum Audio)
• Squalorman (Disjointed Records)

This event will be showcasing Quantum’s new set up, which includes 6x Martin audio ws218x and 4x element 5 point source speakers with Martin audio wsx as in fills (earplugs recommended)

South West Wrestling pride themselves on infusing ideas from traditional eras of wrestling with fresh, new ideas of today.

In association with Lost Designs & Wrestleography

Please note, this event will be filmed for on demand and strobe lighting will be used throughout.

Raise the Bar proudly presents a joint book launch from two of Bristol's best loved poets, Kat Lyons (Love Beneath the Nails) and Tom Sastry (You have no normal country to return to). Featuring support from Suzannah Evans and Saili Katebe.

Kat Lyons:

Kat is a Queer Bristol-based writer, performer, workshop facilitator and creative producer whose work is grounded in everyday politics and a love of storytelling. Kat was recently named as the new Bristol City Poet for 2022-2024. They perform throughout the UK, were nominated for the 2022 Jerwood Poetry in Performance Award and their collaborative animated poetry film Duvet Days was selected as part of the official program at ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival 2021.

Kat is currently touring their debut solo show Dry Season, a spoken word theatre show exploring gender, age and menopause. Their debut poetry collection is available now from Verve Poetry Press.

Kat is passionate about using the power of stories to re/connect people to themselves, each other and their environment.

Tom Sastry:

Hera Lindsay Bird calls Tom Sastry “a magician of deadpan”. You have no normal country to return to follows A Man's House Catches Fire (2019) which was highly rcommended in the Forward Prize and shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney First Collection Prize. His pamphlet Complicity (2016) was a Poetry School Book of the Year and a Poetry Book Society pamphlet choice.

"Tom Sastry navigates the mysterious everyday...making friendships and love affairs
new and strange" - Carol Ann Duffy

Suzannah Evans:

Suzannah Evans is a poet, creative writing tutor and editor based in Sheffield. Her poetry has been widely published in magazines including Magma, The Rialto, The North, Poetry Review, Butcher's Dog, Poetry Wales and The Guardian's Poem of The Week.

Please note, this is a seated event.

About Raise The Bar

The South West's leading live poetry night, running regular events in Bristol and beyond since 2014.
‘From top to bottom, one of my all time favourite shows’ – Shane Koyczan
'One of the best poetry nights in the country' – Rafeef Ziadah
'Out-loud reactions are encouraged…shaking off traditional theatre etiquette' – Bristol 24/7

About The Den

The Den is Trinity’s new, seasonal outdoor venue. Situated within the historic grounds of Trinity, The Den is designed to feel like a magical corner of a festival, with its own bar, food offer and a backdrop of the vibrant community garden.

Mykki Blanco blurs genres, pulling rave, trap, grunge and punk influences into a swirling pool of experimental hip hop that celebrates queer and trans experiences. Leading the charge as a pioneering trailblazer in the so-called ‘queer rap’ sub-genre, their music pushes hip hop to some of its most untethered bounds, melding noise and experimental elements with club and trap sounds, whilst forging a uniquely subversive path within a genre historically entangled in a problematic web of misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia.

Joining forces with Kelsey Lu to drop their newest single, French Lessons, and album, Stay Close to Music, due to release this year, Mykki is fearless in their ability to evolve, placing their creative exploration at the forefront of their career.

Please note, this is a standing show

Special Guests:

• Grove
• Rider Shafique
• Tiny Chapter
• Stanlaey

+ support from Jelly Cleaver

“A band seemingly capable of doing anything, yet remaining fleet footedly themselves throughout.”  - The Wire

“Incredible independent music from Bristol. These guys just get better with every release” - Gilles Peterson

Please note, this is a standing show

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.

Students from City Academy at Trinity

We are working in partnership with South Bristol Youth (SBY) to provide opportunities for KS4 students to experience insights into working in the creative sectors as part of their 'insight into apprenticeship' initiative.

Connecting with local comprehensive and community schools we have programmed experiences for students, who may be historically excluded from the arts, that aim to provide insights into the various careers available in the cultural sector.

"Dave and his creative team hosted a high energy, interactive and informative day ... providing a fascinating insight in the creative arts industry in all its many wild and wonderful forms." Mark Nixon, Project Coordinator, South Bristol Youth Consortium for Young People

Recently we hosted students from City Academy, a local school that is situated in Lawrence Hill, one of the most deprived wards in the city whose cohort of over 1000 students have higher-than-average EAL/SEND.

During the visit students were taken on a guided tour of Trinity, detailing aspects of the grade II* listed buildings historic and cultural significance, highlighting the impact Trinity has had on the local community and wider music and arts scene within the city over the years.

They also took part in a series of music workshops, including, DJ, drumming and live performance. Trinity’s Youth Music Activities Manager Dave then led a masterclass session on music events promotion and podcasting.

This exciting partnership will help young people to reach their potential in work and in life, by building the skills, knowledge and confidence to better understand the pathways to apprenticeships, higher education and suitable employment. We will be hosting more schools over the coming months as well as our free-to-access Masterclasses this summer for young people who are interested in working in the music industry.

Forest School in Trinity's Community Garden

As part of our commitment to creating opportunities for children and families to connect with nature and learn through play we deliver regular free-to-access Forest School sessions in our Community Garden, funded by Children in Need.

“Thank you so much, we have loved coming here. We enjoy having a space to run around in as we do not have a garden at home. It is important for the children to have a space to run around in and spend time outside. They love digging and watering”. Parent of child attending Forest School

The sessions are aimed at children who attend local primary schools as well as families who are signposted through our partnerships with community organisations and outdoor play providers. The sessions provide a much-needed outdoor space for children, many of whom do not have access to outdoor spaces or gardens at home. So far 357 children, families and carers have taken part in the provision since Sep 2021.

Our work with children focuses on improving confidence and well-being through nature based-education. Children work in small groups, led by experienced facilitators, take part in activities such as campfire cooking, lighting fires and organic gardening.

Many children who come to the sessions may struggle to engage with mainstream education, due to the impact of Lockdown or an additional educational need. 97% of the children who have attended Forest School have shown increased confidence in outdoor spaces and many have shown significant progress in their confidence and team working skills. For example one child presented initially as disruptive and disengaged however, following regular attendance they became an active and engaged participant working successfully with peers.

Due to the success of the project we are able to extend Forest School sessions and will continue working with schools and partners to continue to offer this much-needed provision. This includes our free Summer Holiday provision.

The DJ collective keep the dancefloor on their toes, bouncing between 90's/00's hip hop and R&B, dancehall, afrobeat, UK garage, baile funk, global club, and more.

A high-energy day party with DJs, local food, children's activities, and pass the parcel (for all ages) hosted by the Dancehall Generals.

Under 5s go free

DJs

• Queen Bee (Bristol Hi Fi)
• Dancehall Generals
• DJ Dad
• Moylan Family
• LEXXI (Peachin’)
• SafeSoul (Peachin’)
• Ella-Sian (Peachin')

Activities

• Children's face painting
• Children's crafts
• Pass the parcel, hosted by the Dancehall Generals, with prizes all ages

Food stalls

• Stop Ya Beefin (vegan donuts and pies)
• Wrap N Rolla (jerk chicken, loaded fries, wraps)

About The Den

The Den is Trinity’s new, seasonal outdoor venue. Situated within the historic grounds of Trinity, The Den is designed to feel like a magical corner of a festival, with its own bar, food offer and a backdrop of the vibrant community garden.

Take part in carnival style dance at this years Harbour Festival

Trinity have curated a two-day programme of dance as part of this years Harbour Festival (16/17 July).

Following on from the success of 2019’s Bristol Dances stage we have reached out across the city to give audiences a taste of the wide-ranging professional, community and cultural dance Bristol has to offer.

Over two days audiences will experience the breadth of dance in the city from Irish Dancing to Bharathnatyam Dance to Voguing. Highlights include DMAC's Afrikan Dance, Drumming, Indigenous Storytelling & Capoeira Angola, performances from award-winning dance troupes, HYPE and Miss Daisy’s and Decolonising Memory: Digital Bodies In Movement.

D_wild Fitness will get people  moving with their dance fitness classes featuring afrobeats, soca and dancehall music. Enjoy samba-inspired drumming and dance troupe, Bristol Samba and acoustic performances from Aisha Ali, Bemudian folk artist Anna Colette and Portuguese neo-soul singer Luna Kali.

This year we also continue our commitment to collaborating with collectives and organisations who are working to amplify grassroots voices. This showcase will feature KIOTA collective, Bristol’s Got Talent and musicians from Lorraine Ayensu Refugee Arts organisation. The Art of Resistance showcase, inspired by the rich history of creative protest in Bristol, will feature some of Bristol’s best and up-and-coming arts activists working across poetry, performance and movement.

Don’t miss out - catch all this at Bristol Dance Stage, curated by Trinity, at Millennium Square 16/17 July 2022.

Full lineup

• Bristol's Got Talent • D_wild fitness • Miss Daisy Dance Team • Anna Colette • Bristol Ballroom Presents • Kiota Showcas • Gerry's Attic • Hype • L.A Dance • Aisha Ali • Feel Fit Studio • Luna Kali • Bristol Samba • IAM13E • Carnival Fitness by PILOXERCISE • Movema Community Dance - World Fusion • Musicians from Lorraine Ayensu Refugee Arts • Decolonising Memory Digital Bodies In Movement • Sublime Dance Troupe • StreetCred • McClennan Academy of Irish Dance• Rise • Bharathnatyam Dance Piece from traditional Margam • DMAC UK Presents: Afrikan Dance, Drumming, Indigenous Storytelling and Capoeira Angola

Join Beyond Face as they host an evening of words in different forms, with a collection of artists who will perform poetry, monologues, spoken word and speeches.

This chilled out night, will also be a chance for audience members to do a bit of creative writing as part of the evening to express and respond to what you hear.

Please note, this event will take place in our outdoor venue, under our swanky new tent

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.

Don’t miss a rare chance to see Black Roots live at Trinity on 02 July as part of The Mid Summer Reggae Festival – hosted by Dub Legacy and one of Bristol’s top radio stations Ujima. Black Roots will be joined by some of the best soundsystems in the scene including Green King and Indica Dubs.

The history of Black Roots is intertwined with Bristol’s relationship with reggae and the reggae scene as a whole. Formed in St Paul’s in 1979, the group were an integral part of the early sound system culture in the late 1970s/early 1980s that defined Bristol’s music scene at the time. Set against a backdrop of rising racial tensions in the city, seen most clearly through the St Paul’s Riot in 1980, the emerging sound system culture was a way for young Black people in the city to carve their own space within the local music scene.

While discriminatory entry policy barred entry for many young Black people in a number of Bristol’s venues, Trinity opened its doors and soon became renowned for hosting reggae and sound system events.

Sound system culture was part of a wider DIY scene that still exists in Bristol today and the grassroots approach to music allows for local people to define their city’s music scene from the ground up. After garnering international acclaim for their raw, honest approach to roots reggae, Black Roots went quiet until 2004 when they went on to drop 4 new albums ‘On the ground’, ‘Ghetto Feel’, ‘Son of Man’ and ‘Take it’. Their newest release was in 2021 ‘Take it Easy’.

This event is not to be missed - click here below to check out the full line-up and get your tickets.