The 1961 Bristol census shows that the population of the parish of Holy Trinity has fallen dramatically to 3,354 , from 5,182 in 1951 (allowing for changes to the parish boundaries). The Bristol Diocesan Finance Board use this as an example of a reduced need to support the Church.

A series of expensive repair works were identified during the period, including cleaning to stonework anessential repairs to roof timbers. In 1964 repairs to steelwork were carried out, but costs of upkeep quickly became too costly for the church to bear.

In 1968, a rapidly dwindling congregation and lack of money led to the church to explore avenues for redundancy.

Trinity was originally designated a Grade II Listed building in January 1959.

On 30 December 1994 the Church was re-listed by the Department of National Heritage as Grade II* - This means it is a 'particularly important building of more than special interest.'

The listing details on Historic England's website states:

Church. 1829-32. By Thomas Rickman and Hutchinson. Later work c1882 by John Bevan and 1905 by WV Gough. Bath stone ashlar with a slate-roofed nave and leaded aisles. Chancel and aisled nave. Perpendicular Gothic Revival style. Small semi-hexagonal apse with pointed windows, beneath a crenellated, gabled end with angled buttresses and a large Perpendicular E window. The N aisle is 4 bays, with segmental-headed windows between weathered buttresses, and a coped parapet ending with crocketed pinnnacles; at the W end is an arched doorway; 2-light clerestory windows. Similar S elevation. The W front has a pair of crenellated octagonal towers of openwork tracery flanking 3 Tudor-arched doorways, the largest in the middle within a label mould with chamfered reveals and quatrefoils in the spandrels; above is a large 5-light window similar to the E end, and a traceried balustrade with open merlons and a cross finial to the top of the gable. INTERIOR: all fittings have been removed and a floor inserted near the top of the nave arcade. This consists of 4-bay arcade of square piers without capitals and pointed arches, with slender stanchions between for the absent gallery. Flights of stairs lead up either side from the narthex. An early Commissioners' church, now put to community use. (Gomme A, Jenner M and Little B: Bristol, An Architectural History: Bristol: 1979-: 292; Crick C: Victorian Buildings in Bristol: Bristol: 1975-: 9).

The building was included in the list for protected buildings in Bristol by the Ministry for Housing and Local Government.

Trinity was designated a Grade II Listed building.

On 30 December 1994 the Church was re-listed by the Department of National Heritage as Grade II* - This means it is a 'particularly important building of more than special interest.'

The listing details on Historic England's website states:

Church. 1829-32. By Thomas Rickman and Hutchinson. Later work c1882 by John Bevan and 1905 by WV Gough. Bath stone ashlar with a slate-roofed nave and leaded aisles. Chancel and aisled nave. Perpendicular Gothic Revival style. Small semi-hexagonal apse with pointed windows, beneath a crenellated, gabled end with angled buttresses and a large Perpendicular E window. The N aisle is 4 bays, with segmental-headed windows between weathered buttresses, and a coped parapet ending with crocketed pinnnacles; at the W end is an arched doorway; 2-light clerestory windows. Similar S elevation. The W front has a pair of crenellated octagonal towers of openwork tracery flanking 3 Tudor-arched doorways, the largest in the middle within a label mould with chamfered reveals and quatrefoils in the spandrels; above is a large 5-light window similar to the E end, and a traceried balustrade with open merlons and a cross finial to the top of the gable. INTERIOR: all fittings have been removed and a floor inserted near the top of the nave arcade. This consists of 4-bay arcade of square piers without capitals and pointed arches, with slender stanchions between for the absent gallery. Flights of stairs lead up either side from the narthex. An early Commissioners' church, now put to community use. (Gomme A, Jenner M and Little B: Bristol, An Architectural History: Bristol: 1979-: 292; Crick C: Victorian Buildings in Bristol: Bristol: 1975-: 9).

The Holy Trinity was built as part of a national programme of church building approved by Parliamentary commission. Funds for the programme totalling one and a half million pounds came in part from the spoils of Napoleonic War, hence these churches are variously known as Waterloo Churches (after the famous battle), Commissioners Churches and One Million Churches.

The Holy Trinity Church was built between 1829 and 1832, designed by renowned Birmingham architects Thomas Rickman and Henry Hutchinson.

The last rector to serve at Trinity, Terence Kelshaw, explains:
“Trinity was a society church. It was built by Harpur’s for their workers so in order to work at Harpur’s you had to show your seven year certificate which was a certificate directly signed to say you had attended Sunday school or church for seven years...you needed the certificate to get work. It was called a seven year certificate. That’s why there was a balcony in there for the workers children - so the children sat up in the balcony. They [Trinity and surrounding churches] were built as company gifts to their workers...”

The population of St Phillips was deemed big enough to need the new church and Holy Trinity became a parish (a division of the city served by its own church) in its own right. The church was able to seat 2,000 people, though only 1,500 were ‘free’ seats – the others near the front were paid for by keen churchgoers, meaning that they could sit ‘closer to God.’ Although Trinity was a ‘daughter’ Church to St Phillips and St James – known colloquially as "Pip and Jay" – it became the most highly esteemed in the area, owing to a combination of its position, size, level of activity and vividness of its stained glass window.

Gloria and Mervyn Evans were married in 1963.

16th February 1946 proved to be a very busy day at Holy Trinity as the Vicar, Reverend Frederick John Barff carried out five wedding ceremonies, the first of these being the marriage of Joseph William Bond to Phyllis Ruby Clout.

Joseph was a Devonian who, with the impending threat of war, had enlisted early in June 1939, serving as a Flight Sergeant in the Royal Air Force, seeing active service in Egypt and also in Italy where he was also involved helping the mass evacuation of local residents when Mount Vesuvius erupted in March 1944.
Phyllis, the daughter of Joel & Annie Clout of Winsford Street, St Philips, had met Joseph during the war in Plymouth.

Discharged from the Forces in June 1946 the couple initially lived in Bristol before moving to Portishead where they spent their married lives and raised a son and two daughters.

"Controversial American rap group Public Enemy will play a rare British gig in Bristol next month.

The legendary group, fronted by outspoken rappers Chuck D and Flavor Flav, are appearing at the Trinity Community Centre on May 26.

Public Enemy are widely regarded as the most influential group on the genre, pioneering a hardcore rap sound which has been copied by numerous acts over the past 15 years.
Their Bristol gig is the first date of a short European tour and will be a warm-up for Winchester's Homelands festival.

Promoter Malcolm Haynes of Good Groove Promotions said tickets for Public Enemy's appearance in Bristol are expected to sell out quickly.

He said: This is a real scoop for us and it was simply a case of us being in the right place at the right time.

“They are only doing one gig in England apart from the Homelands festival, so we expect it to generate a lot of interest.

Public Enemy were formed in 1982 by Chuck D and their début album, Yo! Bum Rush The Show, was released by Def Jam Records in 1987.

The follow up, It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold us Back, pushed the cult group into the mainstream and coincided with Chuck D's notorious statement that rap was “The black CNN”.

Public Enemy went on to record classic rap albums like Welcome To The Terrordome and Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black, recorded with thrash metal band Anthrax, and work with film director Spike Lee.

They continued to court controversy with lyrics which have been labelled anti-Semitic."

The intended support band, Fashion, also do not show. Two local bands replace Fashion as support - The Stingrays and The Electric Guitars.

Chris from The Stingrays remembers feeling decidedly underwhelmed by their performance:

“They'd been on the front cover of NME that week. They'd been spotted as the next big thing and they assumed there was gonna be a big crowd. And we were there as support and they were trying to get the show going and we didn't want to go on in front of ten people – I tried to delay matters...in fact although it got a bit better there wasn't that many people there that night...personally I wasn't that impressed. My feeling was, not many people in the crowd were either. You didn't think you were looking at a group that was gonna be the biggest group in the world within about a year.”

Chris from the Stingrays, interviewed by Edson Burton, 2009

Do you have a photograph from this gig or a story you would like to share? Get in touch.

A sale price of £25,000 is agreed for Holy Trinity to the Caribbean Community Enterprise Limited.  Payment is expected in installments.  The purchasers are also expected 'to pay a substantial part of the purchase price and to have undertaken the conversion of the existing building before embarking on the levelling out of the churchyard.'

On 21 December 1977 Order in Council was made by Church Commissioners that Holy Trinity could be appropriated for use as a community centre. This order formed the basis of a protective covenant that is still in place to safeguard its use in the present day.

About BCCE

The St Paul's 'uprisings' of 1980 awakened the desire of African-Caribbean community activists to provide ownership for young people of a centre that offered entertainment and personal development relevant to their own perceived needs. Without the hard work and dedication of this organisation, who undertook all of the early restoration and conversion work, the Centre would not be the amazing functioning community space it is today.

BCCE timeline

1977-1984 - Roots, rock and rebellion

Young people performed at this years Trinity Garden party - you can catch more performances across Bristol this summer. Photo @Alexa Ledecky

Where you can find Making Tracks performances this Summer:

Bristol is always buzzing with Festivals over the Summer so it is great that the Making Tracks partners have teamed up with the three leading festivals to provide opportunities for young people to showcase their talents.

St. Paul's Carnival - Sat July 6th

Youth Music 'Making Tracks' partners ACE have are managing the Unity Stage at this years St Paul's Carnival. St Paul's Carnival is one of Bristol's seminal events attracting a huge crowd across the day. Young people aged 12- 21 will have a 30min slots to perform on the stage presenting an array of talents spanning vocal and DJ sets.

Bristol Pride - Sat 13th July

Making Tracks partners Basement Studios will be managing the 'open mic sessions' at this years Bristol Pride Celebrations on the Downs int dedicated 'youth area'. Expect open mic performances from young people across the day.

Bristol Harbourfest - Sat 20th July, 2pm-3pm, Millennium Square

Trinity Centre are proud to be hosting the Trinity Presents: Bristol Dances stage at this years harbour festival. Harbourfestival is attended by over 300,000 so this is a fantastic opportunity for young people to showcase their talents. Performers on the day include: Miss Tee and Kevin McKechnie.

Good luck to everyone performing!

Making Tracks is supported by Youth Music and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as support from match funders.

Blokey was part of what gave Trinity that family feel - not least because he also managed to rope in his family to help out run the place in those early days!

From running the bar and rigging the lights to writing policies and business planning, Blokey's commitment helped to shape the Trinity that we have today.

Blokey was the glue that held us together. A cheeky chap. A man who seemed to promise the world and, amazingly, somehow deliver. When the place steadied, he moved on to new adventures, yet always reappeared in any moment of crisis.

How he knew we needed him I just don't know. He was just always there. Perhaps that's why as long as I'm at Trinity, there'll always be a part of me that expects him to walk in just to see how we're all doing.

I will forever be grateful for his support and calm presence, during a time when it felt like the whole thing could fall apart in a moment's breath.

Thank you Pete for always being there and for creating the feeling you still are. Always in our hearts, Emma xx

Simi was a hugely dedicated and influential figure in Bristol’s voluntary sector, devoting her life to the betterment of services for the city’s South Asian community, developing a wealth of activities that included a multi-faith youth service for young people, the first Asian youth festival, an Asian radio show on BBC Bristol and a day care centre for elderly Asian people.

She is most known for her work with Awaz Utaoh, meaning 'raise your voice'. The charity was established in 1997 and has supported women primarily from across Bristol's South Asian community for decades.

Through her work with Awaz, Simi was able to develop and deliver a regular programme of activities embracing and connecting women of all religions. She was a strong and inspiring figurehead for a core group of women who met every Wednesday at Trinity, until her retirement prior to the pandemic. She crafted a safe space for well-being and empowerment that helped to unite and give voice to women of all ages.

For anyone who was blessed with the good fortune to attend Awaz, you were welcomed by a space full of music, dancing, food and fun. Thanks to Simi’s generosity and spirit, everyone was made to feel like part of one big family, of which she was very much the mother figure.

Over the years, Simi’s dedication and work in the voluntary sector has been recognised through several awards including the Lord Mayor’s Medal.

Towards the end, sustaining this valuable work became an increasingly uphill struggle, with the challenges of cuts to funding compounded by Simi’s own declining health. Still, she persisted, never giving up, to ensure that the women who relied on this service continued to have somewhere to go. As one of the women using this service was quoted; "What the statutory agencies of the city could not do for them over the last 15 years, Awaz Utaoh did it.”

We give thanks to this hugely important woman and hope that her work and vision will serve as inspiration to others that - in spite of all our differences and the challenges we face - if we raise our voice, one woman can have the power to bring change, hope and light to the world around her.

Simi's family have created a memorial page where those who knew her can leave their words, photos and memories.