Come along for comics, prints, zines, books, stickers, merch, ceramics and more. You can also get stuck in and messy with programmes of workshops and talks from local creatives.

Applications to table at Zinezilla will be open from Mon 10th Mar to Sun 20th Apr. Applications to screen films will be be open via Animinspo. You can find out more here.

Come and join for a 3hr afternoon tea party, to some awesome tunes , and maybe visit Bristol and make a day of it.

Snacks, tea and coffee will be provided o help keep you going. Just bring a water bottle with you.

Recommend pre-booking to secure your spot via the Registration form - Zero Gravity westie party.

For any other info please feel free to DM Jim and Audrey via the Jim Edwards West Coast Swing page here.

A day full of Indonesian delights

• Indonesian Food Market
• Traditional Dance Music
• Diapora Socialisation by Eded Litaay (President of IDN Europe)
• Fashion Show
• Gamelan by Bristol Gamelan
• Gamelan Bali by Candra Gita Swara

It is a free session, a friendly and confidential space to support your wellbeing. If you are a woman of colour, we invite you to sign up or drop in to take a step towards yourself care. It provides an opportunity to meet others over a hot drink and express your thoughts, struggles, joys, being in a collective and benefit from this space. You would often find that others may have had similar experiences and talking about it reduces the sense of isolation. There is no compulsion to share either. You may join and be an active listener as well.

The group will run for 2 hours every time with a break in between. For now, the group will be once every month through March, April and May only:

• Wed 13th Mar, 10:30am - 12:30pm

• Wed 10th Apr, 10:30am - 12:30pm

• Wed 8th May, 10:30am - 12:30pm

The group is facilitated by women of colour, and we invite you to join to freely share your concerns being a part of this community, just to share how you have been or even to be a listener and to have a sense of belonging. If you have any questions please email Sayam

We partnering with Tamasha Theatre to explore hidden stories from the Windrush generation.

You are invited to break bread with playwright Mel Pennant and Director Anastasia Osei-Kuffour and to listen to Mel’s audio drama ‘A Stranger in a Strange Place’.

This will act as a starting point to discuss the thoughts, feelings and memories of Windrush which will feed into a new audio play.

This is part of a project to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Windrush, supported by The National Archives, which will culminate in an online listening party in October 2023.

There will be 2 workshops at the St Paul's Learning & Family Centre on the below times;

Thursday 22nd June 2.30 pm to 5 pm  and Friday 23rd June 10 am to 1 pm

You can attend either workshop, you do not need to bring anything along to participate, and there will be refreshments provided for everyone.

More about the Artists

Mel Pennant is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. In 2013, she won the Brockley Jack Write Now 4 award with her play No Rhyme. In 2017, Mel was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award for her play A Black Fella Walks into a Bar. Her play “Seeds" was on a national tour in 2020 before lockdown brought it to a halt.

Anastasia Osei – Kuffour is a Director, Writer, Producer and Poet. Anastasia’s work includes: All Roads (BGAC, Theatre Peckham, New Wimbledon Theatre Studio & Tramshed); On The Ropes (Park Theatre); Faith, Hope & Glory and Precious Little Thing (BBC Radio 4); Typical (Soho Theatre, the film: Soho Theatre On Demand); Seeds (UK tour, Leeds Playhouse, Live Newcastle, Derby Theatre & Warwick Arts Centre); Cuttin' It (Royal Court UK Schools Tour) and Footprints on the Moon (Finborough). See her website for more: www.anastasiaoseikuffour.com

Community Painting Day. Photo credit: Khali Ackford

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

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.

These focus groups have been a chance to share ideas, experiences, knowledge and expertise on co-creation, participatory democracy and how we can do things differently in the culture sector.

In a series of blogs we are documenting and sharing what we are uncovering this journey.

Part 1: What is a Citizens' Assembly?

For the first focus group we welcomed Brett Hennig, co-founder of the Sortition Foundation. The Sortition Foundation is an organisation that believes in representative and participatory politics, with a particular focus on Citizens' Assemblies.

The purpose of these assemblies, Brett outlined, is that they bring people together from all walks of life and give the time and space for people to collectively tackle issues. It is a model, Brett shared, that Bristol itself has delivered as part of its plan for post-Covid recovery.

Citizens' Assemblies work by a three-part process of learning, discussion, and decision-making. In the learning stage, evidence is presented on the topic by ‘expert witnesses’, the group then discuss this evidence and work together to come to a consensus to create recommendations. These recommendations are then put to the vote. The recommendations that are most supported can become the official recommendations of the assembly.

Brett stressed the importance of having representation in a Citizens' Assembly, so the pool must be reflective of demographic data and, in the case of our project, cultural engagement. He shared that, unlike politics, Young People (30 and under) are represented in Citizens' Assemblies because of the nature of the selection process that reflects a city’s demographic data.

Participants of Citizens' Assemblies are selected via an independent third party - these organisations will initially contact citizens directly using a database, such as the Royal Mail’s database of every postal address in the UK. There is then a second selection of the people who respond to the invitation based on the demographic data they provide.

The group were interested in how the experts are selected - as this could be contentious. Using an example of congestion in a city, Brett explained that a Local Authority could commission an external third party to collect the evidence at hand, perhaps from an open call out. An Oversight Group for the assembly will be given the responsibility for ensuring the evidence that is presented to the assembly is balanced. Assembly members can also be part of the process of identifying contributors to the assembly. This would enable a wider pool of opinions, practically from those invested in the topic with expertise and/or lived experience.

The group wanted to understand how large a Citizens' Assembly should be. Brett shared that, in deliberative democracy, it is not a big numbers game. The key is representation. Brett shared that in Ireland, assemblies have seen numbers of up to 100 people, France had 150 in the Climate Assembly, but many local assemblies are around 40 people.

In summarising his talk, the discussion centred around how to ensure that voices are heard and amplified in Citizens' Assemblies, specifically those from Communities who may face barriers to participation. Brett shared that perhaps over-representation could be a consideration so that more communities are attending for specific areas whose voices are historically not amplified. Brett also explained that representation is not only about the citizens in the assembly but also about the voices of those who give evidence.

Interested in finding out more?

We will continue to share our findings from the research stage our project alongside programming further focus groups and action-learning sessions.

• 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

Gerry's Attic - Image Credit: Alastair Brookes

This World Mental Health Day, we are shining a light on some of the activities at Trinity that are specifically programmed to offer support and help improve mental wellbeing.

Next Gen Sounds

Our weekly, drop-in music sessions for young people, Next-Gen Sounds, serves as both a place for young people to collaborate on their musical projects in Trinity’s music studio, but also acts as a safe space for young people to seek support and engage with musicians as a way of improving mental wellbeing. Supported by Bristol-based Mental Health charity ‘Off The Record’, Next-Gen Sounds has played a vital role in supporting young musicians – many of whom are from challenging circumstances – by harnessing the transformative potential of creativity to enhance their mental and emotional resilience.

Community Volunteer Gardening

Trinity's fortnightly Community Volunteer Gardening sessions are relaxed, informal, practical gardening sessions to support the Trinity Community Garden's maintenance and upkeep. Gardening is known to have a profoundly positive impact on mental health and wellbeing. The act of nurturing plants and witnessing their growth fosters a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Gardening encourages mindfulness, reducing stress and anxiety while promoting relaxation. Trinity's Community Volunteer Gardening sessions are very important to people living in the local area, many of whom live in high-rise flats and therefore may not have access to green space of their own, and without Trinity's Community Garden may not gain the positive effects that gardening has on improving mental health and wellbeing.

FAB Disco

FAB Disco is a disco for anyone over the age of 50, delivered in partnership Friends Ageing Better (FAB) and Eastside Community Trust. Isolation and loneliness are all too common among older people, and FAB Disco offers a space for people to socialise, listen to music, and dance together, all of which are proven to have a positive impact on mental health. Music can significantly enhance the mental health of older people by offering emotional support, triggering positive memories, and promoting relaxation. It fosters social connections, reduces stress, and provides an avenue for self-expression, contributing to improved emotional well-being, cognitive function, and overall quality of life.

Creative Wellbeing Workshops

At Trinity, we run Creative Wellbeing Workshops in collaboration with Age UK and Alive Activities. These workshops are a safe and welcoming space for people to take part in arts and crafts activities and to learn more about ways to look after themselves and relax. The sessions are aimed at bringing together individuals from different cultures within the community to explore and share their emotions in a creative and fun way. Using different art materials to express emotion acts as a valuable means of expressing and connecting with emotions, and engaging in this process in the company of other people from the local community can provide the opportunity to increase our understanding of and empathy for each other

Open to any disabled adults over 18 in Bristol and the surrounding areas.

Creative Challenges are short creative tasks that help everyone become more creative! Each challenge is different, and helps you think of different ways to do something creative. We'll have a selection of challenges for people to choose from, and lots of different materials to use. You can make pictures using card, fabrics and glues, draw  in ink and pencils, and even write poetry!

Art, writing, discussing, making, drinking cups of tea and creating!

Free refreshments

No need to book, just pop-in!

To find out more please contact the WECIL team on 0117 947 9942 or email peersupport@wecil.co.uk

WECIL Peer Support activities are free and transport can be provided.

Upcoming dates:

Nov 28 1 - 4

Jan 30 1 - 4

Wages for Digital Labour Day

A day of workshops, discussions and performances which explore the proposition: Wages for Digital Labour?

How do we, as everyday users of digital technologies, help to create wealth for large multinational companies?

Should we be paid for our time and labour generating data?

Should we be demanding Wages for Digital Labour?

How are ideas of of privacy, public space and openness changing within the 21^st century's data/ information economy?

What is the relationship between the consumption of gadgets and the labour conditions in which they are produced?

Do digital technologies 'compress' or expand our realities?

11.00 - 12.00  Hannah Schling – Electronic Labour in the Czech Republic and China

12.00 - 13.00  Freyja van den Boom – Drone Catchers

13.30 - 15.00  Lídia Pereira / Immaterial Labour Union – Care packages for workers in social media networks

15.30 - 17.00  Dušan Mihajlović (A.K.A. “Dr. Spira”)

‘On the path from NOISE to MUSIC - Lossy Compression – the Evil Core of the Holy Church of Everything Digital’

Part of  Emergenc(i)es  Exhibition, 6th - 17th June: Control and Calculation : Inheriting Liberation : Improvised Publics

Join the growing movement that says 'stay in Europe to change Europe' for the Bristol event on our nation-wide speaker tour on Tuesday 31st May.

Speakers include: 
Owen Jones, author, activist and Guardian columnist
Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavillion
Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East and Shadow DEFRA Secretary
Joanne Kaye, Unison South West Seretary
Nigel Costley, TUC South West

Another Europe Is Possible is the campaign for a radical ‘in’ vote in the EU referendum on 23rd June 2016. We're growing and we're touring the country.

We have come together as activists and campaigners to build a Europe of democracy, human rights, and social justice. We don’t believe a British exit from the EU offers a path towards the social, citizen-led Europe we so urgently need. That’s why we are saying ‘stay in Europe to change Europe’.

Join us for a night of debate and discussion - and a party - with plenty of great speakers and lots of time for audience participation.

We are inviting volunteers, past and present, to take part in an action research session to help shape how we collect, report and share impact data as part of our project to help us 'Tell our Story'.

In these sessions, Dr Astrid Breel (Bath Spa University) and a leading STEM co-creation expert will host a session exploring and sharing views around data collection.

We will provide light snacks, refreshments and a £10 voucher for volunteers who take part.

What do we mean by data?

We mean from an Equal Opportunities forms to being asked for feedback and everything in between. We are keen to understand and co-create better ways of us telling the stories of the many people who use, access and deliver activity at Trinity.

Taking part

If you would like to sign up for a session please email sarah@trinitybristol.org.uk

Please note spaces are limited

Find out more

Read more about our 'Telling Our Story' project here

Jacobs Wells Baths, a dance centre for over 30yrs, has been closed for a number of years

The mission to restore Jacobs Wells has received a significant boost with grants from the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Sylvia Waddilove Foundation UK, aimed at matching the committed funding from the Nisbet Trust. This financial support is a crucial step towards reimagining and restoring the iconic Grade II Listed building in Hotwells.

The redevelopment project is being supported by specialist expertise from an experienced professional team including conservation-accredited architect, Corinne Fitzpatrick. Corinne has previously worked on projects including Clevedon Pool, Bridgewater Castle House, St. James Priory, and Tabernacle Kingswood, as well as supporting with a year long repair programme of works to the Trinity Centre.

Leading the design aspect of the project is Sean Redmond and the PH3 Design team who have a history of involvement in feasibility studies and capital design scheme’s for the former Bristol Community Dance Centre, based at Jacobs Wells for over 30 years until they closed in 2016.

The structural engineering team from Mann Williams have been working on a similar restoration scheme to Moseley Road Baths. The team are being led by Nichola Dyer of Greenwood Projects, who are also providing Quantity Surveying services.

The team have commenced on-site surveys to assess the condition of the asset. These surveys will help identify costed works plans, which will include a phase of Emergency Works to stabilise the asset while the Trinity Team and the steering group work on developing an application to the Community Ownership Fund (11 October).

As part of our mission to restore the building we will be continuing to approach heritage funders to support Emergency Works alongside developing a full application to Community Ownership Fund – a £150m government scheme to save assets and amenities at risk of being lost.

Be part of future and help make the magic happen:

• Fill in our survey tell us how you would like to use space
• Share your story e.g. images / memories of space #savejwb or to info@trinitybristol.org.uk
• Write a letter of support
• Join us on one of our pop up events to find out more about our plans (20, 23 Sep)
• Comment and vote on our Pol.is
• Click here to join our mailing list to be kept up to date on ways to get involved
• Click here to donate to the Jacobs Wells Baths Fundsurfer now

The unicorn at Trinity

We are pleased to be hosting a Unicorn as part of the magical arts trail taking place throughout July and August in celebration of Bristol’s 650th anniversary.

The art trail features 60 life-sized unicorn sculptures that have been individually designed and painted by some of the South West’s leading artists and will be raising money for Leukaemia Care, the UK's leading leukaemia charity.

" I recognise our health care systems aren't exempt from many of the inequalities in our society, and wanted to create a contrasting design that hopes to raise awareness of this while also celebrating the vibrancy of colours, patterns and textures commonly associated with some ethnically marginalised communities." Emma Blake-Morsi, artist Unicorn Fest

Trinity’s unicorn, named 'Silence Provokes', has been painted by Bristol-based artist Emma Blake-Morsi and is inspired by leading research by the British Journal of Cancer on ethnic disparities within cancer patients, with the intention of raising awareness about inequalities within healthcare.

People will be able to visit the Unicorn most days between 9am and 5pm. Throughout the summer holidays we will also be offering a programme of affordable/free to access activities as part of our Children and Young People's programme so if you are bringing family, or young people you care for, and want to plan your visit - click here to find out more.

Click here to find out more about the trail including how to download the app and buy a map.

Please note that Trinity is an active community space, visitors are advised to check our listings as access may be restricted to the site during day parties or weddings.

Understory Workshop. Photo credit: Alastair Brookes/KoLAB Studios

In Oct 2023 we collaborated with Onion Collective to deliver 'Understory' - an interactive workshop in which participants collectively create a digital map of social connections within the local community. The workshop, which took around 1.5hrs, was hosted by Georgie from Onion Collective.

We invited a wide range of local cross-sector organisations to participate in the workshop. Organisations represented ranged from those who are known to us to many had not connected to Trinity but are working within the local community. These included statutory services, Grassroots and DIY networks as well as community activists who are working in areas including health, activism, human rights and education.

During the workshop, the group answered a series of questions that created, in real-time, an interactive map projected throughout the session. The map, accessible to organisations who have taken part in the workshop will be an invaluable tool to help inform our plans as we go forward, and for all the other organisations who participated too.

Following the session, we hosted an informal networking opportunity which allowed people, many of whom had not connected with each other before, to meet and connect. In total, 63 people took part representing 38 organisations.

We will be hosting a follow-up for anyone who came along and people who were named on the map (and did not attend) so they can add to and build up the network.

This workshop is part of our wider commitment to working with our local community to create a relevant and responsive cultural offer. You can find out more about this vision here.