Kabaka Pyramid 2023. Photo credit: Khali Ackford

We are introducing a £1 Restoration Levy on every event ticket sold. This income will be used to create a dedicated fund for critical building works that will protect and maintain the Trinity Centre, a Grade II* Listed building and the grounds.

In Sept 2023, Music Venue Trust announced the UK is set to lose 10% of its independent venues by the end of the year. Like many grassroots music venues and arts centres across the country, Trinity faces unprecedented challenges due to the cost-of-living crisis, rising overheads and ongoing upkeep as a Grade II* Listed converted former-church.

The Trinity Centre is a space for a diverse multidisciplinary arts programme for over 73,000 people every year. Since the building has been in our guardianship, we have raised and spent over £3m in its restoration, to improve accessibility, maintain and enhance this vital community asset and invest in green energy solutions to reduce our carbon footprint.

As a registered charity, this Restoration Levy will be treated as a restricted heritage fund that will be dedicated to fulfilling our charitable mission, to preserve, protect and improve for the public benefit the Trinity Centre, formerly the Holy Trinity Church, and promote the heritage of this building.

Our aim is to continue to provide a vibrant hub where today’s and tomorrow's generations can find joy in unforgettable concerts, electrifying club nights, community gatherings and immersive, impactful experiences. Your support through the Restoration Levy will help us to continue this legacy, helping us to raise over £40,000 each year, to:

Maintain and improve the Centre: In a typical year, we spend over £100,000 on maintenance, repairs and facilities management and our 2022 conservation survey estimates over £400,000 additional repair works will need to be delivered over the next decade. This Levy will help us to ensure our doors can remain open now and for future generations.

Improve accessibility: As a locally rooted community arts centre, we are committed to ensuring our activities are accessible. These efforts have been recognised by the Attiute is Everything Bronze Award and we continue to strive to remove barriers to taking part to ensure everyone has access to great arts and cultural experiences.

Enhance sustainability: We have installed solar panels and LED lighting to reduce running costs and carbon emissions and will continue to work to improve the efficiency of the building and ensure that our programme for the people comes not at the expense of the planet.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

New water refill stations across the venue thanks to the ticket levy and One Stop grant

At the Trinity Centre, we’re constantly striving to enhance our space, ensuring it remains accessible, inclusive, and sustainable for all. This year, we’ve undertaken several crucial capital works aimed at modernising the venue, thanks in part to your support through our ticket levy.

What's the levy for?

The ticket levy is a fee applied to all event tickets, intended to fund essential improvements to the building. These funds help us match contributions from sponsors and grant funders, allowing us to undertake mid-scale capital projects to enhance the venue for all users.

The levy is just one of the many ways we raise vital funds to maintain and improve the centre, ensuring it remains a hub for creativity and culture for communities of East Bristol and beyond.

Works so far

In 2024 we have already made significant strides to upgrade and enhance the venue to ensure it remains a vibrant, accessible and sustainable space for all who use it.

One of our key achievements has been the installation of water refill stations throughout the building and its gardens, made possible with additional match grant support from One Stop. This initiative is part of our commitment to sustainability, encouraging visitors to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics by carrying refillable water bottles. Not only does this reduce waste, but it also promotes healthier hydration habits for everyone who steps through our doors.

In addition to the water refill stations, we have upgraded our boiler system, ensuring a more energy-efficient way of heating the building. This improvement brings us a step closer to reducing our overall carbon footprint, in line with our sustainability goals. We have also carried out essential upgrades to our fire alarm systems, in addition to our general repairs and maintenance of the venue carried out each year.

What's next?

We're in the process of modernising our lift, which was originally installed in 2007. As a key part of our mission to ensure accessibility, this upgrade is vital to maintaining the reliability of the lift, which benefits an est 2,000 people with mobility needs who use the centre annually. The modernisation involves replacing outdated electrical components with modern, locally manufactured parts, reducing the frequent faults that have recently caused disruptions to various activities. This work is also being funded by the Bruce Wake Charitable Trust.

Looking further ahead, we are seeking to raise funds to impliment plans to deliver other mid-scale renovation projects to be supported by the ticket levy and match funds include:

Main hall upgrades; commissioning new technical lighting array to enhance the quality of performances and events held at the centre and carrying out improvements to internal doors to further improve fire and sound compartmentalisation.

Creation of a new multi-use meeting/dressing room; transforming our downstairs office, including roof repairs and internal works to provide a more flexible, multi-use space for staff and visitors alike, including providing additional back-stage space for artists and performers, upgrading the furnishings and fittings to create a more functional and versatile environment.

New garden eco-unit; replacement of the old outdoor mud-hut kitchen, built in 2012 thanks to an Awards for All grant, with a new unit to support the delivery of our children's nature play and wider learning and well-being activities.

Emma Harvey, CEO of Trinity, said:

"Trinity was built almost 200 years ago, and those who designed it could never have imagined the incredible variety of ways the space is used today. As proud guardians of this fantastic building, our work to maintain and modernise it for contemporary use is a continual effort.

"By contributing through the ticket levy, our audiences enable us to carry out much-needed upgrades while preserving the unique character and authenticity of the building. This support is crucial in demonstrating the match funds needed to secure wider grant funding and sponsorship needed to deliver against our ambitions for an accessible, inclusive and sustainable centre for the people.

"Thank you for being part of this journey with us and for helping us create a better Trinity for everyone."

Trinity Community Arts is a registered charity number 1144770