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Brislington Street Art Festival
Jos and Andrew report on: Brislington Street Art Festival
Brislington Street Art Festival: Great to see some fantastic new pieces of street art appearing in Brislington over the weekend, and thank you to local business, Kemp Carpets, for providing the wall space. Over the last few months, we have been working with a group of local artists to hopefully bring an exciting new festival to Brislington, the Brislington Street Art Festival. It’s still early days and we are currently looking for suitable, public-facing sites in the Sandy Park area, and possibly further afield, such as garage walls, gable-end walls, garden walls, etc, for artists to create their artwork. If you can help with a space or would like to get involved in any other way, please contact the organisers at: brislington.festival@gmail.com
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Sandy Park vandalism: We were dismayed to see the attacks on our local independent traders, Sandy Park Butchers (for the third time!) and Tarr’s Ice Cream Parlour. These businesses kept going during the pandemic and are the heart of our local community. Whatever your views on animal-based products, these hard working, local shopkeepers do not deserve to be targeted in this way, and such direct action will only serve to alienate people from your cause. We have visited both businesses to offer our sympathy and support and we have been in contact with the local police, who have promised to step up patrols in the area to help reassure local people. If you have any information that may help the police with their enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact them.
Repairs round-up: Over the last few days we have reported a fallen tree on Talbot Road, which is completely blocking the narrow pavement on the bridge, some dilapidated advertising hoardings, which are a real eyesore, on the Bath Road, and an abandoned street cleaning vehicle near the Brislington retail park. We want to keep Brislington looking the best it can be and if you spot a local issue that needs sorting, please get in touch. Council tax rebate: If you haven't had your £150 council tax rebate yet, don't forget to fill out the online form on Bristol City Council’s website: https://news.bristol.gov.uk/council-tax/council-tax-rebate
Once you've submitted your bank details, payment could take up to two weeks to go into your bank account. If the form states you're not eligible but you meet the criteria on the website, or if your bank details are not accepted, you'll need to call the Citizen Service Centre on 0117 922 2900 who will be happy to help you. Cost of living concerns: As a local resident, you could be entitled to free career coaching to take control of your future and make positive progress towards new opportunities and better pay to help ease the burden of living costs. In the UK, 1 in 6 jobs pay below the real Living Wage, and with inflation being the highest in over three decades, many of us are starting to consider our options to help improve our situation. Future Bright can offer you a dedicated career progression coach for 3-6 months working with you to:
•Create a career action plan
•Explore career opportunities
The team can also direct you to other support services, including money, benefits, counselling, and self-employed business support. To be eligible for Future Bright you need to live in the West of England (Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire). Participants must be aged 18 or over, in paid work (including zero hours and self-employed) and receiving eligible benefits OR earning below the Real Living Wage (below £9.90 an hour). https://www. westofengland-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/employment-skills/future-bright/ Hundreds of Brislington West residents have signed up to receive our monthly newsletter via email. You can register using this link: http://www.bristollibdems.org/efocus. By Jos Clark, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.jos.clark@ bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 370429 & Andrew Varney, Liberal Democrat Councillor (Brislington West) Email: cllr.andrew. varney@bristol.gov.uk Mobile: 07584 183381
