Up Our Street Summer 2017 by Up Our Street

www.eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk

Tel: 0117 954 2834 Post: Beacon Centre, City Academy, Russell Town Avenue Bristol, BS5 9JH contact@eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk www.eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk

Twitter: @upourstreet Facebook: Up Our Street Charity no: 1081691 Company no: 04023294 Business Development Officer Emily Fifield Tel: 0117 954 2837 Communications Officer Tamsin Harcourt Tel: 07903 089 002 Community Engagement Celia Davis (Mon-Wed) Patrycia Pinkowski (Thu-Fri) Tel: 07947 830 973 Finance and Office Manager Tracy Parsons Tel: 0117 954 2834 Manager Stacy Yelland Tel: 0117 954 2836 Chair of trustees Sally Caseley Deputy chairs Amy Harrison Dominic Murphy Trustee board Joyce Clarke Matt Fulford Thom Oliver Mike Pickering Noelle Rumball Ricardo Sharry Jane Westhead

Lord Mayor’s Medal Winners Steve Woods, Bruce Yates, Amy Harrison and Hannah Crudgington have been presented with Lord Mayor’s Medals for all their hard work in Lawrence Hill and Easton. Up Our Street went along to the presentation in March to applaud enthusiastically. Up Our Street is printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks and can be composted. It costs 45p to produce every copy of Up Our Street. It is hand delivered to 13,500 homes in the local area. The opinions and information contained in this publication are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of Up Our Street. Advertisers are not endorsed.

Listen to Up Our Street on BCfm 93.2 and Ujima 98fm every Wednesday at 8.45am Follow us on Twitter @upourstreet or join our group on Facebook Inside this issue Up Our Street news…………..…..…page 3 Have your say……………….….pages 4 to 5 Get involved……..……………..pages 6 to 9 Festival of Solutions……...pages 12 to 13 Working together…………..pages 14 to 16

Up Our Street

Enterprise news………………………..page 17 Police update and local news.…..page 18 What’s on …………..……………….…...page 19 Food review………………..….……….page 20 Advertising…………….……...pages 21 to 24

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UP OUR STREET - People changing the world. One street at a time. Welcome to the Summer 2017 edition of your community magazine. Up Our Street was delighted to receive one of the first BCfm Diversity Awards at their 10th birthday celebrations in March. Pat Hart was a great host as always and credit goes to him and the team at BCfm for putting on such a fantastic event. Representing the diverse voices of our community is at the heart of what we do, so we really appreciate this award. Thank you to everyone who came along and made such a great contribution at our Festival of

Solutions. It was inspiring to hear resident-led ideas to tackle some of the issues facing our neighbourhood. Finally, I wanted to remind you that our Thank You Awards are now open for nominations, and we are looking for people who make a difference in their community. This may be as a volunteer, an activist, a campaigner or a really good neighbour. All nominees are invited to our annual Thank You Awards event, which is always a highlight on the Up Our Street calendar. Read more on p11

HAVE YOUR SAY

Hop to it...

The stories in this section are all about having a Political Voice. That is not about supporting a particular political party, it is about having influence over decisions that affect your life or your community.

It was great to be back in the Urban Park in Barton Hill for the Up Our Street Easter Egg Hunt on 21 April. We hid over 400 chocolate eggs and bunnies. Over 100 children took part in egg hunts, craft activities and wacky races. Big thanks to Learning Partnership West play rangers for all their help. See you again next year!

GET INVOLVED The stories in this section are all about Civic Participation. This means the different ways that people can and do get involved in their community.

WORKING TOGETHER The stories in this section are all about Social Capital. This means the way that people work together to share skills and experience and build strong networks.

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Make sure you’re registered by 22 May to have your say in the upcoming General Election on 8 June. Check online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote Bristol Water is renovating the water mains in our neighbourhood. Find out how it might affect you on page 18. Thanks to everyone who completed our quick Up Our Street survey. We had some really useful comments to help us improve our communications services, and it’s great to hear that residents value what we do. Up Our Street

HAVE YOUR SAY

Over the past few years Up Our Street has supported Bristol City Council by organising Neighbourhood Forums where residents come together with Councillors and council officers to talk about local issues and hear about important information affecting our neighbourhood. As part of the budget savings the council needs to make, it is no longer funding the Neighbourhood Partnership and forums and over the past few months there have been lots of conversations about what that means for local people.

Spending money where it’s needed When new developments get built in our city, the developers have to pay a contribution to the council to pay back into the city. The idea is that this money helps improve services and infrastructure that might come under strain from a new development. However, there are lots of other ideas and ways that this money can be used and with the rapid growth of our city, there is quite a bit of cash on the table. Up until now, the Neighbourhood Partnership has been able to decide how 15% of the money in its area is spent and the council keeps 85% to spend on other projects. All that is under review and we have been working with residents and experts on planning to lobby for change. We love our parks and green spaces! One thing our community research told us loud and clear was that our green spaces are very valuable to us. The council is consulting on the future of all its parks as the budget cuts mean it can no longer maintain them all. Join our fight to protect and look after our precious parks.

From April to September, we will be helping Councillors to talk to local people. There are lots of important changes happening in our city and it is the job of Up Our Street to help you have a voice in those changes. Community meetings We will be organising another ‘forum’ meeting for you to talk about any issues of concern and also how you would like to find out about local news in the future. Councillors will be organising this with us but the agenda is also open for you. Date: 10 July, 6.30pm to 8.30pm, venue TBC Contact community@eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk for more information. Working together We have been working with other organisations to create an informal ‘inner city network’ of voluntary sector and other organisations who are based here and have a commitment to improving the neighbourhood. It’s early days yet but we hope this will help us provide a better offer for people but also use what money and people we have in the best way possible.

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We will be holding a discussion group in June to look at how we ALL can care for our green spaces and support each other to do so. Contact Pat on engagement@eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk

Keep in touch Join our Facebook group of over 1,000 local residents, just search ‘Up Our Street’ Follow us on Twitter @upourstreet

HAVE YOUR SAY

Local resident and Plan EL member Stuart Phelps believes that both people who live and work in a neighbourhood need to be involved in the planning process – not just to challenge individual applications, but also to help answer the wider questions about what kind of neighbourhood we want to live and work in.

“ In our area I would give the example of St Philips

Marsh. The planning system is set up to hear the views of local residents directly affected by an application, but St Philips is an area where people mostly work rather than live and lots of people rely on the area for work. It’s the last area of blue collar industry in our neighbourhood, and those workers often don’t have a voice, they don’t tweet, they don’t use Facebook, they don’t go to meetings or have a way of getting their message out there. Many jobs are all dependent on lorries and vans. If you talk to them they will say they want cleaner air, of course they do, but none of the ‘clean air’ solutions work for them right now. If lorries and vans, are forced out many of our neighbours would become unemployed. Lack of alternative blue collar jobs is causing the higher levels of unemployment that blight our community. Nobody wants the 48 Diesel Generators that Plutus are trying to force on us. They don’t create jobs, only pollution, and right next to the Nursery School as well. So let’s not confuse the generators with the lorries and vans.

On Feeder Road we now have an acid test planning application, currently out for consultation, to demolish the existing car showrooms and rebuild it with flats over the top. If that application is approved, you’ve started a shift towards residential accommodation, housing a very well-heeled population, working in Temple Quay, who will have a massive vested interest in forcing out the industry. But people living in Lawrence Hill depend on that industry for employment. However we do need the housing, and that development might yield a couple of units of affordable housing. So I think there’s an important debate to be had about balancing competing priorities – air quality, housing, employment.” If you’d like to find out how to get more involved in the planning process, please contact stuart.p58@zoho.com to sign up to the Plan EL newsletter or find out about joining the group. Local councillors

While the rest of the country was enjoying the Easter bank holiday weekend, Prime Minister Theresa May was deciding to call a snap General Election on 8 June. As we go to print, Up Our Street is planning a hustings event on 23 May at Trinity Centre. We will be inviting all the candidates. Sign up to our ebulletin and keep an eye on our social media for more details. www.eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk

Easton Ruth Pickersgill cllr.ruth.pickersgill@bristol.gov.uk 07584 480583 Afzal Shah cllr.afzal.shah@bristol.gov.uk 07775 026 384 Lawrence Hill Marg Hickman cllr.marg.hickman@bristol.gov.uk 0117 353 2216 Hibaq Jama cllr.hibaq.jama@bristol.gov.uk 07786 732 945 Up Our Street

GET INVOLVED

Thanks to the 80 people who joined us on the hottest day of the year so far to connect and share ideas and inspiration in response to the findings of our wellbeing research. We hosted five workshops to think about local ideas based on what people told us in our research. We will be carrying on those conversations, in Photo credit: George Hieron particular around young people, the environment and connections between people. There will be more events and meetings throughout the year building on these themes so watch this space! Photo credit: George Hieron

See pages 12 and 13 for a great visual record of the day created for us by Sam Church Illustration. Thanks also to REPLICATE, URBACT Resilient Europe and Knowle West Media Centre for supporting this event.

Research report out now!  You like the diversity of the area and having Did you talk to one of our lovely community connections with friends, family and the researchers? We spoke to nearly 600 of you about community wellbeing and your thoughts and feelings about life  You are worried about opportunities for young here. The report is out now and available on our people website or by contacting the office. The findings  Young people do not have a voice in this were really interesting and have helped us to shape conversation – we struggled to speak to our work for the coming 12 months. The key things people aged 16-25 we learnt were: As well as our report, we now have a lot more data  Parks and the environment are very important at our finger tips about our area. If you are interested in working with us on understanding the to you data or developing local projects then we’d love to  You are worried about the rising cost of things hear from you. Contact  You are concerned about the availability and manager@eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk or 0117 cost of housing 954 2836.

Cover design competition Calling all young artists! This is your chance to see your work on the front cover of Up Our Street. We are holding a design competition as part of Easton Arts Trail on the theme of “Where I live”. We will have lots of pens and paper on our stall at Easton Community Centre Saturday 3 June for you to complete your design, or you can bring along something you’ve prepared at home. The winning entry will feature on the cover of our Autumn 2017 edition and will also receive a £20 voucher for art materials. The rules:  Artists must be under 16  Artwork should be A4 portrait  Submit your entry at the Up Our Street stall on Saturday 3 June  Entries will be judged by a panel of Up Our Street Trustees. 6

Up Our Street

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GET INVOLVED

St Lukes Lunch Club in Barton Hill hit the headlines in February this year, when they were featured in a Sky News report about holiday hunger. The news coverage highlighted how children who rely on free school meals are going hungry during school holidays. Up Our Street spoke to Sian Manning, Children and Families Worker at St Lukes Church. “It’s shocking, but even in a wealthy city like Bristol, there are children going hungry. Often children will Lunch club volunteers at St Lukes go to breakfast club and have free school lunch during term time, but in the holidays their parents team of regular volunteers and others who come struggle to provide those meals. It’s very simple when they can.” what we do here; we’re feeding hungry children. It’s such a basic need.” Recently as the sessions have got bigger Sian has organised sessions for volunteers to get together St Lukes Holiday Lunch Club is part of the national one evening and cook a batch of food for the Make Lunch network which provides freshly cooked freezer. It means people who can’t volunteer during meals and play for children during school holidays. the day due to work commitments can also get When we visited at Easter, volunteers were busy involved. preparing a lunch of jacket potatoes. “At Christmas there was so much demand we had to have a “The lunch club is also supported by FareShare, who waiting list.” explains Sian “We’ve been running for collect surplus food from supermarkets and share it nearly two years. We started with just 12 children, out to groups. We would love to form a relationship today we have 50 booked in.” with a local butcher and a greengrocer, as it’s the There are a team of four volunteers in the kitchen, fresh stuff that is most expensive for us. But we’re always very grateful for any donations, it does make and then another eight to 15 play volunteers. The a difference.” children are offered snacks of fresh fruit and vegetables when they arrive, then have an hour of Want to help? play including craft, cooking and sports, before The lunch club is always grateful for donations, sitting down to a freshly cooked hot meal. particularly: fruit squash, tinned custard, tinned Judging from the laughter coming from the kitchen, tomatoes, mayonnaise, baked beans, pasta, it’s a very friendly group “Once a year we have a big ketchup, tinned fruit, flour, caster sugar and jelly. meal together for all the volunteers. It’s a chance to To donate or find out about volunteering, please email lunchstlukes@gmail.com say thank you and to get feedback. We have a core

Did you know that BCfm, your local community radio station, is completely run by volunteers? They are looking for someone with skills and enthusiasm to join their volunteer Board as Company Secretary. If this is you, get in touch with Station Manager Pat Hart pat@bcfmradio.com www.eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk

As well as our regular Wednesday slot on the One Love Breakfast show, Celia and Tamsin host the Up Our Street show once a month. We feature interviews with local active citizens, talking about all the great stuff happening in Easton and Lawrence Hill. Listen out for Up Our Street at 2pm on 22 May, 19 June, 17 July and 21 August. Contact Celia on community@eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk to get involved. Up Our Street

GET INVOLVED Getting involved in a community garden or a local green space can bring many benefits. It can make a practical difference to your local environment as well as giving you a chance to get to know your neighbours. Plus it’s fun! Up Our Street spoke to local residents involved in just some of the groups in our neighbourhood to find out more.

The Dings Gardening Group has been getting together to spruce up the planters in their little corner of Bristol for the past two years. Up Our Street went along on a Sunday morning to meet the group. Cutting back some overgrown shrubbery soon revealed a lot of rubbish so we were handed a litter picker and encouraged to get stuck in. “It’s pretty different from my day job, I work in tech. Basically it gives me the chance to hack at stuff with the loppers, it’s very satisfying!” laughs Serrie. It’s clearly a very social group, with discussions going on about the Dings Fun Day planned for the summer. One member Melissa recently moved to the Dings in December and this was her first gardening session “It’s a great opportunity to get to know your neighbours”.

Gardening in The Dings Get involved: The group meets on the first Sunday of the month, 10am to 1pm at Dings Park. Join the Dings Neighbourhood Facebook group for more information.

Aiken Street Garden in Barton Hill was looked after by some really dedicated residents in the past, but in recent years as the group of volunteers shrank it became more difficult for those left to keep on top of the work. So we were really pleased to hear that two mental health charities ACE St Mungo’s and Julian House have joined forces with local residents to restore the garden. We spoke to Rachel Moulton from the Assertive Contact and Engagement (ACE) team at St Mungo’s. “We’ve been really lucky and recruited a volunteer who is a landscape gardener, so it’s been great to have a bit of expert help and advice. Julian House have also arranged some volunteer working parties to clear the garden and do some planting. It’s been a mix of our clients and volunteers plus community members who joined in when they saw us in the garden. We’ve had some really good feedback from residents that since we’ve started working on the garden that there’s been less litter and children have been playing here more.”

Aiken Street willow dome

Up Our Street

Julian House and St Mungo’s have more working parties coming up, including with some corporate volunteers from Burges Salmon. They’re planning to build some planters and benches. There will be a launch event in the summer. To get involved contact Rachel.Moulton@mungos.org

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GET INVOLVED

Just around the corner from Aiken Street is the Mill Park community garden. Bianca Pardhy-Avis is the manager at In Bristol Studios. “We’ve been working on the garden with local residents from Cotton Mill Lane for about 18 months. We’ve had funding from pocket parks and Arts Council to put in some garden furniture and art installations. In fact that’s how I got involved, as I’m a woodworker.” Planting lavender in Mill Park community garden “We always have loads of local children come out when we’re working in the garden, they’re very keen to help. We really want people to use this space. We’re planning a celebration event on 27 May to show off the changes we’ve made and all are welcome to come along.” In Bristol Studios runs creative workshops on Thursday evenings which include gardening sessions as the evenings get lighter. Contact bianca@inbristol.org to find out more

Local resident Sophia got in touch with Up Our Street to tell us about The Haven. It’s a bit of a secret garden further up the Railway Path, which supports people with mental health issues and those recovering from addiction. Over the past ten years, volunteer gardeners have transformed over an acre of a once overgrown allotment site into a peaceful and healing space. The garden has good links with mental health charities and recovery services, and many people come to The Haven through word of mouth. “There’s no one in charge, people just do what they feel like doing in the garden. It’s very empowering and great for confidence.” The Haven has just secured funding to build a roundhouse shelter on site and the group hopes to use this to run workshops. If you would like to find out more about The Haven, please contact Up Our Street on 0117 954 2834 and we will put you in touch.

Easton Community Garden is open on Thursdays from 11am to 4pm. The garden is accessible from a lane that runs between 58 and 60 Gordon Road, Whitehall. Or follow the signs from the Railway Path. Visit www.eastoncommunitygarden.org.uk to find out more. St George Park Community Garden is an established organic vegetable garden at the heart of St George Park. The group meets on Saturday mornings from 10am to 12pm every two weeks during the spring/summer growing season and everyone who helps out can share the produce. Find them on Facebook, search ‘St George Park Community Garden’. Up Our Street is holding a discussion group in June for residents who are interested in looking after local green spaces. Get in touch with Up Our Street on 0117 954 2834 for details.

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Looking for funding for your community gardening project? You could apply for a grant with Tesco Bags of Help. This grant fund is paid for by the 5p plastic bag charge. Three community projects in each local area are voted on by customers in Tesco stores using tokens, with projects changing every other month. Following the vote, the project that received the most votes in its area will receive a grant of up to £4,000, second place receives up to £2,000 and third place up to £1,000. Find out more and apply at www.groundwork.org.uk/tesco

Up Our Street

GET INVOLVED Barton Hill Festival is a celebratory family friendly festival of live performance, art, wellbeing and film which will take place on Sunday 29 October 2017. The Festival is delivered in partnership with Travelling Light Theatre Company, Barton Hill Settlement and Up Our Street and the programme is packed with a range of performances, culturally diverse activities and food from around the world. This is a festival curated for and by the people of Barton Hill and the organisers would love to hear your ideas.

Photo credit: Travelling Light

To get involved and share your ideas, please contact George at Travelling Light on 0117 377 3162 or george@travellinglighttheatre.org.uk

Bristol Refugee Week has officially changed to Bristol Refugee Festival and is an exciting month-long programme of events from 19 June to 16 July. The theme this year is ‘Our Shared Future’. There will be something for everyone from talks, films, exhibitions, music showcases, fundraisers, football tournaments and the annual ‘Celebrating Sanctuary’ event in Queen Square on Sunday 9 July. This year the organisers would really like more local communities, organisations, individuals and venues to get involved by putting on local events or fundraisers in their communities. For advice and ideas on running an event please contact bristolrefugeefestival@gmail.com. For more info on this year’s programme visit Bristol Refugee Festival Facebook page.

Photo credit: Bristol Refugee Festival

always looking for enthusiastic people to get involved so if you’d be up for helping provide a free, inclusive event please get in touch – it could be anything from Production Managers, to offering to help out as a money collector or steward on the day. All volunteers get a free t shirt, and some food, as well as the warm glow that comes from being involved in the festival. If you are interested in helping out, email volunteer@redfestbristol.co.uk.

This year Redfest will have a new look as it moves away from St George Park to curate a multi-venue, weekend long series of events on and around Church Road. The annual event in the park has gone from strength to strength with over 20,000 people in attendance last year but with that growth has come challenges around funding, licensing and volunteer support. Redfest 2017: Church Road 2017 will see the event return to Takeover will take place across 5 its roots by providing a platform and 6 August and there will be for the best local talent from Photo credit: Laure Noverraz something for everyone including across all performing arts while live music, dance, film and art, showcasing venues throughout the Redfield area. topped by headline sponsors and lead venues Redfest is run by a committed team of volunteers Grounded Café and the Old Stillage. Like the who work throughout the year to provide the best Facebook page or go to redfestbristol.co.uk to stay possible festival for the local community. They’re up to date with announcements. 10

Up Our Street

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GET INVOLVED

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Up Our Street

WORKING TOGETHER by Amy Powell, Easton resident Amy and Saed took part in our Active Citizens training earlier this year. As part of this British Council funded project, they were lucky enough to be selected for an international study visit to meet active citizens in Egypt. Up Our Street asked Amy about her experiences The first three days I stayed with international students. It was pretty overwhelming getting used to Cairo and visiting attractions. The study visit started on the Saturday when I met the other participants. There was a real cultural mix, eight from England, three from Pakistan, one from India, two from Ukraine, three from Morocco, one from Palestine, four Egyptian participants and lots of Egyptian support staff. We did workshops and team building activities to encourage us to mix with each other and talk about our cultures and projects. We also visited lots of local initiatives and organisations, including mosques, cultural centres, schools, and art spaces. The programme fostered open debate and cultural exchange across all the participants. I was endlessly asking questions trying to understand and assimilate my experiences. In particular I enjoyed talking to the Egyptians about their culture and religion, and how the recent revolution and political changes had affected them. Many of the participants who are students do voluntary work. They see it as an important part of their development, to bring change through grass roots activity. On coming back I have been reflecting on British culture on the freedom we have here and how we use it. I had little experience of Arabic cultures and was apprehensive of how I would be treated as a western woman. I found the people warm, generous and kind. Friendship and family are at the core of how things operate. The men I met were noble and genteel while the women were strong and ambitious. It’s a different culture with clear gender roles, extreme wealth inequality and social challenges, but people are resourceful using opportunities available to them. We were together a few days in Cairo then were split into groups, going to either Alexandria, Al Minya or Aswan to see projects related to our interests. In Bristol I co-facilitate a community art project. So I went with a group to visit arts and culture organisations in Alexandria. We visited Torraha for Arts who run community based visual arts projects particularly for women and children.

Up Our Street

Photo credit: Michael Unwin, British Council We also saw the Jesuit Cultural Centre, which has a theatre, gallery and concert hall. It runs film courses and is a social space for young people. Lastly we spent a day at Pianola, a gallery, dance and theatre rehearsal space. My most treasured memories are moments of connection. Standing looking out over Giza the call to prayer echoing over the city, with the pyramids behind me in the late afternoon sun. Experiencing the hustle and bustle, colour and vibrancy of the local markets with people going about their lives. I resonated with the peace of the mosques, their openness and simplicity and was touched by the poetry of Islam. It was a life-changing experience. Through seeing and experiencing other cultures I feel my mind and heart have been opened to my local community and the richness and diversity surrounding me.

Saed adds: “My visit to Egypt was inspirational. Of all the great experiences, from meeting other Active Citizens and listening to their stories about their countries and social action projects to seeing Egypt’s ancient cultural heritage places, I was touched most by the passion and drive of Egypt’s young people. They were determined, hopeful and committed to make positive changes in their communities despite the challenges they work in which among others include poverty, limited resources and restrictive environment”. Muhyadin Saed, Easton resident www.eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk

WORKING TOGETHER

Pupils at Hannah More Primary School have been learning about how to care for their environment, thanks to the ‘Eco Community’ project. Up Our Street talked to Rachael Scott at Sustainable Learning, the organisation leading the project. “The children have been involved in a whole range of activities, including refurbishing the school pond, setting up bird feeders and nest boxes, and learning all about bees” explains Rachael. The school also held a Spring into action day where volunteers from Burges Salmon worked with staff and children to plant 60 trees and put up Installing the birdfeeders fencing to protect a wilderness area at the end a whopping 28 bags full of rubbish from the streets of the field. around the school. And it’s not just the Parents are encouraged to get involved, so look out wildlife that benefits for details in the school newsletter. Future plans TidyBS5 supporters will be include, forest school sessions for reception pleased to hear that the children, building a pizza oven, installing a weather younger generation are centre on the roof and the long-awaited arrival of covering the basics too. the school beehive. The school took part in The Great Bristol Spring The project runs until the end of the summer term Clean in March, where and Rachael is keen to hear from community groups children, teachers and working on similar projects or people interested in volunteers from Avon and sharing expertise or learning something new. Tree planting Somerset Police picked up Contact Rachael on hello@sustainablelearning.com

Along with many local residents, Up Our Street was excited to see the new dome completed at Easton Jamia Mosque in St Mark’s Road. We spoke to Abdul Malik, chair of the mosque committee and project manager. “It's been a year of hard work for the management team of Easton Jamia Mosque, I'm pleased to say that the project has taken real shape now, with the boards finally coming down, it was a real emotional moment for me as project manager to see the moment the building was revealed. It's been a profoundly difficult but rewarding time and we'd like to thank all the community in supporting us whilst the work was going on. We will have several open days for the community to see the completed project so watch this space.

New golden dome at Easton Jamia Mosque

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For more information please contact: Abdul Malik at Eastonmosque@gmail.com or 07747 722 334

Up Our Street

WORKING TOGETHER

Making art should be something that everyone can enjoy, say Amy Powell and Rosa Hewitt, who run Bristol Art for All. The group meets once a week during term times at Kebele Community Co-op on Robertson Road. Up Our Street My main inspiration was Core spoke to Amy to find out more. Arts in London, which is a multi Amy and Rosa met at UWE while arts organisation for those with studying fine art. Whilst on an mental health problems. I wanted Erasmus exchange to Rotterdam to develop a similar project in they volunteered once a week at Bristol but have it open to an arts centre called Via Kunst. It everyone.” In the summer of provides art and music studio 2015 Amy and Rosa decided to space for those experiencing develop a pilot project where Photo credit: Bristol Art for All mental health and addiction they could try out their ideas and Rosa and any volunteers. We are challenges. learn through experience. all artists no matter what our After graduating Rosa worked as a We talked about what Amy prior experience. Its great to teaching assistant and Amy did a enjoys about Bristol Art for All: “I know we are creating a friendly, number of internships with arts love making artwork with other safe, supportive space for people and mental health organisations. people. It is magic, when a group where they can play and It was this that prompted them to of complete strangers are making experiment with art making.” set up a group in Bristol, explains artwork together, chatting and Amy. “Before university I had supporting one another. There is Bristol Art for All is free to attend and open to all. The group worked as a mental health support a point in the class normally 15 meets on Wednesdays from worker and realised the extent of minutes before the end, when 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Kebele, 14 social isolation experienced by everyone is totally engrossed in those with mental health what they are doing… It’s such a Robertson Road. The summer term runs from 26 April to 24 problems. There seemed to be few buzz to be in that atmosphere. May and 7 June to 12 July. The spaces where people could just Part of our ethos is that we are all group is also running a print come and be with others.” making together including me, workshop on 3 June at Kebele. Check out the Facebook page Bristol Art for All to see some of the group’s work or email bristolartforall@gmail.com to find out more.

what their values are. And as mentors we’re not perfect, I think it’s important for the boys to meet men who haven’t necessary got it all sorted. It’s fun Easton resident Luke Harney got in touch with Up too, we play games, have pizza nights, there’s a lot Our Street to tell us about Journeyman, a peer mentoring group for young men. ”Adolescence is a of humour. tricky time, it’s about moving from being of the Eliah (18) has been coming to Journeyman since family to finding your place in the world. At last summer “I love it... the positivity and the Journeyman we’re aiming to be a community of connection of everyone. Would deeply recommend men, ready and able to be there for the boys. And it, especially for boys who are struggling with it’s not just for boys who are struggling, it’s feelings and don’t know what to do with them.” something that all boys need.” Journeyman meets once a fortnight at St Werburghs City Farm. Contact Boys come to the group through word of mouth, bristol@journeymanuk.org or visit also some mentors work in youth services. “We give www.journeymanuk.org to find out more. boys the opportunity to experience for themselves 16

Up Our Street

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ENTERPRISE NEWS

An empty warehouse in St Philips has been transformed into Unit DX, a state of the art laboratory and workspace for science and technology start-ups. Up Our Street was invited for a guided tour and spoke to Adam Finnemore, Project Co-ordinator. As we walk down the gleaming white corridors we talk about why Unit DX chose this location “We’re really close to Temple Meads and places like Engine Shed, the incubator for technology companies. Plus the new University of Bristol campus has just been announced on the site of the old sorting office.” The 15,000 sq ft warehouse has been renovated into 17 laboratories and two floors of office space and will support a range of sciences from synthetic biology to quantum technologies. “One of the barriers for people starting up science and tech companies is having access to laboratory space to develop their ideas. It’s expensive to set up a space like this with all the correct ventilation and equipment. At Unit DX we offer leases from as short as three months, plus some ad hoc access.”

One of the first companies to move in will be Ziylo, a chemistry start-up operated by the directors of Unit DX. They are working to develop a continuous glucose monitoring system that will help diabetics measure blood sugar. It’s all very impressive, but how does Unit DX engage with the wider community? “We definitely

Unit DX launch event in March recognise that there is a lack of diversity in science and high tech firms” replies Adam “We’d like to open young people’s eyes to science, to show them this is an option for them. Charlie, our Operations Manager, was previously a teacher at Millpond Primary School in Easton. As part of our launch event she coordinated sessions for local schools where 120 children came throughout the day to get a taste of real science. They got involved in real experiments in the lab, we switched all the lights off and showed them the lasers. It was a great day and we’d like to do more in future.” Find out more about Unit DX on their website: www.unitdx.com. Or contact them on 0117 941 5811 or email info@unitdx.com

Local councillor Afzal Shah is calling for Easton traders to come together and form a new Traders Association. “We’re fortunate to have some wellestablished local businesses on streets like St Marks Road, who are already really involved in their community. But sadly, not all the businesses in our area are like this.” Afzal feels a traders association could help put pressure on the businesses that don’t always fulfil their responsibilities around issues such as food hygiene and waste disposal.

Local traders meet on St Marks Road www.eastonandlawrencehill.org.uk

“I also think it would be a way for local businesses to promote themselves and encourage local shopping. After all, research from the Federation of Small Business shows that for every pound spent with a small business, two thirds of that money is re-spent locally, which is good for the community.” If you are a local business and want to find out more, contact Afzal on cllr.afzal.shah@bristol.gov.uk Up Our Street

COMMUNITY NEWS

In May 2016 Bristol Water started a £3 million project to renovate the Strategic Water Main that stretches from Victoria Pumping Station on Oakfield Road to Greenbank Cemetery. This main services households and businesses across Cotham, St Paul’s, Lawrence Hill and Easton. Parts of our network are over 150 years old and customers in this area have reported a number of discoloured water incidents over the past few years.

Water main route

The first stage of this work, from Oakfield Road to St Paul’s roundabout has been completed. The second stage which stretches from Easton Way to Greenbank During the work community helpers will be on site who Cemetery began in January 2017 and is scheduled to last are there to help residents who need access for until October. deliveries or access to homes. They are also up for a general chat about the work if you bring them a A project of this size will inevitably have an impact on doughnut or two. residents with roads closed to through traffic. In order to minimise this impact Bristol Water will be using the slip- The work will be carried out by the Murphy Group. Please lining technique, which essentially means pushing a new note that dates shown on the map are subject to change. pipe through the old one. This means fewer excavations Bristol Water will be writing to all residents closer to the and therefore fewer parking spaces lost. time of the road closures to explain how it will work.