CITYIST

THE CITYist

DIRECT MESSAGE

Where is the world really heading, and what can we do about it? Climate Adaptation: Accounts of Resilience, SelfSufficiency and Systems Change, edited by the Arkbound Foundation, takes an unflinching look at climate change –drawing upon the latest data to analyse what the next decades hold in store.

In this book, the magnitude of our challenge is faced head on, with avenues to truly address it presented clearly. Case studies and models from authors across the globe explain what ‘zero emissions’ really means and together they show how we can build adaptation and resilience.

This book has been a large, collaborative effort from over a dozen authors –all of whom have expertise, knowledge and experience in areas ranging from oceanography and economics to managing sustainable ecological centres.

Arkbound was founded in Bristol as a social enterprise in early 2015. It is one of the very few publishers to actively support people from disadvantaged backgrounds, helping them enter the world of writing. It works on behalf of the Arkbound Foundation, a charity that aims to widen access to literature and improve diversity within publishing. Arkbound has gone on to win national and international awards.

• Climate Adaptation: Accounts of Resilience, Self-Sufficiency and Systems Change; £9.99; arkbound.com

My BRISTOL

Meet the new Chair of Board at Jessie May, Tiggy Robinson

I was born in Southmead hospital and grew

up in Nailsea, which is a few miles outside of Bristol. I’ve lived in Prague, London and Bath and travelled the world too, but Bristol remains my spiritual home!

Two words. The people! Bristol is a

fantastically welcoming, diverse and inclusive city. There is also so much to explore and so much talent to soak up. Art, cuisine, theatre, literary events, wonderful parks, iconic buildings. I could go on and on.

Jessie May is a Bristol-based charity that

provides specialist palliative care to terminally ill and life-limited children, and their families, in the south west. The charity provides hospice at home care, and was set up by the parents of Jessica May Purrington, a little girl who died at home aged four months, surrounded by her family and her nurses.

Professionally, I’m a partner at Nine Feet Tall,

which is a Management Consultancy based in Bath, and we help organisations to implement change programmes. So, in terms of bringing that experience to the board, I’m used to working with board members and executive teams, exploring strategy, thinking about how we can improve performance and getting the best out of teams.

On a personal level, I’m a mum myself. I have three children. My oldest son has a diagnosis of autism and dyspraxia, which I can completely appreciate is not a life-limiting condition, but in itself has been a challenge. Our experience of trying to access certain services to provide additional support means that I feel that I have some sort of understanding of the challenges that presents for our parents. A service like Jessie May is so vital, not just for the physical support but also for the emotional and mental support that as a parent or carer you really crave, and when you have that access it can make a colossal difference.

It costs a lot of money to provide care for

each child, and the charity is almost entirely dependent on voluntary donations. There are many ways to get involved, from choosing Jessie May as your charity of the year to participating in an event or signing up to Amazon Smile. The Jessie May website is full of ideas.

In 2022, Jessie May will launch its new five-

year strategy following the challenges of Covid and a period of reset and recovery. The strategy will set out the way we can improve the support we offer to children and their families through our mission of being there for the whole family, for the whole journey – in life, at the end of life and in bereavement. We have supported 190 children this year and want to continue that by increasing the amount of income we raise from the general public over the next year.

I think the Bristol Food Network deserves a

shoutout for all the amazing things it’s been doing during the pandemic. It is a network of community groups who are working to reduce food poverty and transform Bristol into a sustainable food city. I would also like to mention and thank our own Jessie May team, who have continued to provide vital services to our families through all the adversity which the pandemic has thrown at them.

I am reading two books at the moment.

Radical Candour by Kim Scott, which is a great read about the power of telling it like it is. I have a tendency to sugar coat things to make them more palatable at times and this book explains why that doesn’t help me or the person I am talking to. The other book is Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve by Stanley Rosenberg, which is all about your nervous system and how to rebalance it. It is a fascinating read.

If I could have dinner with anyone, it would

be my two grandfathers, who passed away when I was little, because I would love to see them again and get to know them.

Be kind and treat everyone as you would like

to be treated and of course, leave some room for fun and laughter!

Two of Sidcot School’s alumni –Jiazhen Xie and Maddy Han –have recently made headlines with their textile designs. Jiazhen, from the class of 2017, featured in the December issue of Vogue magazine as one of the designers for Fashion Crossover London. Her pieces focus on scale, structure, constructed textiles and the fusion of delicate off-loom craftsmanship with pre-existing materials. They were selected for publication on the completion of her degree in BA Textile Design at Central Saint Martins. Maddy (class of 2018), who studied her BA Hons in Fashion Knitwear at Nottingham Trent, watched her final degree piece glide down the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week, which is part of London Fashion Week. Maddy is currently working as a tailor for Levi’s. Speaking about their success, Donna Ralph, textiles lead at Sidcot School said: “We are tremendously proud of both Jiazhen and Maddy’s deserved successes. They were dedicated students during their time here and we look forward to seeing them flourish in their future careers.”

• sidcot.org.uk

A FRESH START FOR BRISTOL ZOO

The new Bristol Zoo, set to open in 2024 at Wild Place Project, will be home to some of the world’s most threatened species. The zoo will have conservation and sustainability at its heart, with more than 78 percent of its species linked to the society’s conservation work –more than any other zoo in the UK. It will include a new Central African Forests area in which the gorilla troop from Bristol Zoo Gardens will live with a new group of endangered cherry-crowned mangabey monkeys in an immersive woodland exhibit, reflecting their natural habitat as closely as possible. The area will also include endangered African grey parrots, as well as critically endangered slender-snouted crocodile and an extremely rare species of West African fish, which visitors will be able to see in a new underwater viewing area.

A newly-created conservation breeding centre will also be built to house some of the world’s most threatened species of reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, fish and birds, almost all of which will be categorised as either ‘Critically Endangered’ or ‘Extinct in the Wild’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and some will be bred for potential reintroduction to the wild.

Brian Zimmerman, Director of Conservation and Science at Bristol Zoological Society, said: “Our new Bristol Zoo will set the standard for a modern, forwardlooking zoo for the 21st century.

“We will lead the way in terms of conservation within a zoo, with at least 78 percent of our animals having a link to conservation when the first phase of development is complete and more than 90 percent by our bicentenary in 2035. The exhibits at the new Bristol Zoo will be larger and reflect the surroundings in which animals would live in the wild.”

TAKE IT EASY –AND PICK UP A PASTIME

LEARN A NEW SKILL

Sign up and learn something new at The Makershed this year and receive a warm friendly welcome by the team of talented tutors, who offer a vast range of skill sets, knowledge and experience.

The Makershed’s courses include woodwork, upholstery, carving, fabric and tapestry weaving, lino printing, fabric dyeing, sewing and garment making, and so much more. There's daytime, evening and weekend courses for all skill levels that run throughout the year.

• For more information and to book your place visit: themakershedbristol.co.uk

RECONNECT WITH NATURE

The Field Studies Council has been a trusted provider of professional and amateur natural history courses since 1943. To enable more people to connect with nature, courses are now taking place at a new venue; Grow Wilder, 181 Frenchay Park Road, Bristol. If you ever wanted to know more about the birds in your garden, a beginner’s course in February will introduce you to birding basics helping you identify any feathered friends visiting your neighbourhood.

Acknowledging the importance of interaction with nature ignites the imagination! The nature writing course in March plans to bring together likeminded individuals in a special learning community to inspire students to increase their skills, as well as proudly share any work.

• Visit the website to book your course at: field-studies-council.org

GET CREATIVE

RWA Bristol Art Gallery is offering an opportunity to explore portrait drawing through a five-week course, working directly from a live model on Zoom. Students will be given guidance on how to achieve an accurate likeness and bring character into their drawings. Both line drawing in pencil and tonal drawing with charcoal will be covered. Book before 6 January and recieve a selection of materials by post.