Since the launch of our High Streets Culture and Events Programme, 45 projects with 116 free events days have been delivered or are currently underway, helping to support businesses, the local economy, and the recovery of the culture and events sector.

Analysis of 20 already completed projects shows that we have so far attracted over 134,000 extra visitors to the city, generated over £2 million of additional spend in Bristol’s businesses and supported 320 paid jobs in culture and events, all from an investment to date of £444,000.

In the final month of the current programme, September promises to build on our successes with more fantastic free events planned, for people across the city to enjoy.

For a great family way to explore St Nick’s Market head down before 16 September for a free treasure hunt! Collect your official stamp book from the main foyer, take the quiz, and find the six hidden hot air balloons placed around the market. Once you’ve collected your stamp at each balloon location you’ll receive an official treasure hunter badge and a 10% discount at selected stores.

Bristol Photo Festival have worked with over 20 community groups and 14 artists across the city to create DREAMLINES: Picturing Bristol High Streets, a series of high street exhibitions taking place from 9 to 17 September across four of our priority high streets; Filton Avenue, Shirehampton High Street, Stapleton Road, and Two Mile Hill. Picturing Bristol aims to help animate the high streets and encourage residents to explore and celebrate the places they live, making connections to each other and adding to a sense of belonging and identity.

In addition, Bristol Photo Festival is running further activities in Shirehampton including free family friendly photography workshops, talks and walks on Saturday 9 September, culminating with a tribute to the Savoy Cinema with the screening of a classic British Film from 1961, the year the cinema closed, at the Shirehampton Methodist Church.

Continuing our celebrations of Bristol’s culture and identity through film, the final events in Bristol’s Summer Film Takeover take place in September.

On 15 and 16 September, award-winning multimedia studio Limbic Cinema will present Illusions of Movement. This sensory experience takes the audience on a 45,000-year visual journey exploring how humans use technology to bring imagination and storytelling to life, from cave drawings animated by flickering firelight, to the advent of moving pictures, cinema’s golden age, TV, digital and CGI to today’s virtual media advances.

Returning on 16 September, A Wall is a Screen: Secrets of the Old City is a guided evening walking tour around the Old City, exploring hidden architectural gems and features a curated selection of short films projected onto nearby buildings to watch along the way.

Lamplighter Arts CIC will illuminate Two Mile Hill on 23 September with a magical Enchanted Forest Glow event at St Michael the Archangel Church Hall from 5:30pm. Workshops at The Hive and Two Mile Hill Primary school will bring the community together to transform the church hall with beautiful illuminated artworks creating a magical after dark experience.

At Knowle West Fest in August The People Speak brought Talkaoke – a live interactive chat show where you decide the talking points. Join them at 6pm on Friday 29 September on Filwood Broadway to hear what the people of Filwood had to say. This will be followed at 7pm by a film screening, voted for by the public, together with some special trailers of Filwood Broadway gone by. Keep an eye on Filwood Community Centre website more information and details of how to book your free ticket.

eat:Festival returns to East Street on Saturday 30 September from 10am and 4pm. Free to attend, and fully accessible, eat:Bedminster will take over East Street and Dean Street with over 50 food and drink stalls, live music, entertainment and buskers dotted throughout the market, providing a relaxed atmosphere and fun for all the family.

Two Bristol street artists have been commissioned to paint two murals along Two Mile Hill. The commissions intend to engage with local narratives to help renew a sense of pride and identity in the community. To get local people involved in the creative process, the artists have set up a short online form to collect thoughts and ideas, to help inspire their artwork.

Working with the City Centre BID, we are commissioning a permanent artwork or cohesive design for King Street that will draw on and enhance the public realm, character and appearance of the street. Once the artist has been selected and design finalised, it will go into production ready to be installed in early 2024.

Further public art projects are underway in Brislington, Stapleton Road, and in early stages of development in Shirehampton, Stockwood, Filton Avenue and Church Road. 

The city centre and community markets continue to support traders, attract visitors and bring communities together:

• Better Sundays Broadmead – first Sunday of the month
• East Street market – first Saturday of the month in September and October
• Shirehampton market – first Thursday of the month
• Stockwood market – last Saturday of the month

Following the success of our Bristol Harbour swimming pilot earlier this year, we have been working with local partners All-Aboard Water Sports, Open Minds Active CIC, and Swim Bristol Harbour to look at options for continuing these open water swim sessions.

Councillor Ellie King, Cabinet member for Public Health and Communities, spoke to local and national media during our initial test swim in March, when we launched the Harbour swimming pilot.

Our spring pilot swims were hugely popular receiving a total of 920 bookings and all sessions selling out in advance. Initial feedback from the more than 650 swimmers was very positive with the majority being very satisfied with their Harbour swimming experience and keen to return for more sessions in the future.

I’m delighted that we’re now able to bring another round of public swim sessions to the harbour for four more weekends starting on 9 September.

The swim sessions will run as they did during the pilot earlier this year – 8am to 10am Saturdays and Sundays in Baltic Wharf, this time for a fee of £7.50 per person, covering the costs of improving the registration system with wristbands on top of the provision of water safety measures. All swim sessions must be booked in advance via the Wild booking platform.

These additional sessions will allow us to monitor interest in swims during the cooler months, as we move towards the Autumn, alongside costs, and any impact on our ability to maintain a safe environment throughout our harbour.

Together with other members of the Bristol Water Safety Partnership, our harbour staff will continue to monitor any unpermitted swimming and other dangerous behaviour of people entering the water outside of the harbour swimming arrangements, helping to prevent accidents and maintain a safe waterway.

If demand and interest in the swims continues, and we’re able to maintain a safe and financially self-sustaining open water swimming area in Bristol Harbour, we will look into options for how we can provide swim sessions on a regular basis for Spring/Summer 2024.

Please remember that outside of the permitted harbour swimming times and the designated area, it remains unsafe and against the bylaws to swim in the Harbour, Cumberland Basin, or other waterways in Bristol. Our city’s many pools continue to offer swimming all year-round.

If you would like to volunteer to be part of the team setting up and running the swimming sessions, please email harbourswim@openmindsactive.org – there are lots of opportunities to get involved.

Walking, cycling, and active travel are great ways to incorporate physical activity in our daily lives. Just 20 minutes of exercise a day can be long enough to reap the rewards, helping to ease stress, reduce the risk of depression, and increase productivity. That could easily be achieved in a walk to the shops, a scoot to school, or a short cycle ride to the office.

I regularly travel into City Hall by walking and taking the bus or by hopping on an e-scooter, and I find it a great way to start a busy day.

We’re helping people in Bristol to travel more actively where they can and save money by giving out free travel offers. This includes free bike and e-bike loans, cycle training, bus and train taster vouchers, and car club credit. This is a great opportunity to try out new ways of travelling for free while looking after your wellbeing. The offers are open to anyone who lives or works in Bristol, so I would encourage people to give it a go and sign up today.

People in Bristol have already been benefitting from these offers and we’ve given out over 15,000 since the scheme launched last year. And it’s having a measurable impact; as part of the Big Bristol Travel Challenge the council ran with Sustrans in July, we recorded a total of 6,269 sustainable journeys. Of these, 2,988 were by walking and 1,718 were by cycling. In all, this change over the month saved 2,341Kg of Co2 emissions as well as people saving £3,575 in travel costs.

I’d love to see more of us making the most of the offers this summer to get around the city to enjoy the many exciting events that are taking place.

I know that it’s not always possible to leave the car at home, but it’s important to remember that together our small actions can make a big difference, not only to our own lives, but to the health of our environment and the people around us.

Air pollution affects everyone, after all. In Bristol, exposure to nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter were estimated to contribute to around 300 deaths a year, before the introduction of the Clean Air Zone. This is something that we must continue to work together to reduce and leaving the car at home just once a week can make a big difference. We can all do our bit to help keep Bristol’s air clean. 

Swap four wheels for two

While many people feel comfortable getting around on two wheels, for others cycling can feel daunting for many reasons. Loss of confidence on a bike, not having the equipment, or perhaps having never had the chance to learn – we are offering support to help you overcome these challenges and give cycling a go.

As part of our free travel offers, you can get a free loan bike for up to a month to try out a bike before investing in one yourself. We have a range of different bikes available to try including standard cycles great for everyday use, e-bikes that give you an extra boost going up the hills, and folding bikes that are convenient for small spaces or commuting by train.

There’s something to suit every type of rider. Also available is free cycle training to help give you more confidence on a bike. Make the most of a guided ride to help you find the best cycle route for your daily commute or take part in a Bikeability skills course. Find out more about free support for cycling.

Using public transport

Using some of the many public transport options in Bristol might also be a good option for you. You can give the bus or train a go with taster vouchers, helping you explore some of your local stations and routes for free.

If you’re not sure what route is the best for you, take a look at the useful Travelwest Journey planner or sign up for a free one-to-one travel planning appointment with our specially trained Travel Advisors.

Car clubs

If you live or work in the city centre, joining a car club could be a great way to make those occasional trips when you really need a car.  With over 25 cars across the city centre, give it a go with some free car club credit.

And get set for Cycle September

With September not far off, I’d urge you to get involved in this annual celebration of cycling. Cycle September is a month-long national competition from Love to Ride, which aims to get people cycling more often. This is a fun competition with no pressure on you to compete; you can either log your rides on the Love to Ride website or download the app. You’ll accumulate points for each ride you do and can win a range of great prizes including a £4,000 holiday. We’ll be announcing more on how to get involved very soon.

From Albany Green to Withywood Park, Bristol has almost 150 brilliant play areas, with a variety of facilities and play equipment for families to enjoy. Ten of these play areas have benefited from exciting refurbishments and improvements over the summer thanks to council investment. So, now is the perfect time to explore a new park.

These improvements include brand new equipment such as zip lines, trim trails and large swings, rubberised safety surfacing, replacing older equipment and extending the dog-free play areas. Young people will also be impressed by the new multi-purpose basketball courts and football pitches. Some play areas have new seating and picnic areas for parents and carers, also giving children space to relax after all the excitement.

Many of these playparks have been designed through collaboration with the communities who use them, including the young people themselves. The designs reflect those who use Bristol’s playparks; requests for communal style picnic seating, accessible equipment and improved access highlight that playparks are for people of all abilities and age groups to meet, move and play.  

Outdoor play is vital for children’s physical, mental and emotional health and away from home, playgrounds are the most popular spaces for young people. We recognise that access to quality play is important for Bristol families. They provide a great chance for parents and carers to socialise and are a free way for children to engage in play; and learn valuable life skills.  

Councillor Ellie King, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health and Labour Councillor for Hillfields ward, has been out and about visiting some of these playparks to ‘test’ out the new equipment. The verdict was that the trimtrails are great fun (and good for the core muscles!), and it’s brilliant to see more accessible entrances and pathways opening up these areas to more children.  

So, with fingers crossed for suitable weather, which play area will you choose to explore with the family?  

• Stoke Park Estate, Lockleaze – New wooden trim trail and exercise equipment off Romney Avenue.
• Eastville Park Upper Play Area, Eastville – Addition of new swings, zip wire and junior/teen play equipment.      

• Mina Road Park, St Werburghs- New MUGA with dual basketball hoops and football goals. A children’s play area is due to be refurbished from early September
• Barton Hill Urban Park, Barton Hill – Renovation of existing play area, including extending dog free area and creating a new large kick-a-bout area, extensive new rubber play surfacing, three new multi-units for toddlers, juniors and teens; new trim trail unit, a new toddler basket swing and large new seating area with grouped picnic benches.

• Newtown Park/Hassell Drive Open Space, Lawrence Hill – Extended dog free area by fencing off large area of grass to extend play area, new larger entrance into play area and relandscaped area to play football. A large new play structure for juniors/teens is due to be installed in the autumn.                  
• Clifton Suspension Bridge Play Area, Clifton – Extensive drainage works to existing play area and new accessible path installed.
• Maskelyne Avenue Green Space, Horfield – New football goals and seating installed in the open space. New toddler slide to be installed in adjacent play area in autumn.
• Dame Emily Play Area, Bedminster – Refurbishment of an existing climbing play unit, new surfacing under existing play equipment and a new zipwire.
• Guants Ham Park, Barton Hill – New colourful safety surfacing under existing play equipment.
• Lamplighters Open Space Play Area, Shirehampton – New large three swing unit installed

Playpark improvements have been secured through a mixture of fundraising by local park Friends groups, and funding as a result of local developments. As we continue to tackle the housing crisis and deliver historic numbers of new homes, this brings new investment into local areas through the Community Infrastructure Levy. £1.15m of Bristol City Council’s budget has also been invested in Bristol’s play areas since 2021, with £4m more to come by 2024.

Other play areas will see improvement works over the next year, I would encourage everyone to input in upcoming redesigns of your local play park.  

Look out for how you can get involved in the design and equipment choice for Oldbury Court and Hengrove Park play area.  

For a full list of playparks in Bristol and what equipment and facilities they each have, visit: Find a park with play equipment (bristol.gov.uk)

Bristol’s transport challenges require bold action. Big ideas.

We need to continue to transform the way that Bristolians can move around our city, by giving people an affordable, reliable alternative to their cars.

Portway Park & Ride, Bristol’s first new railway station in almost a century, opened a week ago. That’s a real achievement for our administration, working with partners. We’re already on site at Ashley Down station and pushing forward new stations at Henbury, Filton North, Ashton Gate, and St Annes.

This major investment in rail is generationally important, not least as we continue to tackle the climate crisis. But, compared to similarly sized cities, all those stations opening would still fall short of what Bristolians need and deserve: a mass transit fully system segregated from other modes of transport to ensure its reliability. To deliver a segregated system, we must include underground sections where there is no reasonable other option. Where there is available land, we can build segregated corridors but, in denser areas, underground sections are the only workable option. What those who oppose any underground don’t tell you, is that the alternative is closing Gloucester Road to all other traffic or knocking down the shops on one side of Church Road.

As two fully published feasibility studies set out, this is both deliverable and affordable in Bristol. As with all modern, major projects, this would require a mix of funding sources including from national government. But the productivity pay offs would be enormous, and the system would be profitable for operators and investors. There has been some sensationalist coverage of a flawed, leaked report that suggests that cost of a mass transit system for our city region is £19 billion. In reality, a properly costed plan, where underground is only used in densely populated areas suggests more like £7 billion. When London, where most of the tube network is above ground, recently got its most recent mass transit line, the Elizabeth Line, it cost £19 billion, so why shouldn’t Bristol be demanding the necessary investment.

When we looked at investing in a mass transit scheme, we identified one potential income stream is a Workplace Parking Levy. This would essentially serve as a surcharge on all drivers parking centrally while they’re at work. It has existed in Nottingham since 2011/12, where the money goes into their tram system (delivered at a time when Bristol could have had one too, had local leaders not fallen out in our region around the millennium). It now costs people in Nottingham around £500 a year to park at work there, with eight-out-of-ten companies passing the costs directly onto their employees.

Such schemes are not without controversy. In 2012, the Federation of Small Business led a campaign against Bristol adopting a similar scheme.

Some politicians – who oppose Bristol getting a mass transit system and so have nowhere truly significant to direct the funding, preferring instead to tinker around the edges with cycles of pet projects – continue to put the cart before the horse, just as they did when they called for the whole city to be covered by a charging Clean Air Zone before our administration had secured tens of millions of pounds of support for people. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.

With high inflation during a national cost of living crisis, now is not the time to create more costs for people. Others will say that today is an ideal moment to hit teachers, nurses, and other Bristolians parking at schools, hospitals, and other workplaces in central Bristol for hundreds of pounds, if not even more. They are wrong. Bristol has, in recent years, like the rest of the world, seen major changes in working patterns during and following the pandemic. These patterns will also have been impacted by the introduction of the Clean Air Zone, for which our administration recently secured another £11 million to help people and businesses to upgrade to compliant vehicles.

A study was done into the idea of a Workplace Parking Levy, which is lacking any modelling incorporating those major factors for its potential effectiveness. The council considers it, therefore, to be just a draft – a position endorsed by the Information Commissioner when we declined to publish it while it is still yet to be completed. This position has unfortunately since been overturned on a technical argument of law and so we are today publishing that draft report. It remains incomplete and, with the current stalling of the funding and ambition to take a mass transit system forward, we have no plans to introduce this charge.

Sam* and Karen* share their experiences as service users and volunteers in services to support women involved in the street sex trade.

*Names have been changed

Sam’s story

I was involved in the street sex trade and suffered from a heroin addiction for many years and used dedicated services to support me through the other side.

For the past 17 years, since I recovered from my addiction and broke free from the street sex trade, I have been working as a volunteer, supporting other women involved in the street sex trade. I’m passionate about ensuring women like me get the right support. I know from my own personal experience just how vulnerable the women are and they are so often marginalised in the community.

During the 17 years as a lived experience volunteer and member of support groups, I’ve witnessed a decline in services available to support women going through the same things I did.  

There are plenty of groups that offer support with issues such as drug abuse, mental health and domestic violence but there is still more to do for women involved in the street sex trade. We need to change policies to improve the long-term outcomes and if nothing is done, it is like saying that a section of society is expendable. It pins the blame on women who are trapped in the street sex trade without recognising or addressing factors such as addiction and the other complex pathways into this.

Karen’s story

For me, I wasn’t lucky enough to find support whilst I was in the sex trade but, after suffering violence and abuse for many years, I got away in the end. I ended up volunteering supporting other women and I spent a lot of time around like-minded women and those who had similar experiences as me.

Being in the street sex trade is an isolated lifestyle, it feels like you’re the only one, so when women open up to me it creates such a connection. These women are intelligent, articulate, and shouldn’t be underestimated.

Lived experience is so important within services as we are the eyes and ears that see and hear what others can’t, because we have experienced it ourselves. There needs to be a safe space for women who have experienced different issues to feel safe to speak openly. Being able to speak to women who have similar experiences, really helps mentally.   

The services aren’t all sadness, as me and Sam know, we can even have a laugh as we all have so much in common. These are daughters, sisters, aunties, mothers, who are loved and they deserve support and you cannot put a price on a life. It doesn’t take millions of pounds – just a core group of passionate women who are specialised to support those who are often forgotten about.

Welcome to ‘Summer’ is a group Aboriginal Art exhibiting celebrating emerging and established Aboriginal Artists and their stories. The exhibition has had an amazing time hosted in City Halls Vestibules, make sure you get down to see it before it closes on Thursday, 3 August.

Coe Gallery’s ‘Summer’ invites you to step into the beautifully bold, colourful and energetic landscapes of Aboriginal Land. Each work being a celebration of the artists connection to their homelands and culture. The artists’ love of land and country uplift us in their joyful paintings and demonstrates the deep connection, beauty and resilience of the many different Aboriginal cultures.  

The artists exhibiting in ‘Summer’ invite you on a journey, intending to inspire the same deep love and respect of nature for all who visit. As featured Wiradjuri artist Hannah Lange says, “All of my work is inspired by country. Whether that be the Bundjalung Country that I live on now, my Wiradjuri lineage country or the beautiful Darug and Gundungurra Country that I grew up on. I want to bring awareness to the beauty of the smallest parts of nature. Highlighting that country does not belong to us, we belong to country.”  

So far visitors have been captivated by the beautiful creations and have felt the intensity of the landscapes –  

“I could stand for hours in front of these. They’re hypnotic. Wonderful!”  

“Inspiring, wonderful exhibition. I felt myself taken into the landscapes and into Mother Earth.”  

“Superb exhibition, beautiful and fascinating pieces. Wonderful to get a glimpse into the artists lives. Feel very lucky to see the work in person. Such an array of colour, texture, pattern and most important stories.”  

Come and experience the warmth and vibrancy ‘Summer’ brings to the Vestibules. Exhibition continues until Thursday, 3 August from 10am to 6pm.  

Through our City Centre and High Streets Culture and Events Programme we are helping to support Bristol’s businesses and the recovery of the culture and events sector.

By leveraging Bristol’s strengths as a creative and diverse city we are encouraging people to visit, explore, and enjoy what Bristol has to offer, with a packed line-up of free events across the city centre and our priority local high streets.

Analysis of 20 completed projects shows that we have so far attracted over 134,000 extra visitors to the city, generated £2.08 million of additional spend in Bristol’s businesses and supported 320 paid jobs in culture and events, all from an investment to date of £444,000.

Bristol’s Summer Film Takeover continues throughout August and September. Marking a major milestone, The 4 Pillars: 50 Years of Hip Hop on 12 August offers a day of free screenings and activities exploring its four pillars – breakdancing, graffiti, DJing and rap – and how it has influenced and left a lasting legacy on Bristol’s culture.

From 18 to 20 August Aardman@Sparks offers a weekend of free Aardman workshops and film screenings in Sparks, Bristol’s new art and sustainability hub. Stop by to watch non-stop Aardman films in the Department of Discovery or get hands on and join one of the Aardman team in creating an iconic clay model in the free clay model-making workshops or learn how to create scenes celebrating nature in the Amazing Scene Machine workshop outside the front of Sparks.

Limbic Cinema are creating an immersive installation using multi-screen visuals, light and sound to celebrate the power of moving image. This sensory experience takes the audience on a 45,000-year visual journey of moving images, from neolithic cave paintings to the advance of artificial intelligence, exploring how humans use technology to bring imagination and storytelling to life. Illusions of Movement runs on 15 and 16 September. A Wall is a Screen: Secrets of the Old City returns on 16 September.

The guided evening walking tour explores hidden architectural gems around the Old City and features a curated selection of short films projected onto nearby buildings to watch along the way.

On the Bristol Comedy History Walk, improvisers and comedians from Bristol Improv Theatre will take you on a guided tour through Old City and Broadmead sharing lesser-known Bristolian stories, using amusing anecdotes, to reveal another side of the city you thought you knew.

Returning bigger and better than ever, Knowle West Fest 23 will take over Filwood Broadway on Saturday 5 August. Starting at 11am with a colourful street parade, the community will wind their way through the streets before kicking off the festivities. The family friendly festival will be filled with music, workshops, activities, food, market stalls and more. You can join the Parade Making Day on Wednesday 2 August to help make the costumes and decorations for the parade.

The Art Weekender takes place on 19 August on East Street. Closing the road for the day, people can immerse themselves in a street experience filled with live theatre, choirs, performers and entertainment and crafts for children and families.

St George Community Centre will run Toddlefest on 20 August from 1pm to 4pm. The festival style event will include family fun and activities from We The Curious, face painting, music and dance.

On Saturday 26 August, the last Saturday of the school holidays, Old City Sounds will take over Bristol’s Old City between 12pm and 6pm. Created by Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District, the family-friendly music event will celebrate different genres across four vibrant zones. The Old Duke Jazz Festival will lead the ‘Old City Jazz’ zone on King Street, the ‘Old City Kids’ zone will play children’s classics and have entertainment for the family at St Stephen’s Church garden, ‘Old City Acoustics’ at St Nick’s Market is the final bumper day of its Summer of Busking series, and St Nicholas Street will play host to classical and nu-wave musicians and vocalists in the ‘Old City Eclectic’ area.

Bristol Photo Festival have matched photographers and communities in Dreamlines, to produce a series of public exhibitions in early September along four of Bristol’s priority high streets: Filton Avenue, Shirehampton High Street, Stapleton Road, and Two Mile Hill. The exhibitions are the result of leading photographers and writers working with local residents across Bristol’s nine priority high streets to explore and celebrate the places they live, to make connections and to create a sense of place and identity.

The city centre and community markets continue to support traders, attract visitors and bring communities together:

• St Nick’s Night Market – Friday 4 August
• Better Sundays Broadmead – first Sunday of the month
• Brislington community market – Saturday 19 August
• East Street market – first Saturday of the month
• Shirehampton market – first Thursday of the month
• Stockwood market – last Saturday of the month

Yesterday, Councillor Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor of Bristol, and I met with Irene Muthemba, the mother of Eddie King Muthemba Kinuthia, also known as EK, the young man from St Pauls who was killed in Bristol last weekend.

We were honoured to host Irene, as well as Eddie’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and other members of his family, at City Hall. It was a powerful meeting – but it is one which I wish was never needed, for an incident which should never have happened, with a family and community that should never have had to suffer such a loss.  

It was deeply moving to hear of the impact of Eddie’s murder on the family and to see how they have come together. We have pledged to support those affected however we can, both personally and working with organisations across Bristol as One City.  

Asher and I were both struck by the extraordinary graciousness of his family, in what must surely be the darkest time of their lives. That they were so focused on action and the needs of others, at a time of such unimaginable personal grief, is testament to the people of faith they are and, I’m sure, to the son that they raised. It is this spirit which saw them speak with such care about the wellbeing of Eddie’s friends: young people in our city, many of whom are traumatised by his murder and struggling to grieve this loss. 

Irene, Eddie’s mum, a Healthcare Assistant, also spoke of wanting to work to prevent the potential retaliation. She wants to stop that happening. She wants the fighting and killing to stop. She told us the family of the perpetrator will also lose a child, who has to carry the weight of killing someone and will end up in prison.  

Of course, Irene, and the whole family, want justice. I think I speak for the whole city in saying that we all do. Eddie deserves nothing less.  

We therefore again encourage anyone with any information to come forward. We know that sometimes people can be afraid, and so have sought – and can share – reassurance from the police that information provided to Crimestoppers is anonymous and that people otherwise coming forward will be kept safe.  

If you have any information which could help the investigation, please call 101, giving the reference 5223175298, or upload footage and information directly onto the Major Incident Public Portal. The independent charity Crimestoppers is also taking information 100 per cent anonymously. Whether you call 0800 555 111 or use their anonymous online reporting form, you’re never asked your name and you cannot be traced.  

Many people around Bristol will want to support Eddie’s family at this time. The family have started a Go Fund Me to help cover the costs of a funeral which they never anticipated, and which no parent should ever have to arrange. At this most difficult time, the family have asked that the media respect their privacy.  

Eddie was a talented young man. He was a member of the E5 Church on Jamaica Street. His whole life was ahead of him.  

That the fullness of Eddie’s promise will go unfulfilled is a deep tragedy for a Bristol family – and thus, for our whole city.