It’s well established that local government across our country is facing a cost of operating crisis that is affecting all areas of local authority work. The systematic defunding of the local government sector by successive governments over thirteen years has left all councils facing increasing demand without the financing necessary to do all the things we used to do.

In February, we set another balanced budget for the seventh consecutive year of this administration, no easy feat considering the challenges. We have continued to protect all of Bristol’s libraries and children centres, prioritised support for low-income families by continuing to fully fund the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Local Crisis Prevention Fund, and set aside the funding needed to continue our ambitious home building programme.

We continue to tackle the big issues facing our city head on, and reduce pressure on the frontline services that fellow Bristolians rely upon wherever we can — including thanks to the £1 million that we have saved by reducing the number of council directors.

With every year, however, the impact of delivering on our priorities becomes increasingly challenging. This year’s council budget was set against the backdrop of the national cost of living crisis, made worse by the national mini Budget, which has driven up the costs of goods, services, and energy. Coupled with rising demand for the services that we deliver and lower government funding than we need, the council’s budget gap over the coming five years was estimated to be over £30 million. This led us to set out a number of areas where we would look to save money and increase income whilst continuing to protect frontline services as much as possible.

Whilst this has meant that we have needed to review how services are delivered across all areas. Our plans also include over £11 million of actions to change the way the council operates, further improve efficiency, and deliver even greater value for money in how the council is run. A large part of these savings, nearly a quarter, will be achieved by further reducing the number of buildings used by our staff, following on from a January cabinet decision to sell six sites.

After many months of work to explore the various options to reduce office space without negatively impacting frontline services, we are now in a position to take the next steps and begin delivering these much needed work.

This approach will see us move out of a number of sites across Bristol. City Hall will continue to be the council’s main office with other buildings retained in the north, south, and east of our city to provide space for officers to work closely with people in those communities. These local offices of course sit alongside the network of libraries and children’s centres that we are proud to have protected across Bristol, which help connect residents with services.

Final decisions on which buildings will be retained are yet to be made, but we have made a commitment to keep the Citizen Service Point on Temple Street despite other council officers moving from this office space later this year.

As this project develops we will be in touch with people affected by any planned closures to let them know what changes are being delivered and where they can continue to access the services they need.

When Bristol achieved Living Wage City recognition in 2019, it showed how serious we are about addressing low pay and in-work poverty.  

Three years on and we have received Living Wage City status for a further three years, enabling us to continue our work to encourage employers in Bristol to pay a good wage. 

Our first three years of being a Living Wage City have seen us exceed our targets. The aim was to double the number of real Living Wage accredited employers headquartered in Bristol from 62 to 125, but we were able to achieve 140 accreditations. In 2019, there were just under 20,000 people in Bristol working with accredited real Living Wage employers, now we have around 43,000. As part of our city’s efforts to increase people’s pay, approximately 4,000 people have had a pay rise, uplifting them to the real Living Wage or higher. This is an increase nearly three times higher than expected. 

With no signs of the national cost of living crisis ending, earning a wage that is based on the actual cost of living has never been more important. While the real Living Wage will not solve the crisis, providing employees with a wage based on living costs can help provide security and stability for workers. 

Research by the Living Wage Foundation in late 2022 highlighted our concerns that low paid workers are more likely to be in financial hardship now than at any point over the past few years. These people are likely to be skipping meals regularly for financial reasons, are unable to heat their homes and may be seeking a pay-day loan to cover essentials. 

Clearly earning less than the real Living Wage is harder now than ever before which is why our work in Bristol to encourage our city’s employers to pay a fair wage is so vital.  

In January 2019, the City Office launched our shared One City plan, setting out how city partners would work together to create a fair, healthy and sustainable city. Bristol Living Wage City became a part of this vision in January 2020. 

Major organisations across our city came together to form a Bristol Living Wage City action group, which has been integral to our city’s success. Key founding partners who are still leading the initiative alongside Bristol City Council today include Business West, University of Bristol, the Great Western Credit Union, TUC South West, and ACH. 

New members have regularly joined the group, picking up the work of other founding members during three years of hard work and challenging times. The University of the West of England, Hargreaves Lansdown, and We the Curious are now established key members of the group. 

Our Bristol Living Wage action group is the perfect example of how we can successfully work together as One City. We have a strong partnership and clear strategy and action plan to continue this work through the next three years. Renewing Bristol’s commitment to becoming a Living Wage City is both a call to action and a clear way forward to achieving a fair and inclusive economy for all in Bristol.  

The action group are proud, and rightly so, of their achievements over the last three years, hitting all their targets and making good inroads into traditionally low paid industries, such as cleaning, childcare, retail and hospitality, with 29 per cent of accredited employers headquartered in Bristol from these employment sectors.  

The action group meets every two months to review the approach and monitor progress against targets. The group annually review our city’s journey and ambitions, working together to co-design a new action plan for the next three years.  

Looking forward up to December 2025, our action group has five key aims: 

• Targeting large and iconic employers in Bristol 
• Engaging low-pay sectors 
• Supporting small and medium enterprise to commit to the real Living Wage 
• Raising awareness of the real Living Wage movement across the city, with a focus on target sectors and peer to peer support 
• Developing and sharing practical guidance on the real Living Wage to employers and employees 

Our action group will work hard to reach our new targets of an additional 120 accredited employers headquartered in our city. This would lead to an additional 1,200 employees’ salaries being uplifted to at least the real Living Wage. 

The national cost of living crisis threatens to significantly impact living standards, making the campaign for the real Living Wage even more important. Bristol has a strong vision for its future as a city that has a vibrant and successful economy, where everyone has the opportunity to both contribute to and benefit from economic growth. A city that is fair and inclusive. Bristol Living Wage City is fundamental platform for delivering this vision. 

If you are interested in becoming an accredited real Living Wage employer visit the Living Wage Foundation website to find out more or contact our Living Wage team at livingwage@bristol.gov.uk 

Bristol residents never cease to amaze me with their dedication to helping others and making a difference to other people’s lives. I would like to start with a thank you to all of the unsung heroes who volunteer their time to support so many people and activities across our city.

There are lots of ways to give back to your local community, and volunteering is one of the most rewarding. Often the questions I get asked are about where to begin, how to support others, or even if it’s worth doing.

As we look forward to this year’s Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June), I want to share my volunteering experience and why I recommend everyone gets involved.

My five reasons to volunteer:

1. Make a difference – helping someone who needs it and giving back to the people in your local community is an incredibly rewarding experience
2. Build new relationships – making new connections with people can be incredibly rewarding. You’ll get the chance to meet a variety of people from different backgrounds who you might not usually get the chance to speak to
3. Expand your skill set – developing new skills is great for your personal and work life. Volunteering can help you add achievements you might need to your CV and increase your career opportunities
4. Boost your confidence – doing something new or continuing to develop a skill you already have can increase your self-confidence.
5. Great for your own wellbeing – it’s not selfish to say that doing something good makes you feel good. Supporting those around you or helping with the success of an event will bring a smile to your face and help you feel great!

How can you volunteer?

From Monday 8 May, to mark His Majesty The King’s Coronation, thousands of organisations across the country are getting together to help people give back to their local communities with The Big Help Out. No matter what you are good at, there will be something that will suit you. The idea is for people to spare as little as an hour or as much as a day. Even doing something small can make a big difference.

To find local volunteering opportunities, you can visit the Can Do Bristol website. You will find a range of options from volunteering at festivals, helping to train young sea cadets, supporting people with dementia, and lots more. You can sign up for regular volunteering slots or one-off events, and people looking for volunteers can also contact you directly. If you’re looking for volunteers to support your event or organisation you can also advertise for free on the Can Do Bristol website.

Marking Volunteers’ Week 2023

I firstly want to say a huge thank you to anyone who already volunteers in Bristol, whether you do this through Can Do Bristol, with local community organisations or by just helping out friends or family.

We are once again working closely with Voscur and Black South West Network to give a big city thank you and put a spotlight on some of the amazing work Bristol’s volunteers have been doing. More details on this will be available closer to Volunteers’ Week.

As we have done for previous years, we are running our Wall of Thanks on the Can Do Bristol website where you can submit messages of thanks and appreciation to volunteers or community organisations that have helped you. You can submit these here: The Wall of Thanks 2023 – Can Do Bristol

If you are an organisation and you’ve received support from volunteers over the past year, as well as posting messages on the Wall of Thanks, you can visit the Volunteers’ Week website and find out how else you can say thank you.

The people of Bristol can be rightly proud of their firefighters, who, for generations, have been willing to risk their lives on a daily basis to serve the city and protect its citizens from the devastation that fire can bring. From high profile incidents like the tragic fire at Twinnel House in Easton, through to the everyday jobs of dealing with house fires, road traffic collisions and a plethora of other incidents, our firefighters can be relied upon to protect us in times of need.

The service that they bring should never be taken for granted, and neither should their sacrifice. While others are running away from danger, firefighters are running towards it and tragically, the nature of our job has meant that over 2,300 UK firefighters have lost their lives whilst serving their communities. The names on this role of honour include many from Bristol and the surrounding area, from the heroes who fought the infernos of the WW2 blitz, through to Fleur Lombard, the young firefighter who lost her life fighting a supermarket blaze in 1996.

The Fire Brigades Union is committed to ensuring that no matter how much time has passed, firefighters who died protecting their communities are remembered and honoured. That’s why, working with the Firefighters Memorial Trust, we helped instigate Firefighters Memorial Day.

Firefighters’ Memorial Day falls on 4 May every year and is an important day for all serving and retired firefighters. The day honours the sacrifice of firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty, acknowledging the courage and dedication of generations of firefighters, including those who serve our communities today.

On Firefighters Memorial Day, firefighters stand outside of their stations at midday and hold a minute’s silence. A wreath-laying also takes place at the National Firefighters’ Memorial by St Paul’s Cathedral with representatives from the FBU and the Firefighters Memorial Trust. This year will be especially poignant for all of us in the service, following the tragic line of duty death of our colleague Firefighter Barry Martin, who lost his life serving the public of Edinburgh.

We want Firefighters Memorial Day to be a public event and we encourage members of the community, local politicians, and families of fallen firefighters to attend local fire stations and participate in the minutes silence. Contact your local fire station if you want to know more, I can assure you that any expression of solidarity is deeply appreciated.

You can also help us honour fallen firefighters by supporting our Red Plaque Scheme, which aims to recognise the sacrifice of firefighters by mounting a special plaque near the scene of the incident where a firefighter lost their life.

The Red Plaques take inspiration from English Heritage’s Blue Plaque Scheme, which marks the homes of influential historic and cultural figures, and our aim for the Red Plaque scheme is to recognise and honour as many fallen firefighters as possible for their selfless commitment to protecting others.

You can explore and view Red Plaque sites across the UK honouring fallen firefighters and nominate a fallen hero for a Red Plaque at this link:

The scheme is funded entirely by the Firefighters 100 Lottery and, by joining up to the lottery, you’ll also be helping support the families of firefighters who have been lost in the line of duty.

Firefighters Memorial Day is a hugely important day for all of us in, and associated with, the UK Fire & Rescue Service. I know from experience the powerful impact that Firefighters Memorial Day has on the public and all those who witness it. I hope that all of you reading this feature will be able to participate and to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of all firefighters who have been lost in the line of duty.

This weekend we welcomed a first for Bristol with the start of our open water swimming pilot in Baltic Wharf.

Under the misty morning skies of Bristol with a buzz of excitement and delight, the first swimmers took to the water to kick off the city’s harbour swimming pilot at 8am on Saturday 29 April. Over the weekend a total of 124 swimmers enjoyed a dip in the harbour water during two supervised swimming sessions from 8am to 10am on Saturday and Sunday.

The event had a lovely feeling to it, with a community of swimmers, including lots of women, coming together to enjoy the pilot.

Working in partnership with open water swim specialists Uswim and Bristol based charity All-Aboard Water Sports we’ve brought a five-week open water swimming pilot to Baltic Wharf. During the swim sessions lifeguards and safety boats are on hand to ensure a safe 200m out and 200m back swim course, marked out with buoys at 50m intervals to provide options for a shorter loop.

The 10 swim sessions of the pilot will allow us to assess whether or not we can provide a designated open water swimming area on a regular basis that is safe and financially sustainable. Throughout the pilot we’ll monitor costs, popularity and any impact on our ability to maintain a safe environment. We’ll also gather feedback from participants and listen to the response from the wider public.

Outside of the harbour swim pilot arrangements it remains unsafe and against the bylaw to swim in the harbour or other waterways in Bristol.

I’d like to give a huge thank you to all of the volunteers who were kept busy checking swimmers in and out of the water and also those who made sure everyone had a safe and enjoyable swimming experience. Also, thanks go out to Dippy for the loan of their tow floats.

If you’d like to get involved and volunteer to help run the pilot swim sessions please email Steve Weeks at All Aboard on weeks231@icloud.com or the team at Uswim on sales@uswimopenwater.com.

The Harbour swimming pilot will continue for a further four weekends. Due to high demand we’ve made additional spaces available for the remaining swimming sessions which are already selling out fast.

Further information about the pilot and how to book are available on our website: Bristol Harbour swimming pilot.

Every year, here at 1625 Independent People (1625ip), we support over 1,500 young people with experience of homelessness and care. As well as providing safe homes, we support young people to access good quality education, training, and jobs, helping them develop healthy relationships.

We are now embarking on ambitious plans to transform our charity’s base at Kingsley Hall, a Grade II* listed building in Bristol’s Old Market conservation area for sustainable, long-term use. We plan to create a safe and welcoming space where young homeless people can overcome isolation, develop skills, and rebuild their lives.

The Kingsley Hall project will bring people together to create new learning facilities, a youth-led social enterprise and new homes for young homeless people in partnership with Bristol City Council and the construction industry charity LandAid.

It is vital that young people feel part of the city, believe in themselves and are able to make positive choices about their future. Through participation in the project, young homeless people will build their sense of ownership, establish a positive connection with where they live and develop new skills and capabilities. Critically, they will be able to develop a sense of identity, connection, and belonging in the city – something they have often lacked in their early lives.

The project will broaden young people’s horizons and open up new opportunities through their interaction with universities, colleges, businesses, community groups and heritage organisations. The project will empower young people to build new healthy relationships and participate in every part of the project – from building design to developing the business plan and undertaking the construction works.

The History of Kingsley Hall

Kingsley Hall, with its medieval cellar and walls, has a history going back centuries. Following a period as a Conservative Club in the 19th century, it was opened in 1911 as the headquarters of the Independent Labour Party by the party’s founder, Keir Hardie.

The Hall has played a significant role in the history of social change in Bristol – from meetings of the Suffragettes to debating wars, workers’ pay and conditions, gentrification, and housing. The Hall’s link to social change continues today as home to the South West’s largest youth homelessness charity.

Working across generations

Consultations have shown that the social issues linked to Kingsley Hall are highly important to the young people 1625ip support. These issues range from campaigns for equality, anti-racism, and good-quality housing, to the history of slavery and migration in Bristol. 

We plan to use Kingsley Hall’s strong historical links as a platform for young people to sense of identity, share their views on Bristol’s history, and participate in new projects that tackle the social issues they face today. These challenges include access to housing; suitable, quality employment; and mental health. Young people will work with us to transform Kingsley Hall into a place they can be proud to pass on to future generations of young people.

Bristol’s History Commission’s Report on The Colston Statue found that age made the biggest difference in how people felt about the statue being pulled down. The Kingsley Hall project will bring younger and older people together. They will be able to share experiences and their views on the city’s past, present and future and hopefully build greater empathy and understanding across generations.

What young people say

You can see some of the young people’s views about the Heritage Project:

We can’t do it on our own – how you can get involved!

The project has come this far thanks to the tenacity and talents of the young people at 1625ip, and support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Bristol City Council, the Mayor’s Office, LandAid, Every Youth, We are Bristol History Commission, University of Bristol, Historic England, and City of Bristol College. We are looking forward to working with many community partners including Off the Record, ACH Refugee Integration and Brunel Care.

If you would like to know more about how you can support the project, please get in touch with our Partnerships Manager, Hannah Camm, at Hannah.camm@1625ip.co.uk.

Are you a 1625ip Alumni?

1625ip is currently working with a group of alumni – members of the charity that have been supported by us over the past 40 years. Our aim is for our alumni to inspire the young people currently supported by the charity.

If you have been supported by 1625ip, or any of the charities (below) that came together to create 1625ip, and you are interested in joining 1625ip’s Alumni or would like to hear more about our 40^th birthday celebrations, please get in touch at comms@1625ip.co.uk.

• Wayahead (previously East Bristol Youth Housing) and Priority Youth Housing. The two charities merged in 2009 to create 1625ip
• Youth Education Service (who joined 1625ip this year)  

Taking action to meet the climate emergency is a key job for our administration. As a local authority, many of the decisions we make can be traced back to the challenge we face in protecting our city against a changing climate and building a Bristol that is resilient but supports sustainable growth.

Together, we’ve set ambitious goals of becoming a carbon neutral, climate resilient, and nature rich city. To do this, we have to decarbonise our economy and infrastructure. We must also create a more circular economy where we reduce water use, better reuse and recycle products and materials, and support the regeneration of the natural environment.

You’ll notice I am using “we” a lot. That’s because this is a challenge that cannot be met by one person or organisation alone – it will take a collective effort both within and outside of our city.

Our One City Climate Strategy sets out what that collaboration looks like and the contribution that’s needed from different parts of our city economy. From the individual up to the biggest employers, each has a role to play, including us at the council.

At the start of every financial year we set out the actions we intend to take in the following 12 months. The latest version of this plan will be discussed and reviewed at Cabinet next week (Tuesday 2 May) and includes the set of actions the council intends to deliver in pursuit of our climate goals. These actions are spread across four themes that relate to delivering carbon neutrality, ecological recovery, cleanliness and waste, and climate resilience.

You can read the plan online and see how each of these themes is expected to bring us closer to meeting our goals. The annual business plan contains a few of the highlights of the action we are taking and for more detail you can read the Mayor’s Climate Emergency Action Plan or our website.

The plan includes actions we will take within the council to cut our emissions but also through the Bristol City Leap Partnership we secured, building on the £100 million our administration has already invested in decarbonisation programmes. We will make the most of the £630 million investment planned for the next five years, creating over 1,000 new jobs and cutting a further 150,000 tonnes of emissions.

Despite the council now being responsible for less than 0.5% of our city’s carbon emissions, we must continue play a key leadership role in bringing organisations together to achieve net zero. The One City Approach is about collective city leadership and generating united action, including on climate change, like never before. But those collective efforts have a ceiling and will only achieve our targets if national and international bodies can also pull the right levers to bring about change. We continue to work with partners to begin to leverage hundreds of billions of pounds of climate investment into cities like Bristol.

Whilst our business plan contains much to set the course of the action we will take this year, it also delivers a stark warning that a just transition to a low-carbon economy needs largescale national investment and action from the government and the business community.