Over the past two weeks in Bristol, we have seen two incidents against the LGBTQIA+ community. These disappointing and disturbing acts are completely unacceptable.

It can sometimes be hard to feel positive in the face of such incidents. Events like these should serve as a reminder to us allies that we must continue to actively support the LGBTQIA+ community. We cannot lose sight of the strong community of support that exists across the city, with allies in all communities, which this weekend will clearly demonstrate. It is important to celebrate the milestones reached while facing up to the progress there still is to make.

Pride began as a protest and the LGBTQIA+ community still face discrimination and prejudice, hatred and violence.

In this current climate it feels even more than before important that we show solidarity and continue to keep building a city where everyone is safe and welcome. Putting the LGBTQIA+ community front and centre of Bristol this weekend is incredibly important, and I support Stonewall’s 2023 Pride message:

“Let’s get the UK back on track for LGBTQ+ rights.”

Why is Pride important to Bristol?

From the 2021 Census we know that Bristol is considerably more diverse in sexual orientation and gender identity than the South West of England and nationally:

• 15th highest LGBTQIA+ population ages 16 years and over
• second highest number of bisexual people (by local authority)
• second highest ‘queer’ population (by local authority)
• third highest amount of pansexual people (by local authority)
• fourth highest amount of asexual population (by local authority)
• Second largest non-binary population (out of 331 local authorities)
• 3,220 citizens across the city said their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth (about 1 in 120)

We want to make sure our commitment to making Bristol a safe city for LGBTQIA+ people is visible. From lighting up City Hall, to raising the Pride inclusion flag, to the wonderful rainbow crossing on Wine Street. But, as important as these visible symbols are, we also want to deliver real action. As a local authority, we’re continuing to put equality and inclusion at the heart of everything we do. We want our LGBTQIA+ staff lead group to continue to have a meaningful voice along with Bristol City Council’s staff Equality and Inclusion Champions.

Happy Pride!

If you are attending Pride day this Saturday then you will be able to speak to colleagues from our Museums and Fostering services, along with members of the council’s LGBTQIA+ Staff Lead Group, and our Housing Development organisation, Goram Homes.

If you’re not subscribed to the council’s weekly newsletter then you can read the Pride special edition online, to find out more about how Bristol City Council are supporting Pride and LGBTQIA+ residents across the city.

I’m proud to represent a city that does not simply tolerate each other but embraces one another with respect and dignity.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this: here in Bristol you’re always free to be whoever you want to be. You deserve respect, empathy, and dignity. I will continue to stand the LGBTQIA+ community and be part of the progress we need to make.

Enjoy pride day this weekend. Be safe and look out for each other. 

In the 15 months since it launched, 45 projects with 116 free event days have been delivered or are currently underway through our City Centre and High Streets Culture and Events Programme. Our updated evaluation of 17 completed projects shows that we have attracted over 120,000 extra visitors to the city, generated £1.91 million of additional spend in Bristol’s businesses, and supported 240 paid jobs in culture and events, all from an investment of £384,000.

Events continue throughout the summer. All events are free and fully accessible so everyone can visit, explore and enjoy what Bristol has to offer.

Presented by Bristol UNESCO City of Film and partners, Bristol’s Summer Film Takeover celebrates Bristol’s culture and identity through different screen experiences. The programme marks a number of major milestones, including 50 years of hip hop’s influence on Bristol’s culture, the 75th anniversary of Windrush, and 100 years of 16mm film.

The line-up of events has something for everyone, including a guided evening walking tour to explore the architecture of Bristol’s Old City with short films projected onto nearby buildings, bicycle powered cinema showing back-to-back cult classics, and Summer of Soul – a celebration of the music, artists and culture that sprang from 60s Harlem – will be screened in the Galleries’ basement car park. Free workshops are also available, including Aardman workshops at Sparks Bristol and workshops in splicing, dicing, and projecting your own 16mm film.

The popular Bristol Comedy History Walk continues throughout July and August. Improvisers and comedians from Bristol Improv Theatre will take you on a guided tour through Old City and Broadmead sharing lesser-known Bristolian stories and revealing some of Bristol’s most humorous and surprising secrets.

The Young Bristol Bus will be on Brislington Hill/Bristol Hill from 6pm to 8pm on 3, 17, and 31 July and 14 August offering 8 to 19 year olds a free, safe space with trained youth workers to take part in printing, stencils, video, painting, and mural making with professional artists.

Forming part of Bristol Harbour Festival, the Circus Playground is on College Green from 15 to 17 July. Cirque Bijou will once again perform and delight the crowd with tricks and trapeze, children’s entertainment and pop-up performances.

On 15 July Celebrating Filton Avenue will bring the high street to life with a family friendly day including a samba band, local performers, craft activities and facepainting.

Following the creative sessions over the last couple of months, the Stockwood Sounds Audio Trail will launch at a free community event in Stockwood Square on Saturday 22 July, transforming your experience of walking around Stockwood into a celebration of local people’s creativity.

Welcome to Stapleton Road celebrates the businesses, communities and cultures of Stapleton Road. This month’s A World of Peace, the final event in the series, takes place at the Easton Christian Family Centre on Thursday 27 July from 11am to 4pm.

Ockham’s razor, one of the UK’s leading circus companies, takes over Broadmead on 29 July with two showings of their new outdoor performance PUBLIC. Ten young performers will incorporate acrobatics, parkour and dance as they move through the architecture of the streets and make the city’s architecture their playground, in a show that reimagines public space as a space for creativity.

Musicians from the Bristol Institute of Music Management (BIMM) will perform at St Nick’s Market Summer of Busking events on 29 July and 26 August, from 12pm to 3pm. Visitors to the market will be able to enjoy the acoustic music as they browse through the stalls and dine al fresco. Busking on 26 August will form part of the up-coming Old City Sounds, a family-friendly music event that will take over Bristol’s Old City.

Knowle West Fest 23 is a community, family friendly festival in the heart of Knowle West on Saturday 5 August. This year’s event is bigger and better than ever with a colourful street parade starting at 11am, followed by music, workshops, activities, food and market stalls. On 26 July you can help spruce up the area and paint the ‘Filwood’ letters ready for the celebrations.

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.

Bristol Photo Festival are working with Historic England to provide creative photographic workshops, documents, exhibitions and interventions in our priority high streets in August and early September. Picturing Bristol aims to help animate the high streets and encourage Bristol’s citizens to explore and celebrate the places they live, making connections to each other and adding to a sense of belonging and identity.

Our markets remain popular and continue throughout the summer:

• St Nick’s Night Market – monthly on Friday 7 July and 4 August
• Better Sundays Broadmead – first Sunday of the month
• Brislington community market – monthly on 22 July and 19 August
• East Street market – first Saturday of the month
• Shirehampton market – first Thursday of the month
• Stockwood market – last Saturday of the month

I was very fortunate to be nominated to attend the King’s 1^st garden party at Buckingham Palace on 3 May, 2023. It was a complete surprise to be nominated by the Mayor and to be truthful, knowing how hard lots of Bristol City Council employees had worked in a challenging year, to be nominated was a lump in the throat moment.

When I first told my wife, Mandy, who also works at the council, she was more excited than I was, if that was possible.

A couple of weeks later, the invitation arrived, a moment I shall also never forget. Opening the letter carefully as to not damage the envelope or its contents in any way.

Shopping, which is also a passion, was fun. A new suit, tie and shoes was in order. Don’t get me started on what Mandy needed. Dress, handbag, the dreaded shoes and, of course, the hat. Checking that what was chosen was within the dress code.

The day itself was amazing. The sun shone, and we all gathered at the front gates of Buckingham Palace. Roads were closed due to the-then forthcoming Coronation.

When the main gates opened at the front of the Palace, the walk to the garden at the rear was long, but memorable for all the right reasons. Everyone in their best outfits, immaculately dressed military personnel lining the route and then the splendour as you reach “the garden”.

Mingling with other fortunate guests was a pleasure, we were sat with a recipient of an OBE, who had been invited as the award had been given during the pandemic and had not attended a ceremony with the Royal family.

At 4pm, the National Anthem was played as Their Majesties the King and Queen arrived. We managed to be in the nearby crowd when the King and Queen met people from all walks of life.

A walk around the garden and we saw the other Royals who were supporting their Majesties, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. We were so very fortunate to be presented to Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh.  

The sandwiches and soft drinks were delightful and a another walk around the garden, soaking in the ambience was breath-taking.

We were again fortunate to be in position at the front of the crowd when Their Majesties The King and Queen and Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess passed by at the end of the party.

A time to leave unfortunately arrived and we were respectfully ushered from the garden. However, photos and memories will last longer than the two hours we were there, but in truth the whole day/experience is something we will never forget.

Bristol’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) has now been running for six months. It was introduced on 28 November last year to help protect residents from the harmful effects of air pollution. We have a moral and legal duty to deliver cleaner air, and its introduction has been a big step forward on our journey to creating a healthier city for everyone who lives and works here.

We sought to introduce the CAZ in a way that protects the most deprived households in our city, as well as our trades and businesses, by offering financial support schemes. Around four out of five vehicles being driven in the zone already meet the requirements, and are not charged anything.

We have already allocated almost £15 million to help people upgrade to a vehicle that won’t be charged to drive into the zone. Over 600 vehicles have already been replaced, and we expect around 3,000 to be upgraded thanks to this grant funding.

We have now received an additional £11 million from government to help provide more financial support to people who want to upgrade their non-compliant vehicle. This doesn’t have to be a brand new or electric vehicle – it can be second hand as long as it meets the zone’s emissions standards.

This new pot of money will allow us to support individuals who earn under £30,000 a year – raised from £27,000 to help more people during the national cost of living crisis and will allow businesses with larger fleets to apply for financial support for more than five vehicles.

People who meet the new criteria will be able to apply for the funding in the same way as they have been doing so far via the expression of interest form on the council’s website.

National government set legal limits for pollution, and we have introduced a Clean Air Zone to ensure Bristol meets those limits within the shortest possible time. You must pay to drive within the zone if your vehicle does not meet the zone’s emission standards, unless you are exempt. Following the ending of the extended temporary local exemptions on 31 March, a few exemptions remain.

We also have free active travel offers available to anyone that lives or works in Bristol. This includes bike and e-bike trials, cycle training, VOI e-Scooter credit, bus and train taster tickets, and car club credit. These offers are a great opportunity for people in Bristol to try out new ways of travelling that are better for their health, wellbeing, and the environment too. Changing just a few of your journeys each week can make a big difference. Apply on our website now to receive your free travel offers.

If you need advice or guidance about the Clean Air Zone, you can contact our team of advisors who are always happy to help. Take a look at the information on our webpages or give us a call on 0117 903 6385.

Building connections and breaking stigma

Created and hosted by Marmalade Trust, Loneliness Awareness Week raises awareness of loneliness across the UK (and beyond) and gets people talking about it. Marmalade Trust is a leading loneliness charity based in St Pauls, Bristol. We launched Loneliness Awareness Week in 2017 and it grows in momentum each year across the UK and, this year, we are excited to see other countries get involved too.

Loneliness Awareness Week is a week dedicated to raising awareness of loneliness and reducing the stigma that surrounds it. It’s all about creating supportive communities by having conversations with family, friends or colleagues about loneliness.

Why we need to raise awareness of loneliness

Loneliness is a natural human emotion. We are hardwired to need social connections; by talking about it, we can support ourselves and others. Starting today, Monday 12 June, there will be many ways for everyone to do something. Whether you are a small or large business, organisation, community group, or individual, there is something for everyone.

Loneliness can have profound effects on our mental, emotional, and physical well-being – it can even shorten our life span. Whilst we’re seeing an increase in discussion on the subject, stigma remains and there are some key misconceptions that still need to be challenged. Ask anyone to picture a lonely person and most will imagine an older person living on their own.  As such, we often rebuke and dismiss feelings of loneliness because ‘that doesn’t apply to me’.

By identifying and acknowledging all the times that we have personally felt and experienced loneliness, we can start to change our viewpoint, accept it and understand how to take action to manage the feeling (and our social connections) in the future.

Our 2023 campaign

Connection matters. It’s what makes us human. Whether it’s your regular barista, the friendly dog on your walk, or the shopkeeper down the road, everyday moments of connection matter. They allow us to make connections, feel happier and less lonely. It matters in business because we are not just colleagues, we are people. It matters on the commute because we are still a community. It matters as a new parent because you are still an individual. It matters on freshers week, in the cafe, down the market, on the streets, in the parks, on the highest of mountains, or sat on the underground. It matters everywhere. We matter. Connection matters.

For Loneliness Awareness Week 2023, we’re encouraging everyone to harness these moments of connection. Together, we can all feel less lonely.

How you can get involved

Getting involved in Loneliness Awareness Week is simple.

• Download and spread the word
• Download our supporter pack and assets from our website and share them within your networks.
• Stick a poster in your window, use virtual meeting backdrops, and inspire others through your newsletters.

• Build and create
• Talk about loneliness with others, join a walk, or host a social event.
• Add your activities and plans to our Connections Map at https://www.lonelinessawarenessweek.org/map and explore what’s happening in your area.

• Follow and share
• Share meaningful moments with colleagues, neighbours, friends, and family.
• Follow us on social media @MarmaladeTrust and use #LonelinessAwarenessWeek #ConnectionMatters to share your stories of connection online.

Get in touch 

For more information, please visit lonelinessawarenessweek.org. You can reach us by email: info@marmaladetrust.org or if you’re an organisation or business interested in partnering with us, send your message to: alice@marmaladetrust.org.

In Bristol we are ambitious for our children, families, and young people. Children’s services and education in Bristol are a complex set of services that provide a diverse offer of support across all communities. These services are united by our ambition to support all children, families and young people to thrive.

Achieving our ambitions means overcoming challenges at every level. From overcoming failing national policy in these areas, to securing the funding needed to balance increasingly challenging budgets and ensuring the right skills, knowledge and experience are in place locally to deliver – though the list of challenges is lengthy.

We believe the effort is worth it and we are fully committed to putting in the work needed to build sustainable, child focused, diverse, responsible and enterprising services.

This week at cabinet, with the Mayor and colleagues, I approved a plan that outlines the major programme of work we are delivering that is seeing us transform Children’s and Education services from top to bottom. This programme, made up of tens of smaller projects, across all services, is ensuring the needs of children, families and young people are identified and can be met whilst balancing the ever challenging financial strain on the local government system.

To achieve this we are listening to what parents, carers and young people tell us they need for themselves and for their families to thrive, and we use this valuable insight to inform the plans and strategies that will help deliver the best possible outcomes.

While focus groups, engagement sessions, and co-production are by no means an exact science, they are baked into every new plan and strategy we develop. Alongside input from our partners in health, education, and social care, this helps to ensure that that we are always considering the voices of parents, carers, and young people.

Two key areas of focus for us, alongside the wider programme of work, were highlighted when the new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Accelerated Progress Plan (APP), and the updated Children’s Services Improvement Plan 2023-25, were approved at Cabinet this week.

Parents and carers tell us that improving trust and relationships across the local area goes hand-in-hand with developing SEND services. Therefore, our APP has been informed by three focus groups with parents and carers, alongside colleagues from education, health, and care.

This plan sets out our vision for improvement in SEND provision and the values that will drive the required change, strategic oversight of improvements and the actions we will take to address the weaknesses identified by inspectors. With the recent announcement that Bristol now has a formal Parent Carer Forum, as well as our Community of Groups representing over 20 different community and parent organisations, we are already on track alongside the Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICB) and our local area partners to jointly deliver this plan.

Although the Government’s much anticipated new SEND and alternative provision (AP) plan published in March did not go far enough in either funding or ambition, and with the current national SEND system needing a reset to make it work better for all children and families, with its compass set firmly towards inclusivity, right now, we will continue to drive change and make the improvements that parents and carers tell us will make a real difference.

Equally important in the development and provision of appropriate services is the voice of the young person. That’s why our overarching Bristol’s Belonging Strategy for Children and Young People 2021-24 was informed by and co-produced with the young people of Bristol. In the recent Ofsted inspection of Children’s Services (January), inspectors noted that ‘children in care have a strong voice, both as individuals and collectively’, and that ‘issues raised by children about the things that are important to them are addressed’. Three out of five key areas of the inspection found that we required improvement to be good, and in response to this we have developed a new Children’s Services Improvement Plan 2023-25. The plan reflects the strategic intent of the Belonging Strategy vision which also underpins the Council’s Corporate Strategy.

The main purpose of the Improvement Plan is to deliver Ofsted’s recommendations and the required improvements from the inspection findings, of which a key area is the voice of children and young people. To do this we will review our current co-production, engagement, and participation arrangements. This will help us to improve our strategic understanding of the experiences of children. By listening to children and young people we can adapt our service design to better meet their needs. The themes of the plan reflect a child’s journey through our services and highlight the leadership and system-wide arrangements necessary to deliver good services and outcomes for children.

Overarching and informing all of this work is the new Our Families Programme (Children and Education), a £21.4 million whole-system transformation project that was also approved by June Cabinet, with an immediate spend of up to £4.78 million to support its delivery.

The premise of the programme is that it will design effective and sustainable services with, and for, children, young people, and families through a whole system change process. By addressing the challenges across major council portfolios, including Children’s services and Education, we can achieve better outcomes and have a positive impact on our children, young people and families.

Greater stability and resilience will not be achieved by focusing on one area alone.

As I stated at the start of this blog, we are ambitious for our children, families, and young people in Bristol. This is an exciting time and opportunity to be working together, with children, families and young people, and partners, to shape the future, make further progress, and create equitable opportunities.

When we launched the first One City Plan in 2019, we did not know how it would be received but it is clear that there is an energy in our city to continue to work together to secure a better, more inclusive, and more sustainable future for Bristol.

We have been able to capture this energy over and again through ongoing collaboration from partners across our city. Yesterday, this culminated in the launch of its fourth iteration, which you can read below ahead of it being published on Bristol One City’s website. The One City Plan is not the council’s plan or my plan, but it is a combined effort from all key organisations that signals Bristol’s intent up to 2050. It is written by and for our city.

City partners and One City board members gathered to celebrate the launch of the new One City Plan and the hard work of colleagues in pulling this together at pace. It is always great to see Bristol coming together with a renewed energy to map out and deliver ambitions for our city. 

The plan has evolved to reflect the change facing our city. In 2020, our goals focused on the 2030 carbon neutrality targets and the climate emergency. In 2021, our focus was on covid and how we recover from the social, health, and economic impacts. This year’s refresh of our shared goals has been developed in the context of the national cost-of-living crisis.

In this version, we have included more details of how we track delivery of the goals and also how we measure them against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using the SDG indicators. Within the plan we have set out which boards are contributing to which SDGs. We also provide clearer information on how One City operates and the definitions that are used.

The event also gave an opportunity to reflect on some of the successes of the One City approach so far. We heard from Christina Gray, Director of Public Health, who reflected on the mobilisation of support through the national cost-of-living crisis, with 105 Welcoming Spaces opened for Bristol’s residents over the winter. We also heard from Stephen Peacock, Bristol City Council’s Chief Executive, on the future of One City; Rebecca Mear, CEO of Voscur, shared perspectives from the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector; Victoria Matthews, Business West, offered the business sector perspective; and Councillor Tom Renhard, Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homes, reflected on the work of the Living Rent Commission, ahead of its report being published, as another working example of city-wide collaboration through our One City Approach.

A big thank you to all of our city partners and board members for contributing to the plan and working collaboratively to deliver this refresh. I would also like to thank Andrea, the outgoing Head of the City Office, for leading the process to refresh the plan, as well as Allan and Sarah who have also been pivotal in supporting work to deliver on shared goals as One City.

Under One Roof is a new monthly support session that will provide people who are rough sleeping or at risk of homelessness, expert advice on a range of subjects in one location, as we continue to work to end rough sleeping in Bristol.

The service will be launching at its first session, today. Sessions will take place on the first Wednesday of each month at The Salvation Army Citadel in Montpelier. There is no need to book as people can just turn up on the day.

These sessions bring together specialist organisations providing advice and support in relation to:

• Education, training and employment
• Welfare Benefits
• Housing
• Health issues including support with drugs and alcohol

Ella and Julian, officers from the council’s Welfare Rights and Money Advice Service (WRAMAS) will be on hand to provide advice and assistance to people who are struggling to access their correct benefit entitlement.

Ella and Julian’s posts are funded by the Rough Sleeping Initiative, and these sessions build on the work WRAMAS has been doing to help people who are rough sleeping to resolve problems with their benefits.

People who are rough sleeping, often face additional barriers to claiming benefits. Our link workers help them to claim health and disability benefits, resolve difficulties getting their identity verified, resolve problems that might be blocking benefits and assist people who have difficulties providing evidence to support their claims.

These sorts of issues can prevent people from accessing accommodation in the first place and will stops those that are in accommodation from paying rent.

By having multiple services in one place, Under One Roof provides a holistic service, where those who need support can be introduced to the full range of services they require.

The project has been developed by the Department for Work and Pensions. The sessions will be hosted by the Salvation Army who are one of the main delivery partners alongside Bristol City Council, St Mungo’s, Shelter, Bristol Drugs Project and Second Step.