Voting for Trinity in the scheme could mean we secure a grant of up to £4000 (photo @Khali Ackford)

This October and September you can help Trinity secure a grant of up to £4000 in Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme.

To vote, you will need to make a purchase within store of any value. Customers will receive one token per transaction, it's not necessary to purchase a carrier bag in order to receive a token. Add your token to Trinity’s Conservation Project to vote. Voting for Trinity's Conservation Project will mean up to £4000 could be secured for continued investment in Trinity’s future.

Below a list of Bristol stores taking part in the voting on our project.

Axbri Rd Express (BS4 2RU); Bedminster Express (BS3 3NN); Blenheim Court Express (BS1 3LA); Brislington (BS4 5AY); Bristol Metro (BS1 3DW); Bristol Paragon Express (BS1 2HJ); Canons Express (BS1 5TY); Clare St Express (BS1 1XR); College Green Express (BS1 5SP); North St Express (BS3 1HB); Totterdown Express (BS3 4RJ); Whitchurch Express (BS14 9HX); Wine St Express (BS1 2PH).

Voting closes 31 Oct 2018

Architect Tim Ronalds delivers his talk 'Resurrection Man' during our 2018 talk series, delivered as part of our Conservation and Heritage activities (photo credit @Khali Ackford)

We are delighted to announce we have been awarded £1000 by shoppers at Tesco through Tesco;s community Grant scheme, Bags of Help.  Voting ran from September to October and Tesco's shoppers choose which local charity to support by voting with a blue token given to them at the check out.

During 2018 people took part in workshops exploring traditional skills used in the initial building of the centre in the 1800's.These stained glass pieces form part of an indoor visual history trail. (Photo @ Khali Ackford)

The money awarded will help us continue our Conservation works including proceeding with a solar panel and battery storage installation. Thanks to everyone who supported Trinity with their vote!

The Trinity Digs project will enable Trinity to host and support more community activity at the centre. Photo Paul Blakemore

We have been awarded a grant of £231,818 from Power to Change to deliver ‘The Trinity Digs Project’ to carry out capital improvements to the site so can host and support more community activity at the centre.

“We want to make sure Trinity’s ongoing development continues to be shaped and informed by those who use it. As part of the project we’ll be running a community activity programme so that people can get involved, have their say and kick-start their own ideas. More news on this coming soon - watch this space” Glyn Everett, Chair of Trustees and local resident

The project will install customised container-units on site, to provide affordable, low-cost, sustainable hot-desk space as a base for community partners, emerging artists and local start-ups. Improvements to the ‘Graffiti Room’ will also mean more activities can be hosted, such as neighbourhood meetings, rehearsals and workshops.

Match funding has been generously provided from local funders including The Nisbet Trust, who have donated £20,053 toward the capital project, alongside generous donations from members of the public. The project has also been supported by Derbyshire Environmental Trust who have supported with a grant of £28,315 towards costs of the container units. A £25,000 individual gift and a grant of £7,624 from the Postcode Local Trust to improve accessibility to our community garden.

The design scheme was produced thanks to support from Backstage Trust who helped us to revise and update our Feasibility Study, 2018-2019, to work out the next priority for capital works. Alongside the capital works we will be helping support people who have ideas within the community to get involved and set up their own initiatives through the Community Kick Start Project. We are particularly interested in working with small voluntary and residents groups with limited or no budget to support getting new ideas off the ground.

Set up to grow and support community businesses in England, Power to Change provides grants to community businesses run by and for the local community. Our aim through the Trinity Dig’s Project is to continue to invest in the Trinity Centre as a key cultural and community asset, and to build a varied and sustainable participatory community arts programme, that reflects the interests of Bristol’s diverse communities and cultures.

View the latest Trinity Digs plans on www.bristol.gov.uk planning portal application ref: 21/05771/F

In Dec 2019, Trinity received funding from Power to Change, Bristol City Council, Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund and match funders for the Trinity Digs Project; to invest in the Trinity Centre as a key cultural and community asset, and to build a varied and sustainable participatory community arts programme that reflects the interests of Bristol’s diverse communities and cultures.

We secured planning consent (Ref. No: 19/02611/F) for installation of shipping containers, to provide accommodation for desk spaces and kitchen/coffee bar, with outdoor seating for outdoor events.

“Trinity have always been there providing a space for us and many other artists to do what we do best and always put creativity and community first”

Ishmeal Ensemble

Since receiving permission and commencing the ‘Community Kickstart’ activity to launch new community-led projects and groups, the delivery of the project was severely delayed and impacted by both COVID19 and Brexit. This not only caused delay to construction but also rapidly inflated the pricing of the units which meant we weren’t able to proceed with the installation of the planned two-story units, due to the costs of works exceeding committed grant funds.

Whilst we navigated these challenges, like many music venues, we began to get creative with our outdoor event space, launching the Trinity Garden Sessions in Sep 2020, hosting an array of emerging Bristol artists in a magical outdoor stretch-tent.

We went on to secure £45k from Architectural Heritage Fund to revisit and revise our Feasibility Study over the next year, in light of the impact of COVID19 on long-term business plan and delivery. This included detailed community consultation to find out what the community wanted from us in a post-pandemic environment.

This culminated in a revised plan for a smaller, single-story kitchen-bar unit setup, with a stretch-tent in semi-permanent setup throughout the Spring/Summer, to build on the ‘Trinity Presents’ Garden sessions established during restrictions, to continue to provide an alternative events offer (ref: 21/05771/F).

Trinity appointed an Activities Coordinator to support continued ‘Community Kickstart’ activity, supporting local residents and grassroots groups and charities to establish new activities from the Centre including the new pop-up space. If you have an activity to 'Kickstart' get in touch with Stefan@trinitybristol.org.uk.

Our seasonable outdoor venue 'The Den' was launched between July 2022-Sep 2022. The space will be open during Spring-Autumn each year and will host an array of live music, performance and family arts activities. Click here to find out more.

One of Trinity's charitable aims is to preserve, protect and improve for the public benefit the Trinity Centre - formerly the Holy Trinity Church - and promote the heritage of this building.

As a Grade II* Listed building, the former Holy Trinity Church is one of the most prominent façades in the Old Market Conservation area and a source of local identity and city pride.

Designed by renowned Birmingham architects Thomas Rickman and Henry Hutchinson, it was built 1829-32 as part of a national programme of church building approved by Parliamentary commission. Funds for the programme totalling one and a half million pounds came in part from the spoils of Napoleonic War, hence these churches are variously known as the ‘Waterloo Churches’.

Deconsecrated in 1976, the building was purchased by Bristol Caribbean Community Enterprise Limited and has since served as a community arts centre for East Bristol.

In 2009 Trinity was placed on Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ Register, due to significant dilapidation of the building’s stonework, roofs and structure.

Since then, Trinity Community Arts have been working to carry out a phased repair programme, which saw the building removed from the At Risk Register in 2014, followed by a full structural repair programme 2017-18.

Jacob Wells Baths, a Grade II Listed building holds within its walls a wealth of of architectural and social heritage - from its time as a public swimming baths to its 30 year history as a dance hub. A grassroots campaign is underway to bring back the building into the community.

From its time as a swimming pool, to being a multi-use arts hub, we are exploring and sharing the stories of the building over the years. Here, Trinity’s Heritage & Engagement Curator Dr Edson Burton tells us about his Jacobs Wells Baths’ Story...

"It was 2017 and I was coming to the end of my residency at Pervasive Media Studio, where I was working on a project called The Last Blues Song Of A Lost Astronaut.

I was looking for a space that had depth and height because I wanted to test the four aspects of what was going to be quite a tech-heavy, immersive theatre experience.

We looked at multiple venues across the city but nothing quite fitted. In particular, sight lines were an issue as we were looking to project at scale and most spaces just weren’t big enough for the concept of these 'four areas' that we could project onto and perform within.

I got in touch with Artspace Lifespace who were meanwhile tenants at the time of Jacobs Wells Baths at the time. We went down to look at the space and it was absolutely perfect.

There are very few spaces that have that much height and width. This means then that, in terms of creating an immersive show, it is a fantastic space for this type of performance, especially as it has one of the best sprung floors around.

I know other companies like Racous have also used the space brilliantly - it'd be great for the city to keep that creative spirit alive."

Get Involved

Click here to sign the Hotwells and Cliftonwood petition

Share your JWB story on social meda using #SaveJWB or send it to sarah@trinitybristol.org.uk

Further reading

Read more from Dr Katie McClymont from her talk about resusing heritage spaces

Read more about how the community is fighting for Jacob Wells here.

Trinity's Community Consultation

Thanks to the support of Architectural Heritage Fund, we were able to carry out an extensive community consultation, led independently by Artspace Lifespace. Working with PH3 Designs, we also worked to update our Feasibility Study for the Trinity Centre, to ensure we have a plan for future capital works linked to the feedback of communities we serve.

Our 12pt action-plan, linked to our Business Plan for 2023-26 will help to ensure we remain on track to respond to these fundings and recommendations, in line with our values:

Accessibility & visibility

1. Achieve 'Attitude is Everything Charter' Silver Award to further improve venue accessibility
2. Develop a 'soft' entrance into the building, introducing visual aesthetics to make the Centre more inviting, welcoming and celebratory of our communities
3. Provide a programme of publicly accessible drop-in activities to enable visitors to attend and utilise the site freely

Relevancy & equity

1. Develop activities in direct response to feedback and community needs analysis, including open access activities for young people and targeted provision for men aged 55+ living locally
2. Increase place-based work, delivering activity outside of Trinity to connect and engage new communities in partnership with local groups and artists
3. Adopt Equity Union minimum rate of pay for freelancers/artists and prioritise resources to nurture and support locally embedded artists
4. Invest in a cross-sector partnership model and prioritise support for grassroots groups who can proactively respond to community needs and interests

Reach & representation

1. Develop existing and new participatory decision-making forums to ensure representation across programmes
2. Develop targeted community-specific communications and engagement, including neighbourhood champions to reach our diverse communities and celebrate community achievements
3. Adopt Unlock: the Inc Arts Diverse Workforce Toolkit, which includes inclusive recruitment actions to reach and support a diverse workforce

Responsibility & accountability

1. Update our 2014 Green Audit to identify short, medium and long-term actions in response to the climate emergency
2. Appoint a dedicated mental health lead for Trinity’s workforce and offer mental health first aid training to support staff and centre users

Context

Trinity’s values are Empower, Respond and Amplify and we are committed to living these values through the proactive development of our workforce, programme and building. In response to previous surveys and feedback we have taken the steps to ensure our actions align with our values, including:

• Empower: Becoming a Real Living Wage employer in 2020 for all age-groups and roles, to ensure everyone is paid fairly to start their career in the arts

• Respond: Appointed a new Activities Coordinator in 2021 to lead asset-based community development activities and initiatives

• Amplify: Ran the 100 Beacons campaign, 2022 to raise the profile of the work of community buildings across the city, helping to inspire a £4m Community Resilience Fund for the city

If there is anything else you think we could or should be doing to make sure we live out our values, please get in touch with your suggestions: feedback@trinitybristol.org.uk

More info

What's Next? Community Consultation, Artspace Lifespace

Feasbility Study, PH3 Designs

Trinity Business Plan, 2023-26