Full Bloom Festival – led by Gerry’s Attic over 55’s Dance Company will feature an afternoon of workshops followed by an evening of discussion and performance.

Funded by Arts Council England and supported by Bristol Ageing Better this one day festival grew from a desire "to kick-start a conversation about dance and older people in Bristol" A discussion panel with speakers from Pavilion Dance South West, LinkAge and Lea Anderson, talking about dance for older people.

Come and see a dazzling performance showcasing the tireless work of Gerry’s Attic Dance company, including a new piece by Lea Anderson with guest performances from Yama and Striking Attitudes.

Renowned choreographer Lea Anderson is a founder member of dance companies The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs whose 'accessible, irreverent' work grew popular onstage and in dance films for TV in the 80's and 90's, including 'Flesh and Blood' (1989) and 'Cross Channel' (1991). Anderson is currently Artist in Residence at the Southbank, and recently created a performed exhibition of choreography and costume at the V&A.

Striking Attitudes are a total theatre dance company based in Cardiff who make approachable, theatrical dance.

Yama are an over 60's dance group from Bath led by Artistic Director Anna Heighway.

Gerry's Attic was founded in 2016 by Julia Thorneycroft Dance Theatre in partnership with Trinity. Since 2016 the Company has run weekly classes and performed in varied contexts including Sadler's Wells Elixir Festival, Joie De Vivre (PDSW) and Bristol Harbour Festival.

Full Bloom brings together these different perspectives to discuss dance for older people and perform brand new work. Expect great visuals and humour in equal amounts.

Prices and Admission: Tickets for the evening performance are £7, daytime workshops are free but you will need to register as places are limited. Find out more about the daytime workshops here.

The Trinity Centre proved the perfect setting for Mark Lanegan’s Bristol gig as the room filled with fans of the veteran blues rocker. A down-to-earth venue with subtle back lighting for this gig and incredible sound.

The crowd was made up of a lot of serious fans of Lanegan and his various collaborations from Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age to his folkier-toned music with Isobel Campbell. This led to a warm welcome for another collaborator of Lanegan’s, Duke Garwood, who is supporting on this tour.

Gardwood, a talented multi-instrumentalist whose music is the British answer to Lanegan’s distinct brand of Americana. Launching into some newer material made for a slow but steady start to Lanegan’s set, with a mellow but appreciative audience but once he hit Nocturne and Bleeding Muddy Water, things started to pick up with some more animated reactions - slow head-banging, sincere fist-bumping and heartfelt sing-a-longs.

Starting off in his signature sunglasses, Lanegan removed this during the set to reveal his wise, lived-in face; There were times when the impact of his wilder early days was visible, from his limp around the stage and his supping of water - not whisky. That unmistakable baritone voice proved the focal point for most songs, with girlfriend Shelley Brien joining him mid set for a few dynamic numbers.

The chemistry between the pair emanated from the stage and she parted with a loving and lingering kiss for Mr Lanegan. By the time the encore ensued, Lanegan demonstrated his staying power and brilliance as a musician - nailing One Way Street, Bombed and I Am The Wolf.

Words: Laura Williams

Pics: Andy Marsh

Dr Edson Burton sharing the tales of Old Market's rich history in June 2018 @Khali Ackford

'Medieval market' bustling High Street' ' home to the city's most prestigious cinema, churches, and music halls, ' 'a red light district' 'Bristol's gay quarter' now described as up and coming before .

Trinity invites you to join us for a series of Heritage Walks of the Old Market area with historian & writer Dr Edson Burton. They will explore first hand the physical and social historical changes that are making the area increasingly popular.

Revival:

1. an improvement in the condition, strength, or fortunes of someone or something

2. an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again

Through this series of guided walks, Dr Edson Burton reveals the ebb and flow of Trinity and Old Market's history. They take place on the following dates and times:

Thu 24th May, 6pm-8pm

Tue 12th June, 6pm-8pm

Tue 31st July, 2pm-4pm

Sun 16th Sep, 12pm-2pm (part of Bristol Doors Open Day)

Spaces are limited, so book your free place in advance, following the ticket links on each of the events

Head over the the Heart & Soul project page to find out about our other events and activities.

Rob Drysdale, from "Stick It On" (Brighton), just donated £500 towards our Youth Music Training Programme!

Rob's support is a great vote of confidence in our mission and will help us to respond to a growing demand for the provision we offer, protecting the future of this vital programme.

Trinity has been delivering music training sessions to disengaged young people since 2005. We offer a variety of music drop-in sessions, tailored to individual or group needs. We work in partnership with pupil referral units, schools and organisations to provide regular support. Our students choose what they would like to focus on, incl: drumming, guitar, bass, vocal tuition, Dj’ing and music production.

A personal friend of DJ Derek, Rob was aware of the Sweet Memory Sounds legacy fund that DJ Derek's family set up in his honour in 2016, and how last year it supported Trinity’s work with disengaged young people, including young offenders and those with other health and behavioural issues through music making.

Rob felt inspired and said to us: "I'm very happy to support a Bristol charity that supports youth development in music. DJ Derek was a good friend and it feels good to make a contribution to his local community."

Get involved

If you, like Rob, would like to support our work, please get in touch with us! You can also make a one-off or monthly donation directly on our website or through justgiving

If you are a young person that would like to attend a course, or if you are looking to refer a young person, then you can call us on 01179351200 and chat to Dave Thomas (Training Coordinator) or ping him an email: davet@3ca.org.uk

Stick It On is an alternative DJ entertainment service transforming parties into something personal, engaging and most importantly fun - check out their website here, to find out more.

Hello I am Amelia and I am donating some money to the Trinity Centre in Bristol, in memory of my mum.

The Trinity Community Garden delivers gardening and cooking workshops for lots of different members of the local community, engaging over 500 people every year. My mum's legacy will pay for disabled access to be put into the garden so it can be enjoyed by even MORE people.

I have visited the garden a few times now and went to one of the workshops the other day and it is the loveliest hidden gem. The people who run the workshops are fantastic. This would have been one of the things that my mum could really have benefited from because they run workshops for people with mental health issues and social isolation. I truly think they are invaluable and I know what a huge difference these kinds of things make, especially when, unfortunately, NHS mental health services are so stretched that people slip through the net. These workshops are FREE and anyone can go and there are highly trained people running them.

Many of you will know the Trinity Centre from gigs, fireworks or their big garden party, but maybe don't know more about it. It's a place that does so much for the community and is not for profit. They can get other funding to continue running projects, but not lump sums to pay for things like accessibility. Just imagine how many more people could benefit!

You don't have to give money or anything, just 5 minutes of your time, filling out a slightly dull form (sorry!!) and voting for the Trinity Community Garden project to receive "match" funding from the Aviva Community Fund competition. This means that the money I am giving the garden has the potential to be doubled if they win!

The projects with the most votes (the top 8 in each of the 4 categories) will be entered into the Competition Finals. There, a panel of judges will decide which projects will receive funding. There are 8 awards (2 in each category) for up to £25K.

Click here to vote now! Voting closes on Tuesday 21st November

For those of you who knew my mum will know that she LOVED gardening - to the extent that I would grump aged 5 "Mummy, you love your garden more than ME". She would have loved this place so much and could have benefited from it so much. We NEED more places like this in our community :)

Ella Mesma

"I am super happy to be coming back to my Bristol Roots. It will be a very special project for me to be working in my home town and getting to know the community."  Ella Mesma

During her 2017 IGNiTE Artist residency, Ella Mesma used Latin, HipHop and Contemporary dance theatre to explore what it is to be a 'citizen of the world' and challenge notions of belonging, home, identity and coming of age as other through her project Foreign Bodies.

Ella discovered dance at Cotham school in Bristol, then trained at Laban and The Place, graduating with a postgraduate diploma in 2011. She also has a Politics and Sociology degree from Leeds University.

In 2013, she was selected as a future Dance Leader for the ABLE leadership program and in 2015, awarded a Bench fellowship for emerging female choreographers. She has trained internationally in Cuba, Brazil and USA including The Graham school- New York, La Ena- Havana, Deborah Colker- Rio De Janeiro and Funceb- Salvador da Bahia.

Credits include Russell Maliphant Company, Southpaw Company, Professional cast of the Olympics Opening Ceremony, Wendy Houston, poet Warsan Shire, Adidas, and apprentice for Upswing Circus. She established Latin company Element Arts in Leeds in 2005 and has produced Roots of Rumba (an annual Latin Dance Theatre Festival) since 2013.

Sara Dos Santos

Following a successful career as a performer Sara Dos Santos commenced choreographing in 2011. Her thought provoking and emotionally charged work incorporates a variation of urban contemporary styles and raises awareness to social and political affairs.

Sara was awarded The Neriah Kumah Legacy GiG supported by One Dance UK, enabling her to travel to Brazil on a International exchange project to work alongside four astonishing dance companies and organisations across the country.

Over the course of the IGNiTE 2017 residency Sara worked to research and develop a new piece entitled Journies - A site specific piece incorporating an array of cross-generational artists working together to investigate, create and discuss submerged topics influencing our ever changing society.

Visit the artist's website to find out more.

Caroline Williams

Caroline Williams is an artist working in multi-disciplinary participatory performance. Her work focuses on current political issues. Using personal stories, she works to find the best way to powerfully communicate the heart of those stories.

At the core of her work is a passion to give an artistic platform to people who wouldn't necessarily think of themselves as artists. She is the lead artist of International Activities Club a company focusing on cross-cultural participatory performance.

Caroline used her time at Trinity to dive head first into creating experiments around the notion of ethnic segregation in Bristol and exploring what happens on a personal level and to communities through naming segregation before trying to break it apart through devising new patterns of communication and exchange.

2017 dance workshops hosted at Trinity by Latisha Cesar with Peniel Guerrier

"Historically Trinity has been a refuge for the outcast and has been known to stretch the boundaries of social acceptability. I feel it is only fitting that I explore my shame with a community that has never been mainstream but has always been accepting"

Latisha Cesar

Latisha Cesar is dancer and dance teacher that has studied, taught, and performed in the US, UK, Brazil. A native New Yorker, she studied dance at Lehman College at City University New York.

During Latisha's 2017 residency the artist developed Barye - a project that offered an introduction of Haitian culture to communities based in and around Trinity.

The programme included workshops and a sharing of traditional Haitian drumming and dance. The project also explored the themes of taboo, shame and the barriers that come with being other.

Visit the artist's website for more info

Uninvited Guests

Uninvited Guests are a Bristol-based company led by Paul Clarke, Richard Dufty and Jessica Hoffmann who took part in our 2017 IGNiTE Summer residencies programme.

"We intend to engage local participants in the process of creating and contributing to the project and we would like to conduct workshops with key community groups to develop the overarching narrative, to create the piece and to test its participative elements." Uninvited Guests

They create entertaining and provocative performance that combines high-tech with low tech, the visceral with the virtual and work in various contexts, focusing mainly on theatre and producing installation and audio walks.

Their work blurs the line between theatre and social festivities, with audiences joining in events that are celebratory and critical of the current times and they have toured nationally and internationally.

As part of their residency they worked on developing a new small-scale touring participative theatre piece (To Those Born Later, working title) about the legacy we leave our families, communities and society.

During this R&D phase they focused on creating the piece with the involvement of Trinity’s groups and that was stage as a public sharing for audiences in February 2018.

Art in Motion

“This opportunity will give us time and space to explore our common interest in the impact environments have on society and in imagining possible futures”. Helen Grant, Back in 5 Minutes Squad

Art in Motion and Back in 5 Minutes Squad - two very different artists groups based at Spike Island Studios in Bristol - worked together for the first time to produce an epic, evolving installation during their 2017 IGNiTE Summer residency.

Back in 5 Minutes Squad make immersive installations that imagine possible futures, taking a toungue-in-cheek look at the post-apocalyptic, the nihilistic, the existential and the revolutionary through the lens of popular culture.

Art in Motion is a not-for-prophit participatory arts organisation established in Bristol in 2013. The purpose of AIM is to provide opportunities for artists with learning disabilities to engage with contemporary multidisciplinary arts to explore ideas and concepts with a specific focus on heritage the built environment and a sense of place.

Trinity would like to make our community garden accessible to all users, so we've entered the Community Garden into the Aviva Community Fund, to win up to £25k!

“20 out of 20! I get to do really fun stuff and free time! I love getting muddy. I like harvesting and picking stuff in the garden”

Danny, 7yrs

At present, people in wheelchairs and those with mobility issues struggle to use our garden or take part in gardening activities.

Funding from Aviva will mean we will be able to install wheelchair accessible raised planters and potting tables, an accessible compost toilet, pathways around the garden beds and a water-pipe to make regular tasks such as watering easier for everyone.

These improvements will mean everyone will have the chance to come along, take part in activities, learn how to grow vegetables, enjoy the outdoors, meet new people and share food together – reducing isolation and improving health and well-being.

Over 600 people take part in gardening activities every year at Trinity, in addition to thousands of others who come for a visit, as part of other events or just to enjoy the space.

To vote visit Aviva's website and click on the register and log in link to get your 10 votes - you can cast them all for our project, or spread your support across multiple projects, like:

Up Our Street - for their neighbourhood Thank You Awards

St Werburghs City Farm - for farm project materials

Pride Bristol - to increase community engagement

Voting is free but you do have to register with your email address and complete a few details.

Please time a couple of minutes to vote and share across social media so that we can get as many votes as possible and make the garden accessible for all.

Click here to vote for the Trinity Community Garden!

Read more about the garden project here.

Voting closes 21 November.

Moulettes, one of the UK’s most unique touring bands have announced some of the most exciting and up and coming supports for their four date UK headline tour this December. Kicking off in Glasgow on 4 December and followed by shows in Manchester and Bristol before finishing up in London on 8 December where they will be co-headlining Cadogan Hall with 9Bach for what is set to be an incredibly memorable show.

Bunty, a Brighton-based musician and visual artist will be taking to the stage in Bristol on Thursday 7 December. Part of the Beatabet collective, live Bunty uses her renegade multi-instrumentalism, voice, effects pedals and a mash of real and made-up languages. Her live show is like nothing else with each set bringing to life a huge amount of improvisation, meaning this performance will be unlike any other she has done before. To continue the theme of the unexpected, in addition to Bunty, classically-trained violinist Mike Dennis will be supporting. His love of Run DMC, Beastie Boys and Gangstarr has led him to create a unique kind of string-heavy hip hop music he calls Violinica. Drawing inspiration from daily British life and the perils and profits of love - you will not see any other artist like this!

The final date of the tour will see The Moulettes co-headline the prestigious Cadogan Hall in London alongside 9Bach. They are joined by multi-talented rising star Ayanna Witter-Johnson. Having been nominated for a MOBO Award, this vocalist, cellist, pianist, songwriter and composer from North London is unlike any other with her live shows taking the audience on an intimate journey.

For The Moulettes December 2017 is the concluding chapter of the two-year ‘Preternatural’ tour, and the last chance to see the astounding live show that has taken the band across Europe from Poland to Malta, and across Canada from Nova Scotia to Victoria Island.

For tickets & more info click here

Car park closures, better building and a secured future

Thanks to help from the Heritage Lottery Fund and match funders, alongside donations gifted from the public we are finally at a point where we can put scaffolding around the building and begin to embark on major and much needed repairs to the stonework. Alongside the most damaged masonry we will be fixing the windows so the building will be cleaner and lighter.

Access to The Trinity Centre will stay the same but during the 45 weeks the scaffolding is up our car park capacity will be severely reduced so anyone visiting us should think about alternative parking or modes of transport.

Now we have got this far we are going to be raising the funds to complete works on all the masonry (not just the most severely damaged as we had planned). Fund-raising for this now will mean we ensure that Trinity stays open for future generations and by doing the extra work now means we can limit the impact both on the public and financially.

To celebrate Trinity's history we will be launching a series of events, talks, and courses in artisan crafts to compliment the works. You can  find out more about the project here. To keep up-to-date and informed about the project sign up to our mailing list at 3ca.org.uk/mail or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Works due to start 2 Oct for 45 weeks.

The Bristol Radical Film Festival returns this October for its sixth year celebrating political, activist and experimental filmmaking. This year’s programme combines urgent contemporary political subjects with an eclectic mix of archive gems, including a double bill on the 100-year anniversary of the Russian Revolution, and a Hollywood venture into left-wing politics by actor and activist Tim Robbins (Cradle Will Rock). As ever we’re showcasing the winners of our international short film competition, and this year we’ve added a second shorts programme of ‘films from the frontline’ of today’s political and social campaigns.

Set against our first ever Hollywood offering is the aesthetically radical Rat Film, an exploration of racism and housing policy in Baltimore; Brexitannia, the first feature documentary to be released about Brexit; and a powerful exploration of the lives of women graffiti-writers in Girl Power.

Many of the screenings feature Q&A and panel discussions around with themes and issues raised.

Bristol Radical Film Festival was set-up in 2011 to provide a platform for politically-engaged, aesthetically innovative cinema, and is now part of The Radical Film Network, an international network of similar organisations involved in progressive, alternative film culture.

Festival Pass cost £30, whilst individual screenings are £6/4. See our what's on page for more info.

What a pleasure it was to meet and work with the new elders group in Bristol. Our work together comprised of sensory exercises, partner work and an exploration to our own relationships to dance. I think you would have to ask the participants how it was for them, but from what I saw there was something like a real curiosity about sensation and presence, inhabited bodies, thinking bodies, a hyper awareness and yet a directness, an honesty of approach and a committed attention. When they move it’s like the moment is now, capturing a moment, an appreciation of time allocated to dancing. All of this together creates such a nuanced beauty, not a young dancer hiding behind layers of doubt or various facades but a presence that knows its own power of self.

I was invited by Trinity to lead this session, you never know how this is going to go with a new group, different expectations, different abilities and experiences. I work with all kind of people and of course each group is different. In these last years working with 3 different elders groups both in Wales and Manchester. I love it. These groups have much to give and express. Of late, I have seen a fair few performance projects with older performers and often I’m afraid to say, the choreographers are getting it wrong. For me, the works are rife with misrepresentation and misinterpretation, it actually makes me really angry to see performers compromised. At some point I would like to embark on a choreography that is for older performers. Having more experiences with different groups contributes towards ideas and its true to say I’m inspired - but I would like get it right, pitch the right kind of work that says the right thing.

I am 45 years old - I like to think I could find ways to access a truth to a new work, even though the performers have several years more life experience. Find the right essence, the subject matter or frame of a work that allows performers to be free within that frame. I will think more on it.

Jo Fong is a director, choreographer and performer working in dance, film, theatre, opera and the visual arts. She performed her show An Invitation as part of IGNiTE Autumn Season 2016

I am French but was born in Switzerland. I am mixed race. I currently in Staple Hill, Bristol. I was born with schizophrenia. I love music especially writing and recording positive rap lyrics. I am currently unemployed.

I was referred across to Trinity by one of my college tutors at Access to Music. I had managed to get through the first year of the course and achieved a pass but it was clear I would really struggle with the amount of assignments and paperwork involved in the second year so they linked me in with Trinity as an alternative. I can now focus on my music without stressing about paperwork which is a really good for me.

The benefit’s of being on a music course at Trinity  are that I can work on my lyrics, music, beats and prepare my album without any pressure. I can take my time. I’m really struggling with my illness at the moment and have been experimenting with different dosages of medication. Sometimes I come in and am too drowsy to properly concentrate on my work. Dave and Al are always really supportive and assure me that I can use the session in whatever way best suits me at the time. It’s good to know they understand. That makes a lot of difference. I enjoy working on a 1:1 basis this means I can get more positive things done in a short space of time.

Our mission is to empower communities through arts

At Trinity, you can:

express yourself

meet others

learn something new

make memories

be free

we're what you make us

so get involved!

#CentreforthePeople

#MaketheSpace

It is nice to look back.

Last year we very excitedly launched our in- house Theatre and Dance and programme - IGNiTE. Our aim - to curate  an exciting programme of work that would resonate with everyone who uses and lives around Trinity.

Thanks to funding from Arts Council, an amazing team,  our programming forum (who have helped steer the programme throughout the year) and every artist, audience member and participant our first step into the world of programming world class theatre and dance , supporting artists to crete new work and ensuring our community benefits from artistic excellence .... has been great.

So while we sit back and make plans for our next programme we thought we'd share some of the best moments and successes.

1.Vicki Igbokwe talking to us about the power of dance

2.  Cardboard Citizens challenging us all in the Forum Theatre section of Cathy.

3. Selling nearly half of all our ticket at concessions rate

4. Meaning that our audiences are reflective of Bristol's inclusive and diverse communities

5. Rider Shafique blowing us away with his solo performance of I-Dentity

6. 1500+ people watching, taking part, dancing, asking questions and celebrating with us

7.  Afreena Islam's honest performance to a room full of our regular centre users

8. Supporting six artists and companies with community & participation at the core of their practice to develop work and deliver workshops at Trinity

9. All the people who stayed for the Q+A's and took part in sometimes difficult but always provoking conversations

Read more about IGNiTE here

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With an ambitious programme of shows, interactive events, workshops, talks and much more taking place at over 15 locations across Bristol, this year's festival is set to be a highlight of the Autumn calendar.

Circus City is the UK’s fastest growing circus festival, attracting the very best contemporary circus from across the globe and showcasing Bristol’s abundant homegrown talent. Circus City aims to put Bristol on the map as an international capital of contemporary circus.

This year, Trinity Centre is one of the key venues with Swing Circus staging a weekend extravaganza of swing dance featuring circus and dance shows, specialist choreographers and workshops to get your toes tapping 20 - 22 Oct

We are also super pleased to see the return of performer Grania Pickard to the Trinity Centre to tell the story of growing up with her brother Sean, who has severe learning disabilities, epilepsy and autism. Using physical theatre, aerial circus, audience interaction and storytelling she brings the world they share to life in her show He Ain't Heavy.

Last but not least we will be hosting Circus Shorts on Friday 27, a fantastic chance to see emerging work by a range of artists working with circus. An evening full of new ideas, different approaches and experimental skills served up fresh for your enjoyment.

There’s something for everyone in the Circus City programme – music lovers, dancers, circus aficionados, theatre goers, party animals and families. The very nature of circus is to push the limits of what’s possible in pursuit of the extraordinary – we encourage you to keep this spirit in mind and take a risk on something new.

Circus City co-director Kate Hartoch.

For more info about the rest of the festival check out Circus City's website here.

'It’s impossible to hear swing music without a smile on your face or tapping your feet. We want to harness that playful energy to create uplifting, energetic circus and dance shows. Get those happy feet a-movin’, and swing your booty in a hulahoop - guaranteed to leave a smile on your face and a spring on your step, it’s the Swing Circus!'