Arts West Side & SPACE joined forces from Apr 2016 to March 2018

“We are very proud of what we've achieved with Arts West Side and are sorry that we aren't able to continue this good work but are glad to see it will continue to be used as an arts space for the next couple of years. Thank you to everyone who has supported us since we took it on it 2011.” Karina Castro, Project Manager.

Last week, we all said a goodbye to a familiar landmark in Old Market, as the friendly pigeons on the façade of Arts West Side – painted by renowned Bristol street artist Silent Hobo – were painted over, marking the end of an era for one of the area’s only dedicated community arts spaces.

Owned by Bristol City Council, 6 West Street was handed over to Trinity Community Arts, via the city’s Community Asset Transfer (CAT) process on a ‘peppercorn’ leasehold. We have been looking after the building since 2011, in order to increase arts provision in Old Market, at a time when the area was struggling with boarded up and vacant premises.

Since then, ‘Arts West Side’ has provided artists and communities with an affordable, central resource used and visited by over 2,000 people each year, helping to encourage other businesses and social enterprises to take up residency in the area. As part of the Council's bid to plug a £102m deficit, they are now seeking a commercial rent from the building.

The space will continue to be used as a meanwhile creative hub at a reduced rent by Arts West Side partners for the last 18 months, Artspace Lifespace (ASLS), who will continue their SPACE project until 2020.

We will now focus our efforts on the Trinity Centre building, which is also owned by Bristol City Council. We are currently fundraising to carry out conservation work to the much-loved community asset, having already invested over £1.5 million in protecting the Grade II* listed building.

Help us secure Trinity's past, present and future

The Trinity Community Initiative (TCI) supported AWP Bristol Early Intervention in Psychosis Team with 40 hours of subsidised space hire at Arts West Side, between February and May 2016.

The Art Therapy sessions were planned for young adults, most of them referred by their GP's. The purpose of their project was to help participants to increase their understanding of what is happening, reducing the level of distress caused by unusual experiences and prioritising personal recovery and a quick return to valued roles and social relationships.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends the use of art for young people because it can help to alleviate negative symptoms and should be provided in a group setting.

We talked to Katie Gannaway, Mental Health Worker for the project, who summarised her time at Arts West Side for us:

"Earlier this year we ran a therapeutic art group from Arts West Side, for 16 weeks. The group was for young people 16- 35 years who are experiencing mental health difficulties. As part of their recovery we wanted this group to be in the community to promote social inclusion, leading to service users to feel less isolated and facilitating them to link in to other community resources.

The art group gave them an opportunity to explore their creativity whilst receiving emotional support in a safe group environment enabling them to feel more confident to be part of the community. The group was for a maximum of eight people, and included two healthcare professionals facilitating the therapeutic art group.

The feedback from group members was very positive; they liked the location because it was central, they also felt the space provided was safe and confidential, allowing them to freely express themselves through their art.

They also appreciated the art space below (SPACE), giving them the opportunity to view various exhibits, which for some, influenced their art and interest. This often impacted on our art sessions; members would access the group through the exhibition and this would become a talking point, and an opportunity to engage with others. Some of the members had never had the opportunity to visit art exhibitions; however, the accessibility provided this opportunity.

We would have struggled to provide this group in the community due to limited funds; Arts West Side offered a great space, accessible to communities that are often isolated."

The partnership between The Island (an Artspace Lifespace project) and Trinity to maintain and promote Arts West Side & SPACE as an affordable, accessible community arts space began in April 2016.

SPACE & Arts West Side have secured an extended lease from the City Council as a Community Asset Transfer and will continue as a hub for community arts and events until the end of March 2018...so let's get inspired!

Are you looking to participate, host or deliver an exhibition, creative collective, art project, community based activity? Regardless of your age, profession, ethnic, cultural, or educational background; whether you consider yourself an established/emerging artist or not at all, we want to hear your ideas for SPACE.

Standing for ‘Sound, Performance, Art, Community, Engagement’, SPACE has hosted public events, art shows, residencies, meetings, workshops, pop-up shops since April...and SPACE could be yours next!

SPACE aims to provide an opportunity for all to present a range of sound, performance, art and community based activities in our welcoming and accessible creative spaces, suitable for use as: a gallery, pop-up shop, performances, short film screening, rehearsals, meetings and much more.

Proposals are accepted all year round and should include:

• 500 words maximum, outlining your idea or project, including time-scale, tech requirements and space preference (Gallery or Art Room on 1st floor)

• For exhibitions: images representative of your work

• A website address to your work or group (if available)

• Budget (if available)

Selection of proposals will be based on quality, feasibility and the connection to the overall theme of SPACE.

Please send your proposal to SPACE

6 West street

Old Market

BS2 0BH

Website:  http://theislandbristol.com/spaces/space/

FaceBook: SPACE.TheIsland

Twitter: SPACE_theisland

Instagram: @theislandbristol #theislandbristol

@spaceoldmarket #spaceoldmarket #space #oldmarket #bristol

Two Key Arts Providers for the City - Trinity Community Arts & Artspace Lifespace - launched the petition to Save SPACE! & Arts West Side, following a decision taken in June to lease the premises commercially.

The petition gained well over 1,000 signatures in the space of two weeks and the groups received testimonies of support from local residents, artists and community groups, as well as from major arts institutions in the city. One petition support commented; “The arts is important to people's lives and well-being as well as the local economy. I believe creative spaces and places that the local and artistic community can express themselves deserve to be supported.”

After a series of discussions with Deputy Mayor, Councillor Estella Tincknell an agreement was made to keep SPACE & Arts West Side as a community asset and a hub for community arts and events until the end of March 2018.

Dina Ntziora, Project Manager for Artspace Lifespace said; "We are so grateful to everyone who supported our petition and believed in the value of our project SPACE. We would also like to thank the Arts Development team of Bristol City Council for their support throughout this process. It is a victory for community arts and the importance of projects like SPACE in making Bristol the city it is today. We believe that temporary use and re-use of empty premises and buildings can help create dynamic and resilient places in and around our towns and cities.”

The partnership between Artspace Lifespace and Trinity Community Arts to maintain and promote Arts West Side & SPACE as an affordable, accessible community arts space began in April 2016. Standing for ‘sound, performance, art, community, engagement’, SPACE has hosted public events, art shows, artist residencies, community meetings, pop-up shops, as well as providing opportunities for volunteers.

Emma Harvey, Centre Manager for Trinity said; "The support we've received from the public has been amazing. Following consultation and knowing the depth of support from the community, Bristol City Council have generously decided to extend our lease. It's great to have a listening, responsive council that reacts quickly and effectively for the needs of the people. A big thanks to those involved who have helped us to achieve this fantastic outcome for Old Market. We look forward to developing an ongoing positive relationship with the Council."

Looking forward, SPACE has a vibrant programme of events lined-up, including taking part in the Doing Things Differently festival, organised by Diverse City and Bristol City Council’s Culture Team, which aims to support creativity across the city and help reflect diversity on stage and in performance.

Talking about what the future brings at SPACE, Dina explained; “The decision to keep SPACE and Arts West Side for community arts use shows us that partnership between two Key Arts Providers are important and hold great potential for our city, both economically and socially. Real ‘ownership’ comes from making a private space into a public space. SPACE is your space. SPACE is open to your ideas, proposals and projects. Let’s get inspired!”

To keep up to date about what’s on at SPACE visit the Island's website.

A big THANK YOU to all who supported and believed in us!

Artspace Lifespace - the community interest company behind The Island - have been working in partnership with Trinity Community Arts and developing SPACE (sound-performance-art-community-engagement) on the ground floor of Arts West Side since April 2016.

Artspace Lifespace CIC recycles vacant, under-used and problem properties into thriving creative resources.

They work in partnership with artists, building owners, property developers, local communities and organisations to secure and re-cycle interesting, unusual and often difficult buildings as vibrant multi-use art spaces.

Their work transforms neighbourhoods and also brings something fresh and diverse to commercial centres. Making space accessible to a wide variety of creative influences serves to enrich and develop the multi cultural identity of any community.

The opportunity to work in partnership has been an invaluable one and a perfect example of how two Key Art Providers (LAP - 2015-2018) in the city can come together and work in together to develop a new project.

The aim of KAP is to give Bristol people access to high quality arts in the city and at the same time support the council’s own specific criteria: to contribute to work with young people; to promote better neighbourhoods and to promote equality of opportunity.

Artspace Lifespace CIC The Island’s main vision when submitting our proposal for SPACE was to create a welcoming and open space for the local community and support creativity in Bristol with a new hub where they can showcase work and share ideas.

Since 8th April 2016 when we launched SPACE on the ground floor of Arts West Side, we've hosted 12 art show and 1 artist residency. We've worked with 6 local community groups, engaged 10 volunteers and hosted one 1 University placement. We've delivered workshops and facilitated community discussion groups, plus we have a full programme of events planned for the coming season.

The response and interest from the local community and the wider creative community in Bristol and beyond we had since we've launched the partnership project has been overwhelming.

The Island have so far invested a fair amount of capital and time to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for the public-facing space, on the ground floor of Arts West Side. Dina, Project Manager for SPACE said;

"We have enjoyed every minute of working with the local community and the way the local community has embraced the project allows me to believe that the feeling has been mutual.

An initiative such as SPACE created from the work of two community arts organisations with limited resources, shows that the city can grow in important ways without always relying on large capital expenditures or a major construction.

A strong community place-based project can encourage the emergence of a new space for participation, diversity, and experimentation in the arts and community engagement in Bristol and help build resilient communities where they are most needed."

Show your support via the Save SPACE campaign.

Click here to show your support!

Two Key Arts Providers for the City - Trinity Community Arts & Artspace Lifespace - have launched a petition Save Space & Arts West Side, located at 6 West Street. They are urging Bristol City Council to keep it as a space for community arts, Old Market.

The groups joining together and asking people to add their signature to the online petition to keep the building open for community use. If the petition receive 3,500 signatures, the Council have to discuss the decision at a full cabinet meeting.

The two groups recently applied to the Council to keep Arts West Side for community arts use, but the Council have decided to let the premises commercially; which they estimate will generate £15,000 rental value. While this will be a drop in the ocean of an estimated £60m budget deficit forecast for 2019/2020, this decision will have a huge impact on the grass-roots community art work taking place along the once troubled high street.

Emma Harvey, Centre Manager for Trinity said; “We’re surprised by this decision, given the lack of commercial value of the premises; also how it seems to conflict with the city’s vision of Bristol as an inclusive city of culture. We opened Arts West Side to support regeneration of the area. At a time when communities in Bristol are concerned that they are being left behind as other parts of the city prospers, it is sadly ironic that the Council themselves are acting as an agent of gentrification.”

Historically, there have been negative perceptions of the Old Market area. The area also has a diverse and complex identity, including a thriving night time economy and an established LGBT scene.

Trinity have been running the 6 West Street - known as ‘Arts West Side’ - since August 2011 through Bristol City Council’s Community Asset Transfer Policy, also known as ‘CAT’. The policy seeks to make publicly owned spaces across the city available for community use.

Trinity are also tenants of another well-known Bristol landmark - The Trinity Centre, a thriving community arts centre and live music venue, based in a converted former church at the top of Old Market high-street - also owned by Bristol City Council.

Emma continued; “Trinity and Artspace Lifespace have launched this petition in the hope that we can keep SPACE & Arts West Side. Together, we want to make sure that everyone in Bristol has an opportunity to shape arts and culture in our city.”

Artspace Lifespace - the community interest company behind ‘The Island’, based in the Old Bridewell Police Station - have been running a series of public and community arts activities and events at Arts West Side, under the title ‘SPACE’.

Standing for ‘sound, performance, art, community, engagement’, since April 2016 they have hosted public events, art shows, artist residencies, community meetings, as well as providing opportunities for volunteers.

Dina Ntziora, Project Manager for SPACE said; “Our work transforms neighbourhoods and also brings something fresh and diverse to commercial centres. Making SPACE accessible to a wide variety of creative influences helps to enrich and develop the multi-cultural identity of this diverse community. We’re really disappointed the Council do not wish us to continue this important work.”

Talking about the joint-venture, Dina explained; “The opportunity to work in partnership with Trinity Community Arts has been an invaluable experience for us as an organisation and has been a perfect example of how two Key Art Providers in the city can come together and work in partnership to develop a new project.”

A programme of events is already scheduled until the end of September, as part of PRIDE Festival, Open Doors Day as well as the ‘Doing Things Differently’ Festival about diversity and equality in the arts organised by Bristol City Council and Diverse City UK. The City’s art team were themselves unaware of the decision to change use and also took part in the recent selection panel to award Trinity a further five-year lease, alongside representatives from neighbourhoods and properties.

Paul Bradburn, Chair of the Old Market Community Association said; “Old Market has long suffered from a lack of community facilities and so when I was asked to support Trinity's proposal for the future of the building I was most happy to do so. As the chairman of the OMCA and as a local resident, I would implore the Council to consider their duty to the community and offer the lease to Trinity and the Island.”

The OMCA’s Neighbourhood Plan was recently adopted at a Full Council Meeting in March this year. Among other measures, the plan details a need for 'better local facilities to contribute to a balanced and independent economy' and that they will ‘seek to protect existing community facilities such as Trinity Arts...and encourage new facilities to service the needs of a diverse community’.

It goes on to explain the need for ‘creation of community facilities’, to balance the growing shift towards a night-time economy and unaffordable private housing emerging in the area.

The groups have until 31 July to show that the community are behind them and to continue with the current programme.

Click here to show your support!

The petition is currently hosted on Change.org however if you do not wish to use this platform, you can add your signature to the Council's e-petition by clicking here. Please only add your signature to one platform.

Images courtesy of Sidz Photography

Bristol City Council are also asking people to inform a new Vacant Buildings Plan; complete their online survey, here.

The Art Therapy sessions were planned for young adults, most of them referred by their GP's. The purpose of the project was to help individuals to increase their understanding of what is happening, reducing the level of distress caused by unusual experiences and prioritising personal recovery and a quick return to valued roles and social relationships.

Katie Gannaway, Mental Health Worker for AWP Bristol Early Intervention Team explains why the project was important:

"Earlier this year we ran a therapeutic art group from Arts West Side, for 16 weeks. The group was for young people 16- 35 years who are experiencing mental health difficulties. As part of their recovery we wanted this group to be in the community to promote social inclusion, leading to service users to feel less isolated and facilitating them to link in to other community resources.

The art group gave them an opportunity to explore their creativity whilst receiving emotional support in a safe group environment enabling them to feel more confident to be part of the community. The group was for a maximum of eight people, and included two healthcare professionals facilitating the therapeutic art group.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends the use of art for young people because it can help to alleviate negative symptoms and should be provided in a group setting.

The feedback from group members was very positive; they liked the location because it was central, they also felt the space provided was safe and confidential, allowing them to freely express themselves through their art.

They also appreciated the art space below (SPACE), giving them the opportunity to view various exhibits, which for some, influenced their art and interest. This often impacted on our art sessions; members would access the group through the exhibition and this would become a talking point, and an opportunity to engage with others. Some of the members had never had the opportunity to visit art exhibitions; however, the accessibility provided this opportunity.

We would have struggled to provide this group in the community due to limited funds; Arts West Side offered a great space, accessible to communities that are often isolated."

As you all may know, Trinity has been running 6 West Street Old Market for nearly 5 years, under Bristol City Council's Community Asset Transfer initiative, with the aim to support the regeneration of Old Market.

After a successful run of community cafe projects in the space, Trinity received many wonderful proposals for the use of the space, but we were only able to select one.

We are happy to announce that The Island submitted an innovative bid with a clear community engagement plan, which was close to Trinity's own aims and objectives for 2016.

The Island’s main vision for SPACE (Sound-Performance-Art-Community-Engagement) is to create a welcoming and open hub for the local community, supporting creativity in Bristol by showcasing work and sharing ideas. They will be curating a very exciting programme of monthly events, ranging from exhibitions, workshops, art & crafts pop-up shops, small theatre shows, fashion markets and so much more! This exciting partnership will allow us both organisations, Key Arts Providers for the city, to expand our involvement with the local community and offer in the locality.

SPACE launched on Friday 8th April, 6pm with “Vice & Virtue: Discovering the Story of Old Market Bristol” exhibition, based on Trinity's Heritage Project delivered between 2013-2015 by Dr Edson Burton and historian Mike Manson. It includes integrated extracts from oral interviews, photographs, and research findings of the area, covering the history of Old Market's pre 19th century through to the present.

If you would like further information regarding SPACE, exhibition/space or hire avails, please contact SPACE directly:

T: 01173 763 457

E: space@theislandbristol.com

W: http://theislandbristol.com/spaces/space/

Arts West Side has continued to offer local groups and projects a home across 2015.

Our small but mighty satellite building was able to host a variety of projects and activities that included our now regular weekly writing group, the Art Cafe for over 50's, as well as Raw Food Workshops (part of our Bristol Green Capital project), small meetings and theatre rehearsals. Over 60 participants have been involved in AWS this year.

We have created new partnerships with local groups and maintained existing ones with organisations like University of West England (UWE), LinkAge and Sedated by a Brick.

Our women's writing group "We Can Write" secured a small grant from Literature Works, to continue their sessions and publish a compilation of their works and tutor Sarer Scotthorne was appointed our first Poet in Residence at Arts West Side.

We have also been able to continue to support the Bristol Somali Youth Network, in their aims and objectives, not only by providing a space to grow but also resources to strengthen their organisation. Their programmes have helped Somali young people re-orient their quality of lives and starting afresh to reposition their priorities in employment, training, education and social activities.

Our long term tenant, Phase 8 Photography, has been able to expanded their business and raise their profile by donating photography and collaborating with a number of community groups and projects, including the LGBT community; Trinity's Vice and Virtue: Discovering the Story of Old Market project and also providing free photography to new and local businesses in the area, including the Old Market Neighbourhood Planning Group.

We said good bye to The Good Roots Cafe in July and welcomed JJ's Cafe until the end of the year, when they moved their offer to Gloucester Road.

After a successful run of community cafe projects and due to the growth of this particular offer within the locality, we felt at the end of the year that a cafe space was no longer a priority in terms of achieving our objectives in 2016.

Trinity received many wonderful proposals at the beginning of the year but we were only able to select one: The Island submitted an innovative bid with a clear community engagement plan, which was close to Trinity's aim and objectives. Keep an eye on our website for the launch of SPACE (Sound-Performance-Art-Community-Engagement) in Spring 2016!

If you have an idea or project you would like to test out at Arts West Side, do get in touch with us, we would love to hear from you. Email karina@3ca.org.uk - or next time you are down Old Market, come in say hello!

"During a period of unemployment I felt the need to go out and do something productive, regardless of a wage being involved and so I decided to volunteer at The Trinity Centre.

I initially worked at Arts West Side (Trinity's arts café satellite project) for a few months, helping to finish work on the building for its grand opening.

After completion, I started volunteering several days a week at the Trinity Centre itself, splitting my time between working with the Facilities Team and participating in various activities and training courses put on by the Centre.

I also had the opportunity to help deliver workshops in Trinity's Garden and at Arts West Side during this time.

Volunteering at Trinity has allowed me to pursue many creative projects over the course of four years and has given me new confidence to take on responsibilities at the Centre. This ultimately lead to being offered paid work at the centre after 18 months. Then in 2014, I was given the role of Facilities Coordinator.

I have learned a lot of unique skills pertaining to the everyday operations of a community arts venue, working as both a member of the Facilities Team and a Duty Manager and feel that I have been able to bring some of my own previous skills and experience to the table as well to help shape the role of what a Facilities Coordinator does.

I'm really privileged to work in an organisation that allows me to interact with such a broad spectrum of users on a daily basis and help cater to their individual needs. I think Trinity is all about the personal touch, and I have seen a lot of positive things being achieved at the Centre, through this process of warmth and respect.

In particular, the working relationships with weekly community groups who use the Centre have evolved and blossomed in my four years at the Centre and, in some cases, fundamental change in peoples perception of others - regardless of age, race or gender - has been made.

This kind of personal touch extends to all the various activities that go on at Trinity - from a 500 strong crowd at a rock gig to one-to-one advice and training for a youth music student. This is why I continue to work passionately for Trinity Community Arts and feel that it is an indispensable creative resource for the city of Bristol."

Shane Perry, Facilities Coordinator 2014

Interested in volunteering? Click here to view our latest volunteer opportunities.

At the end of 2013 we received funding from Awards for All, to run our Activate West Side project and Sarah Bentley (Project Coordinator) worked hard to expand the offer of activities for the community and supporting the volunteers that lead on them.

2014 saw more than 60 sessions ran by 26 volunteers as part of the project, from weekly writing groups, women lunch clubs, art collectives meetings and workshops to creative play sessions for children as well as healthy eating sessions and exhibitions. Over 230 participants have been involved in our activities this year.

The project has created new partnerships with local organisations like Parents4Play, Children's Scrapstore, Trinity Community Garden and University of West England (UWE). Trough the project we have also been able to support the Bristol Somali Youth Network, who now call Arts West Side home.

Sarah finished her post in October and left successful pilot partnership activities in place, like the Art Café for over 55's in partnership with LinkAge and UWE as well as Creativity Makes me Happy for people with learning difficulties, in partnership with Stepping Out. Both activities ran weekly from October until December 2014 and we look forward to continuing both projects in 2015.

This year we also welcomed our new tenants, Phase 8 Photography and The Good Roots Café.

Get in touch if you have an idea or project you would like to test out at Arts West Side. Email westside@3ca.org.uk - or next time you are down Old Market, come in say hello!

Well here we are... 3 weeks today since we arrived at Arts West Side and opened the doors to our new venture, the Good Roots Cafe at Arts West Side.

Thank you so much for supporting us... so far so good. We have come to realise West Street is a busy route for many Bristolians. Apparently 20,000 cars drive by here every day! But we would like more of you to come and visit!

Having Good Roots Music Cafe is a dream come true for us, and we want to extend our facility and talents to the community of Old Market, and beyond, in any way we can.
We love it here and intend to serve consistently great food, offer the warmest of welcomes, and really good Coffee and Chai... Always! We are passionate about quality, fresh ingredients & taste whilst remaining affordable. We haven't opened to get rich. We are doing what we love, and want to do it really really well.

The feedback we've had so far from our Customers has been brilliant and they invariably return...Although all the food is off the scale tasty, some dishes will go and some will always be on our Board.

We have plans for evening events... Tapas with Flamenco Guitar, Thali and Bollywood, South American Night with Fajitas & Mojitos etc...Bring your own booze...We'll provide the food, music, service and atmosphere ...What fun!!

Check out our All Day Menu:

DRINKS - Cappuccino, Americano, Espresso, Latte, Flat White: 1 shot £1.80 / 2 Shots £2.

Tea, Earl Grey, Peppermint, Herbal, Chai £1.80

Elderflower spritzer £1.50

BREAKFAST - Muesli banana & greek yogurt £3.00

Poached Eggs on Toast (2 eggs) £3.00

Chef Sez's Special Bengali Omelette £4

Sweet Crepes: w/Lemon & Sugar £1.50 / w/Nutella & Banana £2.50

All Day Veggie Breakfast w/coffee or tea £5.00

Warm Danish £1.50 w/coffee or tea  £3.00

LUNCH - Kitchoori Pakora & Dips £4.00

Savoury Crepe: w/Spinach, mushroom & aubergine £3.50

Dahl Poori's and Dip £4.00

Paratha & Vegetable Curry £4

Vegetable Paella and Dips £5.00

Soup of the Day with Bread £2.95

Please order any of the menu items to Take Away on the order line 0 7 7 5 6 5 0 1 0 8 7 for you to collect but we can also deliver within a half mile radius

We are currently open 8am - 4pm Tuesday - Saturday
Closed Sunday and Monday...for now...would be a great Sunday @ 11am spot to enjoy the papers and brunch...and coffee...and crepes...watch this space!

We can cater for your celebrations too, either at your home or using our facilities. Chef Sez is also a fab Soul Funk DJ so Good Food & Good Music both taken care of!

For now, thank you for reading, and look forward to seeing you soon :-)

Tracee, Sez, Johnny & James

After our highly successful Creative Play Day back in April, we are getting ready to launch a weekly drop in session for the under 5’s and their carers, in partnership with 'Parents for Play' and 'Children’s Scrapstore', this summer.

We are looking for a core group of volunteers to help lead and run these sessions, launching on Wednesday 9th July. Sessions will run 10 am - 12.30pm with the structure of an organized activity followed by ‘freeplay’.

This summer Arts West Side will also run a pilot project to offer adults with learning difficulties informal arts activities. We are looking for volunteers to help run and deliver these sessions.

We are looking for volunteers who have experience in the arts or working with vulnerable adults. The pilot is set to launch later in August.

All our volunteers are fully supported by the Arts West Side Project Coordinator.

For an informal chat about these roles, please call Sarah 0771403 6505 or email bentleg@3ca.org.uk

Arts West Side is getting ready to deliver new and improved Healthy Eating sessions in August.

Our 'Herbs for a Healthy Tasty Life!' sessions will teach you all there is to learn about herbs growing habits, properties & different culinary and medicinal uses.

We will run 2 different sessions, the first one on Wed 13th August and the second one on Wed 20th August, both 10.30am to 12.30pm at The Trinity Community Gardens, with each session looking at different herbs.

The sessions are free and suitable for children 5+ and we will run whatever the weather so please bring your waterproofs!

Places are limited, so please book a place in advance  with Sarah Bentley: bentleg@3ca.org.uk or call: 07714036505

Trinity Community Garden, Trinity Road, BS2 0NW.

This is a project funded by Awards for All

We have secured Awards for All funding to provide a Project Coordinator for the Activate West Side Project. Based at Arts West Side, the new post will help to support volunteers to develop and run regular activities, providing advice and support as well as access to small project budgets for volunteers to set up and deliver their own activities (for materials and flyers, for example). As part of the application, we will also be delivering some food workshops around the café led by The Uprising Bakery, as well as Food Hygiene certificates for core volunteers working in the café. We will also provide two new laptops for the space so that the café is better placed to offer free internet access to the local community.

Volunteers are working to continue the coordination of a rotating Arts Exhibitions Programme and we welcome enquiries from any new or existing volunteers wishing to develop arts/community workshops. The aim is, through support and guidance provided by a new Project Coordinator, to build upon initial ad-hoc activities to create a more structured programme of community activity.

If you are interested in applying to join the team, please visit the Trinity website and download the job description and application pack. Deadline for applications 29 July 2013.

We have also recently redeveloped the Arts West Side café in partnership with The Uprising Bakery, installing a retro counter and furniture for a more kitsch-cool feel. Why not come join us and check out our latest menu, with healthy lunchtime options available!

If you would like to support the Arts West Side project and make a donation to help us run community activities from the space, text AWSP13 £{the amount you would like to donate} to 70070 JustTextGiving by Vodafone.

Arts West Side, our satellite project on Old Market High Street is one year old! One of the key aims of the project was to create a sustainable café, supported by volunteer input, that could eventually offer paid work opportunities to volunteers as the project grows and develops. The ethos of the café is to provide healthy eating vegetarian/vegan options, which are in short supply in the local area, increase access to the Internet for the community by providing free wi-fi and computer terminals as well as offering an exhibition space for local artists and contributing to the ongoing regeneration of the Old Market area.

In order to help us better realise this vision, Trinity is now working in partnership with the Uprising Bakery, which provides vegetarian and vegan food and will start to work with local groups like the Trinity garden group to provide fresh seasonal veg locally sourced. Through this partnership, the Arts West Side project now has increased capacity to support and develop volunteer and participatory opportunities within the café space and is better placed to move towards creating real paid work for individuals as café footfall and catering enquiries increase.

In line with this, we are also developing a project and is seeking funding to provide a volunteer coordinator who is able to support other volunteers to develop and run regular activities, providing advice and support as well as access to small project budgets for volunteers to set up and deliver their own activities (for materials and flyers, for example). As part of the application, we will also seek some funding to cover workshops around the café led by the Uprising Bakery, as well as Food Hygiene certificates for core volunteers working in the café. Finally, the application will include a budget for a pair of laptops so that the café is better placed to offer free internet access to the local community.

The café will be open every day 11am-5pm and, if you are interested in volunteering, Ellie from the Uprising Bakery will be there to meet, greet and induct any new or existing volunteers. Jamell from Trinity is working to continue the coordination of a rotating Arts Exhibitions Programme, so please get in touch if you are a local artist interested in exhibiting work. Kate Marsden will be working to support any new or existing volunteers wishing to develop arts/community workshops (such as our 'stitch and b*tch' workshop, pictured right) and if you have any questions or for more information or to discuss how you want to be involved please contact westside@3ca.org.uk or join our Arts West Side Facebook group.

Last year on 31 March we opened a second premises at 6 West Street, Old Market through Bristol City Council's Community Asset Transfer programme.

One year on, we've made great progress - Arts West Side has now been established as a community arts space, with a team of 15 volunteers helping to run the space and the café, open between 11am-4pm Tues-Fri. We have delivered activities including arts workshops, exhibitions of local artists' work, music events and language exchanges. Our volunteers have been actively involved in the running of events and workshops, and have benefited from getting recognised certificates, skills and experience which has helped them to build confidence and gain work.

This year we will be running volunteer meetings on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 4pm so anyone looking to get involved are welcome. We have a new café manager from 'The Uprising Bakery' - a producer of local, fair-trade, organic, healthy food - and aim to offer earlier opening hours, foody workshops, volunteer training and a new menu - Yummy!

Volunteers will be running regular activities including; free open-mic nights on the 2nd and 4th Weds of each month (donations collected); a monthly Arts Exhibitions Programme of local artists' work; drop-in knitting sessions on Saturday mornings; reading workshop 'Everyday Reads' with Sound Reads and Ujima Radio; language exchanges; 'Anything Words' creative workshops involving poetry, prose, textiles and sculpture. Local artist Cedar will also be running a term of workshops as of February, every Tuesday for a 6-week term. For more information please contact westside@3ca.org.uk - so what are you waiting for? Come and get involved!

Arts West Side: Grand Opening

Arts West Side officially opens its doors at 11am on Saturday 31st March with an offering of coffees, cakes and photography by Khali Ackford.

The venue situated along the vibrant high street of Old Market has been redeveloped by Trinity Community Arts with generous support from Bristol City Council.

The past year has seen number 6 West Street transformed into a valuable new resource for the community featuring a fully fitted cafe, gallery, meeting/office space and art room.

Volunteer-led the venue is supported by an enthusiastic team of volunteers who bring the energy, passion and dedication to make Arts West Side a creative and welcoming space.

So whether you are looking for somewhere to eat, meet, exhibit or create Arts West Side has it all.

Grand opening: 31st March 2012 11am-4pm

Regular cafe opening times:
Tues - Fri - 11am-4pm