Click play to watch Stokes Croft Lands Trust's campaign video

As part of our continued commitment to advocating for shared community and cultural spaces, we have pledged £1,000 to become a shareholder in the Stokes Croft Land Trust, matching the pledges of grassroots arts groups, The Invisible Circus and Artspace Lifespace.

“PRSC is a contemporary example of radical art in Bristol that represents the themes we’re exploring in our heritage project. Though this pledge, we hope to strengthen our ability more closely with PRSC and create shared outcomes for communities in relation to the art of resistance theme.” Rhiannon Jones, Programme Director

In early 2022, Trinity published the ‘100 Beacons’ report: A Community Canvas - building the case for community infrastructure, to shine a light on the importance of – and understand the risks posed to – Bristol's community and cultural assets. This report identified sustained underinvestment in civic assets coupled with the city’s rapid regeneration, poses a risk to Bristol’s unique identity that has led to it regularly topping the list of the "best places to live in Britain."

Bristol is a city renowned for its cultural offer and its activist spirit. However, parts of the city such as Stokes Croft that have historically shaped this identity have seen a huge growth in private development, which has already impacted on the cultural offer of this locality, with artists leaving Hamilton House in 2018, due to increased rents.

In response to this, the Stokes Croft Land Trust (SCLT) has been created to purchase 17-25 Jamaica St, Stokes Croft, which is home to the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft HQ (PRSC), in order to protect one of the area’s remaining cultural landmarks. Through a community shares offer, members of the community and like-minded organisations are able to come together to help ensure the building stays in the hands and ownership of artists, protecting its use for the benefit of the community. This is a model much like the Cube Cinema, which secured its building back in 2012 through community fundraising.

“Stokes Croft is a significant artistic destination in Bristol. With the scale of redevelopment happening and in the interests of social welfare, Trinity wants to help ensure our city’s cultural spirit and radical identity is nurtured. We’re working with the PRSC team to celebrate Bristol’s history of art in protest and we want to pledge our support for the Stokes Croft Land Trust so future generations of misfits have a space to call home.” Emma Harvey, CEO, Trinity Community Arts.

The Fundsurfer set up to help the SCLT purchase its first building and bring it into community ownership is already over 50% of the way towards their minimum target of £272,000.

Trinity’s commitment also supports our current work to document and celebrate 100 years of art and activism in Bristol through the National Lottery Heritage funded project, Art of Resistance.

Click here to pledge your support to Stokes Croft Land Trust today

Image credit: Docklands Community Centre/Full Circle

Dubbed by agencies across the voluntary sector as, ‘The Great British Sell-Off’, our shared heritage and civic assets, community and youth centres, libraries and public green spaces are being lost as part of the council funding crisis.

Bristol City Council’s 2022-23 budget announcement is framed with the proviso that further cuts will be needed to plug a £19.5m deficit. This includes, “£3.5m by reviewing the buildings we own across all services.” With the statue debate still raging nationally, we’re sleepwalking into a future that, even prior to the pandemic, has already stripped Bristol of £30m worth of publicly owned assets.

"If we continue to deplete our supply of places where we can read our first book, become a Scout, learn a language or a new dance move or play Bingo in our retirement, we’ll continue down the pathway to polarisation."

The challenge is not in making such spaces loved, it’s in making them viable. We neglect the leaking community centre, or the inaccessible library, whilst trying to ‘level-up’, through investing in ‘transformative’ projects where the cost of the economic impact assessment alone would cover repairs and alterations across community spaces citywide. It’s hard to see how the building of an Arena or a multi-million concert hall refurb compensates us for the loss of the places where we connect with one another, make memories and build our sense of place and belonging in our everyday lives.

As costs of a few projects escalate to keep pace with aspiration, this increases the distance between the ‘viable’ and ‘non-viable’ spaces. If you’re a charity running a building, it’s almost impossible not to get caught on the capital conveyor belt to nowhere, in which we all chase an unattainable vision of the perfect building. Often, like Trinity, it’s what we’re legally constituted to “preserve” our asset. This means, even with the best intentions, we can end up leaving behind our stakeholders and our communities in the pursuit of building back better.

When we get swept up in the notion that a capital project is the priority above all else, we lose sight of the thing that makes buildings important in the first place; it’s the empty space within and the energy it’s filled with that matters more than the bricks and mortar.

We want to make Trinity the best venue it can be, just not at the expense of other venues or those who need the building in the first place and who have been happy using it even at its shabbiest. Balancing the need to future-proof and make a viable and sustainable Centre, whilst taking others with us and ensuring any investment is felt beyond our four walls.

This is why we produced the 100 Beacons report in partnership with other venues and the Council to evidence the contribution of Bristol’s community assets, including the critical role they’ve played in providing local services as part of the COVID19 response.

As part of Bristol’s One City Plan, early indications are a commitment from the Council to invest in improvements to concessionary lettings, such as those referenced in our report. This could provide a lifeline to buildings owned by the city and managed on our behalf. As the budget is still in draft form, we still don’t yet know how this will translate into money to make neighbourhood hubs useable, accessible, green and COVID-Secure. However, this is at least an example of what can be achieved if we work together on what matters to people, to ensure spaces are retained for community use for the benefit of ourselves and future generations.

If we continue to deplete our supply of places where we can read our first book, become a Scout, learn a language or a new dance move or play Bingo in our retirement, we’ll continue down the pathway to polarisation. Such catastrophic loss to communities makes it easy to develop false attachments to an effigy of a slaver not designed with us in mind, whilst increasing our resentment towards those we see as encroaching on any space we feel we have left, be it the immigrant or the gentrifier.

If only those advocating to preserve commemorative statues put even a fraction of that energy into campaigning to save their local heritage asset or civic space, volunteer at their local community or youth centre, or set up a regular social activity in their local library we’d all feel the positive effects. As we continue to navigate the isolating impact of a period of successive restrictions, it’s the spaces that reduce the distance between us that help us to level-up, culturally, socially and economically.

Emma Harvey, CEO

Read the report: A Community Canvas - building the case for community infrastructure 2022 - 2026

Artists Rider Shafique and Khali Ackford (I-Dentity) & Trinity team up to bring a monthly meet-up to a offer a place of support, reflection, reason & opportunity for Black Creatives (all disciplines welcomed).

Supported by Trinity, the meetups have been inspired following feedback from online workshops, delivered by Rider and Khali, as part of Trinity's community arts project What I Want To See, What I Want To Be.

Meetups are on every fourth Monday of the month.

To find out more or to register to take part, get in touch.

“Being able to use Trinity free of charge has enabled us to keep running the art and craft drop-ins even with a very limited budget, reaching a greater number of disabled people.” WECIL

We believe activities are most successful when they're led by those by who use the services.

Our Community Kickstart scheme supports inspired individuals in our communities who have an idea and the passion to start an activity that is lacking in the community or neighbourhood. The scheme gives local residents free space, support and seed-funding to get new neighbourhood activities off the ground.

Kickstart is open to groups that are not in receipt of funding and do not have access to regular space to deliver their activity. Activities can include a dance, arts or fitness class, a community meeting or network event, a regular tea morning or an advice group or workshop.

Through Kickstart, we've launched new regular groups and classses such as Gentle Dance, which was set up in 2010 with support from LinkAge Bristol. With Trinity’s support, the group has become self-managing and sustainable, with 30+ regular participants each week, helping to improve health and well-being for over 55s through regular dance activity.

To qualify for our Kickstart scheme you have to be:

We are what you make us, so #makethespace and #getinvolved

Forest school workshops with local schools and artist Alice Cunningham

The Bird Bath is carved in Ancaster Weatherbed stone by artist Alice Cunningham

Trinity commissioned Bristol artist Alice Cunningham to create a bird bath sculpture as part of the recent improvements to the community garden.

"I liked exploring the garden and being able to build up trust with my team because before we started I did not have trust in them" Baraka, workshop participant, St Nicholas of Tolentine primary school.

Carved in Ancaster Weatherbed stone, the bird bath is in memory to Bunty Bax, following a legacy donation by her daughter Amelia. Amelia’s legacy gift donation contributed towards creating an accessible outdoor space including new pathways, raised planters and a sensory nature trail.

As part of the making of the bird bath, Bristol-based sculptor, Alice, also delivered workshops with 12 local children from Hannah More and St Nicholas of Tolentine Primary Schools who attend Forest School sessions at Trinity. The children explored different types of homes and nests in nature and then used clay to create their own sculptures.

We are really grateful to be able to complete this round of improvements to the garden creating an accessible inner-city garden for all to enjoy. The improvements have been funded by Power to Change, match funders and Amelia’s legacy gift donation.

We are pleased to be part of Fun Palaces, a three year project that aims to give power to communities so they can re-think, re-claim or re-purpose civic and community spaces.

Fun Palaces are creating opportunities for everyone to have a say about what counts as culture, where it happens and who experiences it.

At Trinity, a Fun Palace Ambassador will be in place for the duration of the project to support volunteers, grassroots communities and organisations to programme events or create projects that celebrates community and everyday creativity. Alongside this they will support people with free advice and guidance on developing ideas into realities, support with funding applications and event management.

Batu checks out the new equipment in the studio. Photo credit Batu

Trinity are pleased to be welcome First Light Studio as new residents. Founded by Bristol based DJ and Producer Batu, who is best known for Timedance, his bass-driven and hypnotic dance nights that have been a key player in the scene over the last seven years.

First Light Studio will take residency in Trinity's recording studio and will offer workshops and free studio hire to Bristol's music-making communities.

“So many people have helped me along the way and I've received a huge amount of support from the community around me. Privately renting a studio is an expense that is prohibitive for a lot of up and coming artists, and there should be more access for free.” Batu

With the support of Dr. Martens the studio at Trinity has undergone a make-over - providing an open and inclusive space for artists to develop their skills - removing financial barriers many face in accessing professional studios.

The studio is a stepping stone into the music industry allowing producers to create, refine and experiment with the pro-level kit they need to enhance their ideas into fully fledged professional productions.

The investment by First Light Studio and Dr. Martens will mean that young people who access our music-making programme, Making Tracks, will also have access to the new equipment.

First Light Studio is open Mondays and Fridays - click here for more info and to book the studio.

MX Centre, St Paul's has provided a vital base for localised COVID19 services

"I think its very important for a city to have range of arts and community spaces, suitable for a wide range of music and events and accessible to all. There shouldn’t be a hierarchy but rather an understanding that different conditions are needed to present a full symphony orchestra and chorus, an experimental jazz session or a poetry slam. These events all have their own particular economics, what is important is that they are all the best they can be - exciting, empowering and inspiring. Bristol needs and deserves all of this." Louise Mitchell, Chief Executive, Bristol Beacon

Trinity believes in the power of shared space. That’s why we’ve launched ‘100 beacons’, to shine a light some of Bristol’s most loved community buildings and spaces and build a collective case for capital investment in the city’s youth, community and cultural assets.

Bristol Beacon is not the only asset owned by us. Bristol City Council’s property portfolio consists of over 1,500 properties; approximately 250 community spaces such as libraries, parks and leisure centres and 117 concessionary lettings including scout huts, youth clubs, community farms and centres such as St Werburghs, Filwood and Harcliffe.

Whether it’s the park you walk in, the library you read in, the community centre you meet in, or the youth club you learn in, the chances are this space is owned by the local authority.

The condition of these buildings and spaces vary greatly. One of these spaces is Malcolm X Community Centre, based in the heart of St Pauls. Born out of the St. Paul's Uprising of April 2, 1980, MX Centre has survived the storms to remain a much-needed space serving the local community throughout the pandemic - most recently as a COVID19 pop-up clinic, vaccinating 200 people in one weekend.

However, as this statement from the Centre's Board of Trustees outlines, this space is in desperate need for financial investment:

"MX Centre is crying out for some TLC - essential repairs would cost a fraction of £107M. There is an ancient heating system that threatens strike action daily. Infrastructure that is in desperate need of modernisation and accessibility work, including lifts that are in place technically though haven't functioned for years.

Having a building where individuals with mobility needs cannot access certain spaces is just not acceptable in 2021, yet we struggle to realise a solution without Council support as the asset owner. This is just a snippet of the building's current issues and needs.

None of the other community spaces owned by Bristol City Council object to the refurbishment of the Bristol Beacon. But what about the other council owned community spaces across the city that exist in need of care and repair? Do they not deserve some funding to serve their respective users?

These are spaces that cater largely to the city's marginalised communities and would be grateful for a fraction of that colossal figure. We are simply asking for equity in funding distribution from the Council, for being caretakers of their spaces.

The Malcolm X Community Centre is one such space of hundreds across the city. It is imperative that Bristol City Council address this issue of disparity, which is years old, necessary and now urgent."

Malcolm X Community Centre, Board of Trustees

With the launch of new schemes such as the Community Ownership Fund alongside the Government’s Build Back Better principles, we want to help build a collective case for capital investment in Bristol’s publicly owned assets, so that they can:

• facilitate good health, well-being and positive relations between communities as they grow and diversify 
• compete in a social enterprise environment where ‘sweating the asset’ becomes key to sustaining local services

• fulfil their role as local economic multipliers, creating vital paid jobs, contributing to our economic prosperity and collective recovery.

As Kathryn Chiswell Jones Managing Director of Artspace Lifespace who look after Council-owned assets including The Vestibules and Ashton Court Mansion says; "Not all community assets are designated mansions or grand halls, but they are beacons for communities. Our local community spaces are integral to social and economic inclusion and to building Bristol Back Better."

Way’s you can help

If you manage a Council owned building, please take fifteen minutes to fill in our concessionary lettings survey to help us build the collective case for investment.

Write to your local Councillor or MP about the importance of capital grant support for a local building that’s close to your heart, using Trinity’s template.

Make sure you make a commitment to investment in community assets a key question for all Mayoral candidates at upcoming hustings meetings.

Check out Locality’s Save Our Spaces for an introduction and toolkit if there’s a space in your local area that you’d like to save.

Read and share We Need a 'Bristol Beacon' in Every Community , an opinion piece in the Bristol Cable by Trinity CEO, Emma Harvey.

Share on socials using #100beacons

Emma Harvey, CEO, Trinity Community Arts

Jon Newey, Managing Director, Full Circle

Kathryn Chiswell-Jones, Company Manager, Artspace Lifespace

LaToyah McAllister-Jones, Executive Director, St Paul’s Carnival

Makala Cheung, Creative Director, Filwood Community Centre

Primrose Granville, Director, Malcolm X Community Centre

Stacy Yelland, CEO, Eastside Community Trust

Hype's mission is to use dance and movement to help young people excel. The award winning urban dance company for 5yrs- young adult, runs weekly all year round (apart from the six-week summer) holiday and runs an open door policy so new dancers can join any time.

Class times:

• 6pm - 7pm 5yrs-11yrs (primary school age)
• 7pm - 8pm Teen/young Adults classes-(For 12+)

Cost:

• £8 pay as you go weekly. Classes can be paid on the door via card/contactless payment or exact cash each week .

Further information

• New starters can start on any Wednesday as its new routines each week at our open for all classes so there is no need for a trail class.
• First session is half price classes are 'closed classes' which means parents are unable to sit and watch as it is more comfortable for the students to progress and be themselves.

Follow Hype Dance Company

• Instagram
• Hypes Facebook
• Hypes Tiktok
• Email
  
  

Two weekly session run

• Mondays, 5:30pm - 6:30pm - Fyfe Hall
• Fridays, 12pm - 2pm - Main Hall

Please email here if you are interested in joining the class, Julia will need to speak with you before sign up. The company is led by Julia Thorneycroft.

About Julia 
Julia has many years experience of creating, directing and teaching dance in professional, community and academic contexts. She is Programme Leader for the Dance Foundation Degree,City of Bristol College, and has Artistic Director roles for Kinesis Youth Dance Company, and Julia Thorneycroft Young Dancers Company. Her performance company, Julia Thorneycroft Dance, creates accessible dance theatre that explores current social themes and human nature, engaging the core human emotions of its audience. She is committed to reaching out beyond traditional theatre space into outdoor festivals and rural touring.

Please note: Trinity operates a 24hr Pay & Display Car Park and all Visitors are required to Pay & Display.

When Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden advised 25 of the UK’s most recognisable cultural institutions* to be consistent with the Government on issues of contested heritage, voices across heritage and the arts expressed a need for separation between culture and politics.

But when charities faced calls from Charity Commission Chair to remain apolitical - a reaction to groups such as The National Trust opting to present the colonial history of some of their properties - the cultural sector was equally unhappy.

This may appear contradictory; on the one hand, arts and heritage charities calling for state and art to be kept separate while at the same time bawking at being told to avoid politicising activity. Maybe artists aren’t that great at being told what to do. Or maybe politics can be intrinsic to, whilst also remaining separate from, the work of charities.

The work of charities is intrinsic to (small p) politics

Arts and heritage charities exist to enrich our understanding of the past and inspire the next generation to build a better future. These aren’t just fluffy-feels. Rather, they are legally defined principles, set out in what is known as ‘Charitable Objects’.

Objects such as, ‘to preserve and promote heritage and arts’, ‘advance education’, or ‘promote equality of opportunity for persons of different racial and cultural identities’, can’t help but touch upon the micro-politics of everyday life.

Objects exist to focus resources and give donors assurance funds will go toward furthering their chosen cause. When we give to charities, we put our trust in them to decide how to best use those resources in pursuit of the Objects.

Funders may request charities use a hashtag in acknowledgement of funds or report on how funds are spent. But, this need for accountability does not take precedent over thee responsibility to stakeholders first and foremost.

As independent legal entities, charities must remain free to decide what activities are most appropriate in pursuit of their Objects, for the good of those they serve. Charities cannot act against their legitimate Objects just to keep someone happy - even when that someone is the Culture Secretary, or the Charity Commission Chair.

Art and (capital P) Politics must be separate

When it comes to funding, this ‘at arms length’ principle is important for the autonomy of all charities and is particularly notable in UK culture, with creation of The Arts Council itself post-WWII to ensure a clear separation between culture and capital P Politics.

This separation of Charity from State is critical as it safeguards the pursuit of a charity's mission from any shift in government priorities.

It means charities can focus on the interests of those they serve rather than being distracted by the interests of those who fund them. They cannot de-prioritise stakeholder interests in the pursuit funds, even where those funds are administered by the Government or public funding bodies such as Lottery. They must be able to maintain their autonomy so they can flex and adapt to meet changing stakeholder needs - not least so they can ensure they remain relevant to an ever diversifying donor pool.

Applying pressure on how legally constituted organisations pursue their legitimate charitable aims - by warning public funding will be ‘scrutinised’ should they not tow the line, for example - is even more problematic right now, due to the financial precariousness of the sector.

Charities exist to make change and pursue activities that help to make life fairer for us all. To use Chris Whitty’s ‘Swiss-cheese’ analogy, they plug any gaps in the wider public sector safety-net. We must protect this freedom at all costs, so charities can respond to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic, amplify stories that give new perspectives to dominant narratives and ensure the art we make remains free from Political constraints.

Our charities, our heritage and our culture must remain independent. That freedom is more important than ever, for the sake of our collective recovery and prosperity. We must distinguish between the Politics to be kept at arms length and that which is central to our mission if want our vision to remain in arms reach.

By Emma Harvey, CEO

Seven ways to show solidarity

1. Support the work groups diversifying the sector, such as Migrants in Culture and Inc Arts
2. Sign Howell Furber 's petition to encourage to reconsider DCMS' stance on contested histories
3. Follow news about the Hands Off Our Heritage on social media
4. Sign up to Strike A Light's mailing list to be part of future cross-sector conversations
5. Join The Museums Association's campaign to decolonise museums
6. Write to your MP in support of a 'Keep At Arms Length' approach to UK culture
7. Show your support on social media to those such as @nationaltrust and other UK arts and heritage charities impacted*, using hashtags such as #KeepItArmsLength #HandsOffOurHeritage

*List of organisations: The British Film Institute, British Library, British Museum, Churches Conservation Trust, Historic Royal Palaces, Horniman Museum, Imperial War Museum, Museum of the Home, National Archives, National Gallery, National Museums Liverpool, National Portrait Gallery, Natural History Museum, Royal Armouries, Royal Museums Greenwich, Royal Parks, Science Museum Group, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Tate Gallery, V&A Museum, Wallace Collection, Arts Council England, Historic England, National Lottery Communities Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund

Trinity has been working to create opportunities for children and young people in our local community of Old Market, The Dings and Lawrence Hill to access to arts and well-being activities during the COVID19 pandemic.

“Many families we support don't have gardens, computers or printers to benefit from online resources many organisations created. It is important to remember about this digital inequality and therefore packs like those prepared by Trinity Centre are particularly valuable. They contain colourful booklets with inspirational ideas ... to cheer up those who can only dream about their own gardens”.

Pat Pinkowska, Community Engagement Officer, Up Our Street

As part of this work we have created two activity packs full of creative ideas, ranging from make your-own Bird Feeders, to singing Lullabies to learning more about Resistance Movements in Bristol - all devised to do in the home.

Working with our community partners including local primary schools and Eastside Community Trust we have delivered over 900 activity packs to local children and young people.

Trinity's Summer and Winter Activity packs are also available as a free download . They have been devised by the Trinity team and designed by Group of 7.

The packs have been made possible thanks to grant funding from Children in Need, Power to Change and Quartet.

In life, we chase rainbows. In death, we want something much simpler. Our own salvation or damnation dependent on the compatibility of our relative goodness to those who mourn our passing. Making saints of those held close and casting aside the sinners, though the space between is the one most of us occupy. Society depends on us all trying to be the best versions of ourselves. Our crimes are committed in the moments where we forget to try. It’s those who touch the extremities of expected behaviour -both good and bad - who create the most ripples.

Phil served 13 years in prison for a devastating crime. He came to Trinity in 2004 on a back-to-work ex-offender placement.

Sometimes there can be no forgiveness. But, in that space between life and death is where we find community. A space for the misfits and the troubled. Beyond the warmth of our family and our friends, a sense of belonging that is unconditional.

Emma Harvey, CEO

It was just a shabby shell back then, after a period of closure that many thought would mark its end. A re-imagining, but without any of the resources needed to realise that vision.

Phil offered us a lifeline. Without him, the building could never have reopened. Nor could it have remained open during those early years, when so much manual work needed doing in order to make it a safe space.

On Phil’s release, he continued to work at Trinity for no financial or personal gain. He did so much and grafted in a way that was unimaginable. It was his dedication and determination that inspired everyone who met him in those times. Others would try to emulate it, but we’d all be in bed crashed out at a time when he was up and about, working on setting things right so we could open our doors the next day.

His atonement laid the foundation stone of Trinity today. So many times, he managed to help us pull something unrealistic out of the bag and make the magic happen. His work ethic at times seemed superhuman and pushed him to breaking on several occasions. He was so stubborn in his dissent from that ladder, when it came to his retirement in 2016.

With his cynicism, it was like he hated all that busyness and insanity that gave the place life. When the lock-down started, the team joked that this was the Trinity Phil had always wanted. A quiet space with no people and the building all to himself. But, that was his trick on us - he loved the building’s life, he just never felt that he deserved to be a part of it.

During the Phil years, to walk in and see a weathered old man followed by his faithful hound, you just knew you had found somewhere where you could just be in spite of, not because of, your past self or any future expectations.

Trinity made him feel something in a space someone more poetic might call his heart. He felt enough of a sense of being part of the wonderment though just by being in the background as He who was both church care taker and care giver, whilst never permitting himself to fully become immersed.

For those who Phil hurt most - as for any victim of crime and their families - the worst thing to have is that sense of the perpetrator’s life being allowed to continue. The fear and anger that they are somehow able to enjoy that which they have taken from their victim. That they get to feel the warmth of the sun on their face.

The reality is much more complex. Even in our most joyous of times, Phil never basked in that sunshine. There was no absolution, just resolution and resignedness to a life in the shade. To paraphrase Indigo Girls (a band he loved) even if his sweat smelt clean, the glare off the sun would hurt his eyes.

Father. Husband. Functioning alcoholic. A mask that began to slip more and more with the passing of time. But, what never changed was a deep warmth and an unwavering loyalty beyond reason. Humour in the face of adversity. Cigarettes with Steve when there was nothing else. Amongst the glimpses of joy - guitars and fish and chips and T-shirts and Poppy - there were subsequent losses and drinking alone and fear and loneliness. Life meant life.

Love. There was so much love and hurt over past wrongs so damaging that they can never be set right, no matter how virtuous any subsequent action. Nevertheless, he was deeply loved by his Trinity family. We reflect on the life of a person who touched and changed lives dramatically and catastrophically. We respectfully mourn and pay tribute to a one of a kind man who inspired us to work hard and do better, knowing he could never be forgiven.

Sometimes there can be no forgiveness. But, in that space between life and death is where we find community. A space for the misfits and the troubled. Beyond the warmth of our family and our friends, a sense of belonging that is unconditional.

That he has passed during such particularly challenging times gives us greater cause for reflection. If a criminal can become such an outstanding citizen then we can hold onto hope that good grows out of even the most darkest of moments. That one might work toward a better future they might not be part of, but which still very much exists because of the part they played.

Restoration if not of a soul, at least of a building that is still very much here. A space for love, life, death and reincarnation. A place of radical inclusiveness, helping us to see that grace extended - even if it is felt to be undeserved - can take us all to somewhere better.

Phil. A reminder that who we are at any one moment does not define us. After all, we can always choose to change ourselves.

Big love always

Emma x

In these challenging times, Trinity and Cambridge Junction have come together to offer a £3,000 commission to a D/deaf or Disabled Artist(s) to create work for an online audience.

We will commission one new piece of work and want the brief to be as open as possible, so you can respond in a way that best suits you as an artist. We welcome artists of any practice, working in any art-form, to apply.

We want to commission:

• A brand-new online performance/exhibition that can remain available to experience for a set period of time – we want people to be able to experience your work safely from their homes

• One artist who identifies as D/deaf or Disabled, or a collective of artists where at least 50% of the collective identify as D/deaf or Disabled

• Work that will be completed and distributed online before the end of October 2020

Photo Alexa Ledecky

Photo Alexa Ledecky

Trinity has been selected to be one of 40 community arts centres to take part in Here and Now, a national and local celebration of culture within communities running alongside the National Lottery’s 25 year anniversary.