Trinity Garden Party. Photo Alastair Brookes

Over the last year, we have developed our Community and Neighbourhoods programme in response to the needs and interests of residents, community groups, and grassroots organisations.

“I’m really looking forward to connecting with the residents of Newtown. The weekly sessions will be a place where people can share their skills and interests and socialise together” Shanti, Community Connector

We have created three 'Community Connector' roles to connect with communities within the Newtown area, families who live on or near Stapleton Road, and people who access services at the Wild Goose Cafe.

Shanti Pant is the Community Connector for Newtown, a neighbourhood directly opposite the Trinity Centre. As with all the Connectors, Shanti has an active presence in Newtown both as a local resident and in organising community events alongside her daughter, Hemlata.

Originally from Nepal, Shanti has lived in Newtown since 2019. Having grown up in the countryside, she is keen to bring activities to Newtown that connect people to nature and organise weekend events for children and families. A keen craftsperson she wants to use these skills to offer activities for people who may be experiencing loneliness and isolation, providing opportunities to connect through creativity and craft.

In the first few months as a Connector, Shanti has been working with Trinity’s Communities and Neighbourhoods team to plan workshops inviting local residents to join artist Benoit Bennett in designing a mural to celebrate Newtown and the communities who live there. She also attended workshops led by the University of Bristol at their Wellspring Micro-campus in Barton Hill. These workshops explored ways in which older adults can use film as a creative medium – something that Shanti is keen to explore with local Newtown residents.

Alongside this, Shanti has been connecting with residents and community organisations, including Lawrence Hill Health Centre, to create two new free-to-access activities for Newtown residents that will start in June 2024.

Nature in Newtown is a series of weekly nature walks where local residents are invited to explore the area and take part in gentle movement activities. Initially led by facilitator Subitha Baghirathan, the sessions will then move on to exploring how to use simple creative film techniques as a way to capture and express participants’ experiences of engaging with this activity.

Shanti will also be hosting drop-in Coffee Morning sessions in Rosevear House every Friday morning from 10am to midday, starting on 4th June until 5th July. These meetups will include creative activities and the opportunity for residents to connect with each other.

If you are a Newtown resident and you have an idea for creative activities in your community you can speak to Shanti by:

• Attending a coffee morning or joining a nature walk
• Calling Trinity on 0117 935 1200
• Sign up to our mailing list

Community Connectors and our Community and Neighbourhoods programme has been developed in response to our pledges, click here to find out more.

For low income and Free PA ticket please email here.

*NOT A PLAY PARTY
* NO DRESS-CODE

All attendees are subject to a vibe check by our welfare team. Entry requirements: 20+

Join Club Love for their regular mid-week social where their gorgeous community will be meeting up outside a clubbing and play environment to chat about all things ENM, do a bit of shopping/swapping and soak in a talk or demo.

If you are curious about Club Love's play parties this is the perfect event to meet like-minded people and have all your questions answered with no pressure or judgement. Club Love socials will be open to members and non- members. Non-members will also have the opportunity to be vetted for Club Love Membership in person at the event.

Club Love are also initiating the; Kinky Clothes Swap'. Bring all the bits you don’t wear anymore, don’t fit, or the some beloved items you want to share with someone else.

Stalls by: 
Tamatha-Ann Lovett 
Chipper Leather Company 
Lisa Rose Illustration 
Collared by Miles 

Everyone is subject to Club love's vibe checks on entry. This is not a cruising event. You will be turned away if we feel your intentions are misaligned or your vibe is off.

Low-income tickets or free PA tickets are available via email here.

• No Dress Code
• No Under 18's
• Club Love Event Etiquette Applies
• Not a Play Party
• Workshop starts 7:30pm sharp

Please ensure you visit Club Love's website for event etiquette and guidelines. 
Visit here for more info on accessibility and parking.

Club Love are teaming up with Universally challenged to present the Hot Sl*ut Challenge.

A collaborative mess from the minds behind Club Love and Universally Challenged where getting the answer right might be the most boring thing you do all night.

It’s time to get filthy… strategically. Join Bristol’s favourite freaky hosts red & billy for a night of unique challenges, chaos, and carnal knowledge. Think avant-garde. Think round after round of totally unserious, totally unhinged, absolutely essential entertainment.


These evenings exist for a reason: Not everyone connects under strobes. Not every conversation can happen on a dancefloor. So Club Love created something different, a fun and relaxing space, built on connection.

Entry requirements: 20+ - please bring ID.

Everyone is subject to Club love's vibe checks on entry. This is not a cruising event, or a play party. You will be turned away if Club Love feel your intentions are misaligned or your vibe is off.

Panel discussion as part of 'Final Frontier'. Image credit: Khali Ackford

In partnership with St Paul’s Carnival/Trinity and Citizens In Power, we have been exploring how a representative group of citizens from across the west of England could create a cultural strategy and delivery plan for the region. Following our research phase we are now undertaking a series of ‘citizens panels’ with people from across region.

We will host three panels during September and October in which we will ask citizens to review the initial model for a Citizens’ Assembly for culture that was developed by the working group. The findings of the three citizen panels will be assembled into a report that sets out how the recommendations have been implemented in the design of the 2024 Citizens’ Assembly for culture. We are then planning follow-up sessions with people and organisations working in the cultural sector during November and December.

The citizens panels will be hosted by David Jubb (Citizens In Power) and small discussion groups will be facilitated to ensure everyone has a voice in the process. The reason for involving citizens in the design process is that we believe that a wide range of citizens can help improve the idea and make it more relevant to more people from across the region.

If you would like to find out more and explore questions about the idea and the process then we will be at the ‘Festival of the Future City’ on Oct 19 at Watershed where we will share our journey so far. The event will be open to questions from and conversation with the audience at this free event.

The citizens panels mark an exciting next-step for the Citizens For Culture project, made possible with the support of the Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) and Arts Council England through the West of England Cultural Compact fund.

Find out more about the project

Festus Market. Photo credit: KoLAB Studios

Throughout 2023, we celebrated the 75th Anniversary of Windrush through our community arts programme. Working with key partners including St Paul’s Carnival, Ujima Radio, Eastside Community Trust and the Malcolm X Centre, we created a community-led project to celebrate the communities who moved to Bristol during the 1950s and to give voice to Caribbean elders' experiences, resilience and memories.

"I had wicked fun. When are you doing it again?" Feedback, Festus

In partnership with Tamasha Theatre and Coney, we supported the creation of 'Duppy Hunter', an audio adventure set on the streets of St Paul’s. The script was developed during the summer of 2023 with the support of current and former St Paul’s residents and members of Malcom X elders. The listening experience went live in October to coincide with Black History Month. We organised a special listening party in November for the Malcolm X Elders who were unable to experience the walking tour due to their access needs.

In partnership with Eastside Community Trust, we programmed a screening of 'Barrel Children' at Easton Community Centre. The film explores the challenges of Black families separated by migration during the Windrush era.

In December, we hosted 'Festus' - an all-day event celebrating Caribbean/Black British culture. During the day we open the door for an indoor craft market led by Black traders and invited acclaimed, locally-based poet, Zaykia Mckenzie to perform to traders and visitors. Alongside this, Ofeila Balogun from Irie Dance Company led a Caribbean/African dance workshop.

As part of the evening's celebrations we screened 'Inna Wi Carnival', a documentary film commemorating the role of Bristol’s Caribbean elders in establishing the first St Paul’s Carnival. This was followed with a quiz, party games, dance floor 'foolery' and a performance by rapper/spoken word artist Jonny Steel.

Across the year the project connected with over 500 people - using arts and entertainment to share, explore and celebrate the history and experiences of the Windrush generations in Bristol. Due to the success of the Festus market, we will be working with stakeholders to bring additional events in 2024 - watch this space.

DIASPORA! Festival Flag Making Workshop

DIASPORA! Festival is a vibrant celebration of people, arts, culture, film, and more, taking place at host venues across the city on Early May Bank Holiday weekend 03 - 06 May. Brought to the South West by Diverse Artists Network, the festival aims to reflect the rich variety of talent within the south west’s global communities, with an emphasis on the creative arts that reside within these communities. Trinity is very proud to be partnering with Diverse Artist Network to bring Diaspora to Trinity, through a programme of workshops, music events and arts.

“Brilliant people, really welcoming and great level of diversity and lovely to talk to people from different backgrounds” - Diaspora! Flag Making Workshop Participant

As part of Diaspora’s engagement fringe programme in the lead up to their festival weekend, Trinity partnered up with them to deliver their programme of free creative workshops named ‘Flag Up Your Identity’. These workshops were open to all and served to unleash the creativity of the workshop participants to make a unique flag that embodied their identity and heritage. Participants were encouraged to create unique flags influenced by their cultural roots and their personal journey. Over the Easter period, Trinity welcomed over 30 participants who made wonderful flags which will be showcased at Trinity and other locations around the city.

DIASPORA! Festival continues throughout the May bank holiday weekend, kicking off with the official opening ceremony for the festival taking place on Friday 03 May 4pm – 7pm. Expect an evening of dance, music, poetry, food, and folklore, showcasing the extraordinary talents of our local community while fostering meaningful cross-cultural connections. Tickets are free, find out more here.

After the opening ceremony on 03 May, we will be hosting Pangea at Trinity. Pangea is a club night which celebrates sound system music from around the globe, bringing together a diverse range of genres including Samba, Bhangra, highlife, gospel, dancehall and much more. Click here to get tickets.

Closing out proceedings, on Sunday 05 May we have Alkebulan, African Storytelling Village, a day of African arts and culture featuring captivating storytelling to vibrant dance performances. Featuring local artists from the likes of Kabbo Hue Ferdinand, MoYah, Ian Solomon-Kawall, Penny Avery, and Mohammed Errebba, this event promises an unforgettable cultural showcase. Find out more here.

We are very proud to be partnering with Diverse Artists Network for DIASPORA! Festival, highlighting our commitment to providing accessible cultural events for the community, and a space to learn arts and crafts as well as opportunities for participants to skill share.

International Women’s Day Celebration - Image Credit: Megan Ip

As part of International Women’s Day celebrations, women's group ‘All Ah Wi’ took over Trinity for a full day of workshops and discussions to celebrate the talents and interests of women.

“It was a really good day, all who came had a great time and got a lot out of it" Saláma Kefentse

Organised by Saláma Kefentse, who leads the ‘All Ah Wi’ group, the take over included dance workshops delivered by Penny Avery, Essential Oils demonstrations and live music by DJs Kissan and Delicious. In the afternoon, Carmen Carol delivered a wellbeing workshop and the event finished with a live podcast with the female-led Keep It Real team.

Salama first connected with Trinity after attending Festus celebrations back in December 2023. During this event she shared that she would like to bring ‘All Ah Wi’ to Trinity and following this our Community and Neighbourhoods team supported Salama to programme the event. This collaborative programming approach is part of our pledge to support people, grassroot groups and artists, living in the locality to deliver grassroots and community-led activities supported by Fun Palaces.

Following the success of ‘All Ah WI's 'International Women’s Day takeover we are pleased to be supporting Salama to host the group regularly at Trinity. All Ah Wi and will take place every three-months. If you would like to find out more about the group please get in contact with Jen Farmer, Arts Engagement Manager or sign up to our mailing list to keep-up-to-date.

Team Trinity have teamed up with Caring in Bristol to open Trinity during Christmas

We have joined forces with Caring in Bristol to open up Trinity during Christmas for their annual Caring At Christmas Project.

Caring at Christmas has been supporting homeless and vulnerable people over the Christmas period for over 30 years. It provides day and night time support offering shelter, food, clothing and social activities for people in need in our city during what can be a particularly difficult time of year for many. The project relies on support from volunteers and is funded almost entirely by public donations. For 2018, there are over 1000 volunteering opportunities.

“We’re really excited to be working with the Trinity Centre for our 2018 Caring at Christmas project. Separating out our day centre and night shelter will enable us to better support the wide-ranging needs of the many different people that use our project over Christmas. Caring in Bristol believe in city-wide solutions to dealing with homelessness and partnering with a fantastic community centre, such as the Trinity Centre is a brilliant way to support our mission. It demonstrates the ways community partners can get involved and help provide meaningful solutions to one of the biggest issues facing our city today.” Assistant Director, Lisa Spice

Caring at Christmas has historically run both its day centre and night shelter from the Julian Trust’s building in St Pauls, taking over the building and adding extra support and beds whilst the Julian Trust’s night shelter closes for Christmas. For the 2018 project, Caring in Bristol are partnering with the us to run Caring at Christmas here during the day.

The day centre will be open to guests from 24th – 28th December from 10am - 6pm

Caring in Bristol need the help of the city to support the project and people in need over the Christmas period. If you want to organise a fundraiser then we want to hear from you! Get in touch with fundraising@caringinbristol.org.uk. You can also donate to Caring in Bristol via their website.

Caring in Bristol are also looking for engaged community members to join our growing team of volunteers.They are currently recruiting for Caring at Christmas volunteers: please visit their website to apply.

Community Painting Day part of the Wish List. Photo credit Khali Ackford

We have joined forces with St Paul’s Carnival to launch an ambitious project that aims to pilot a new people-led model for culture. Together, we want to support people to take decisions, make change and create culture that matters to them.

St Paul’s Carnival and Trinity are both grassroots, independent organisations based in East Bristol. Alongside delivering citywide events, we both work with local communities to design and deliver creative and cultural provision throughout the year.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) has committed funding for this research and development project, to test a process in which citizens could lead the creation and design of a cultural strategy for Bristol and the surrounding region.

Trinity and St Pauls Carnival will collaborate with the Gulbenkian Foundation, David Jubb of Citizens In Power and others to develop a bottom-up approach within the city that speaks of the collective experiences of diverse communities in order to better shape future decision making.

“We want to explore a different approach - one in which the very people who make and enjoy culture have a voice to express what this means for our city.” LaToyah McAllister-Jones Executive Director of St Pauls Carnival

Over the next year, the pilot will explore tested models such as Citizens’ Assemblies - used in Bristol in 2021 as part of the city’s post-COVID19 recovery planning - to input and shape democratic decision making in Bristol; a city known for its arts and culture.

This research phase will run until Summer 2023 and will involve a series of targeted workshops and open sessions, that will explore different ways of co-creating with communities.

If you would like to get involved, or for more information, please contact esther@trinitybristol.org.uk or sign up to Trinity’s Mailing list.

Bristol Samba is a community band that welcomes new and experienced drummers and dancers from all backgrounds and abilities. They hold regular weekly sessions and occasional workshops throughout the year. Even if you've never drummed or danced before, come and give it a try! Sessions are held on Mondays at Trinity 6pm - 10pm.

DRUMMING:

If you are interested in joining the drumming band please email: newmembers@bristolsamba.co.uk (enrollement in advance is necessary)

6-7:30pm Beginner Drummers (Main Hall)

8:30-10pm Later Drummers (Main Hall)

DANCE:

The dance classes are aimed towards performance, but you don't have to be a performer to take part - you can join us for the fun and the exercise. Learn samba reggae, ijexa (afoxe) and samba carnival style.

8-9:00pm Dance Class (Fyfe Hall)

For more information about the Dance Classes please email: dancers@bristolsamba.co.uk

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

Samba Drumming
If you are interested in joining the drumming band please email here. Samba Drumming is from 6pm - 10pm in the Main Hall.

Samba Dancing:
The dance classes are aimed towards performance, but you don't have to be a performer to take part - you can join us for the fun and the exercise. Learn samba reggae, ijexa (afoxe) and samba carnival style.

7.30 - 8.30pm Dance Beginners
8.45 - 10.00pm Dance Improvers

For more information on dancing email here.

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

Bristol Harbour Festival 2024 - Image Credit: Amy Fern

We were delighted to be welcomed back to programme the vibrant dance stage at this year's Bristol Harbour Festival - one of the biggest events in the city welcoming over 250,000 visitors across the weekend.

'This cocreated dance piece has been a wonderful creative project that brought dancers together from different backgrounds from across Bristol to create a unique, emotive piece' - Penny Marie, Dance Workshop Facilitator

Taking over the stage in Queens Square, we platformed a huge range of dance styles and traditions present in Bristol’s dance community; from Indian to Irish Dance, Voguing to Turkish Belly Dancing.

Some highlights from the weekend included Anna K, Bristol Ballroom Community, D-Wild Fitness and RSVP Drummers. We also platformed established resident dance groups based at The Trinity Centre, such as Gerry’s Attic, a dance group for older people who rehearse at Trinity every week.

In the lead-up to Bristol Harbour Festival, we commissioned Dance Facilitator, Penny Marie, to lead a series of participatory dance workshops in which attendees co-created a new dance piece to be performed at the festival. Across five workshops dancers of all abilities and backgrounds collectively devised a 15 minute dance piece entitled 'Our Light Within' that they performed on the Saturday of the festival.

Alongside this, HYPE Dance, who offer weekly street dance sessions at Trinity, hosted the Ultimate Dance Championships 2024 – a competition open to all dance styles for ages 12 and above. Winners of this competition showcased their dancing skills in front of the Harbour Festival audience and a panel of judges that included professional dancers Bethany Kyle, Tesleem Adeyemi and Candice Scott. Alongside this, HYPE brought performances from Lil Hype, Hype Dance and Hype Carnival Squad.

We wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who made the takeover at Bristol Harbour Festival 2024 such a success; from the facilitators, the talented dancers, the technical team behind-the-scenes, our partners Movema, Gerry’s Attic and HYPE Dance, and of course to everyone who came along to watch the performances and support dance in Bristol.

Programming the Dance Stage is one of the many ways we are creating pathways for communities to connect and celebrate together though culture. Click here to find out more.

Join three amazing women as they share their journey's in celebration of International Women's Day:

• How to Bravely keep going when you fail, and fail again with Claire Dormand.
• Go Bold: Mastering the Confidence to Raise Your Rates, talk and interactive workshop with Laura Callahan.
• Don’t let Bonkers headlines put you off investing, with Susannah Streeter.

And also enjoy..

• Speed networking and low carbon action plan activity, with partners at BrisBES
• Food, from The Jamacian Hideway - A delicious meal including brown stew chicken or chickpea and potato curry, all served with rice coleslaw, sweetcorn fritters, BBQ fry wings and broccoli salad.
• Get a Professional Headshot at Brave Bold and Bonkers. Adèle of SuperFunkyPenguin Photo + Video will be joining us at this year’s International Women’s Day event.

Spaces are limited, so don't miss out, sign up now. This is an opportunity to experience the Freelance Mum network and community, get to know members from across the hubs, in a meaningful way. With icebreakers and activities, its a great way to build your network and grow your business.