Up Our Street Spring 2018 by Up Our Street

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Tel: 0117 954 2834 Post: Beacon Centre, City Academy, Russell Town Avenue Bristol, BS5 9JH contact@upourstreet.org.uk www.upourstreet.org.uk

Lots to catch up with in this edition, the Up Our Street team is busy working on our next Festival of Solutions on 24 March. It’s all about how residents can have an impact on their physical environment - how do we make a city that works for people? Find out more on page 17. From the high tech of smart homes (pages 18 and 19) to the low down on litter picks (page 10), we hope we have something for everyone.

Twitter: @upourstreet Facebook: Up Our Street Charity no: 1081691 Company no: 04023294 Business Development Officer Emily Fifield Tel: 0117 954 2837 Communications Officer Tamsin Harcourt Tel: 07903 089 002

Community Engagement Celia Davis (Mon-Wed) Tel: 07947 830 973 Patrycia Pinkowski (Thu-Fri) Tel: 07986 949 493 Community Researcher and Evaluation Officer Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley Tel: 07986 949 430 Finance and Office Manager Tracy Parsons Tel: 0117 954 2834 Manager Stacy Yelland Tel: 0117 954 2836 or 07810 506 980 Trustee board Ricardo Sharry (Chair) Amy Harrison (Deputy chair) Jane Westhead (Deputy chair) Noelle Rumball (Treasurer) Sally Caseley Joyce Clarke Nic Ferris Dominic Murphy Thom Oliver Hannah Pepper Mike Pickering

Listen to Up Our Street on the One Love Breakfast Show every Wednesday at 8.45am. Broadcast on BCfm 93.2 and Ujima 98fm

Up Our Street news………...…..…....……………pages 3 and 4 Have your say ..……..…...……………………………..pages 5 to 7 Get involved….………………………………….....….pages 8 to 11 Working together………...……………………….pages 12 to 15 Endowment fund...…..……………………………..………..page 16 Festival of Solutions…..…………………….…….…….…..page 17 Replicate project - sponsored article....pages 18 and 19 Barton Hill photography competition.…...…….….page 20 Health news…..………………….……………………………..page 21 Your local councillors…………….………….………..…...page 22 Community noticeboard………………………………....page 23 Food review……………………………………………..……...page 25 Advertising ……………………………………….….pages 25 to 28

HAVE YOUR SAY The stories in this section are all about having a Political Voice. That is not about supporting a particular political party, it is about having influence over decisions that affect your life or your community.

GET INVOLVED

The stories in this section are all about Civic Participation. This means the different ways that people can and do get involved in their community.

WORKING TOGETHER

Join the Up Our Street group on Facebook. 1,200 members and growing!

The stories in this section are all about Social Capital. This means the way that people work together to share skills and experience and build strong networks.

The opinions and information contained in this publication are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of Up Our Street. Advertisers are not endorsed. 2

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UP OUR STREET - People changing the world. One street at a time. Research team: Jaz and Zakiya

This spring, Up Our Street’s community researchers will be working with Ashley Community Housing on an exciting project for the Bristol SETsquared Centre, a business incubator for tech entrepreneurs. SETsquared was set up by University of Bristol and offers support to people with an idea for a high-tech business. It is based at Engine Shed near Temple Meads. They have commissioned us to carry out research into how they can encourage more Black and Minority Ethnic communities to take up their offer of support and expertise to develop and grow their high-tech business ideas. Up Our Street on tour In March, we will be going to Rotterdam to present our findings from our Railway Path experiment which was funded as part of the URBACT Resilient Europe programme. We will share our experiences and learn from others across Europe about citizen action to problem solve for the future.

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Wellbeing survey – focus on connections and environment Following the publication of our Wellbeing Report in February 2017, we have been looking in more detail about what this data is telling us. We learnt a lot about how people feel connected with one another and how people’s attitudes about the environment are shaped by their circumstances. We shared this at our Festival of Solutions events on 10 February and 24 March. If you would like a copy of the report, please get in touch with Up Our Street on 0117 954 2834 or contact@upourstreet.org.uk

We had a wonderful visit from a group of international Active Citizens in December. It was great fun showing them our neighbourhood and all the amazing community work that goes on here. Visit our blog at www.upourstreet.org.uk to read more. We are pleased to announce that we have been successful with the Bristol City Council Cultural Investment Fund. We will be bringing an exclusive piece of LIVE ART to Easton and Lawrence Hill in the spring and summer. Watch this space! We invite you to a walkabout and street ‘health check’ to identify priorities for Stapleton Road on Wednesday 7 March. Meet outside Easton Leisure Centre at 5.30pm, walk to Cocos for 6pm (meet us at Cocos, 276 Stapleton Road, if you can’t come earlier). We have been busy filming for the first instalment of our Being Bristolian film to be shown at the Festival of Solutions on 10 February. By the time this comes through your door it will be available to watch online. We are working with Community Colab to deliver a free training day on 21 April. Find out more about the Introduction to Community Organising on page 8.

Up Our Street would like to thank our funders: www.upourstreet.org.uk

Up Our Street

UP OUR STREET NEWS

Our latest Neighbourhood Conversation asked how we can work together to improve Stapleton Road. This bustling high street is the heart of Easton and Lawrence Hill, but the experience of the road is marred for many by issues such as litter, fly tipping and antisocial behaviour. The meeting covered ongoing work by Bristol Waste aiming to change people’s behaviour in the ‘hot spots’ prone to fly What next for Stapleton Road? tipping and discussed whether a Business Improvement District could bring investment for improvements in the area. If you’re interested in getting involved in the discussion, please contact Celia on 0117 954 2834 Up Our Street will be organising a meet up soon to or celia@upourstreet.org.uk. There’s a lot that can assess Stapleton Road against the ‘UK High Street be done, and agencies working together with 2020 Assessment’ to help identify priorities for the residents and businesses could make steps to street to take forward. improve the whole street for everyone’s benefit.

Up Our Street continue to work with local residents and Sustrans to address issues of conflict on the Bristol & Bath Railway Path. Our ‘playzone’ in the autumn engaged many residents who shared their ideas for improving the space and challenging the speed of some cyclists who put other users at risk. A public meeting was well attended in November and a draft timeline of actions over the next two years was proposed. Actions included ideas such as trialling a Code of Conduct on the path, increasing signage and a series of design workshops to see if the space can be improved to better accommodate the number of users on the path at busy times. However, to take this forward we need the energy of people in the community. If you’re interested in getting involved please contact Celia on 0117 954 2834 or celia@upourstreet.org.uk

Neighbourhood Conversations Wednesday 14 March, 6.30pm to 8pm Felix Road Adventure Playground With the increased use of phones, computers and tablets, the internet has never been so available to young people and children. But monitoring children’s use of the internet can pose challenges to parents and carers. For our next Neighbourhood Conversation, we are teaming up with ‘Better Together Online Safety’ to offer a workshop for parents, carers and professionals to build practical tools and strategies for keeping children safe online. Spaces for this workshop will be limited, so please book a place on 0117 954 2835 or celia@upourstreet.org.uk.

Path users speak their minds... 4

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HAVE YOUR SAY

Fuad Mahamed is a man on a mission to challenge how people see refugees. He is the CEO and founder of Ashley Community Housing, a social enterprise based at Easton Business Centre which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. They have won many awards for their innovative approach, so Up Our Street was keen to find out more. What inspired you to set up Ashley Community Housing? “Firstly, I just want to say – there was no grand plan! I wasn’t thinking I would still be doing this after ten years. I suppose the story really started when I came from Somalia as a teenager back in 1998 with my mum. Whilst the UK was a very welcoming country, I had some challenges resettling and integrating into the country. So it was those challenges that I was having in the early days that were sticking in my mind, that if one day I got the opportunity I would do something for other refugees. By 2008 I had been lucky enough to go to university and was working as a management consultant in an engineering firm in Bristol. I went back to St Pauls and started with just one house for refugees. For the first three years I was doing both my old day job and running Ashley Community Housing.” Can you tell us a little more about your work? “We exist to provide accommodation and a supportive environment to help refugees move on. That’s the key thing, we don’t want to keep people in our housing. In Bristol we estimate we have supported over 2,000 people in ten years. At any one time there are about 500 people staying in our accommodation, we also cover the West Midlands.

Fuad Mahamed

Some of the Ashley Community Housing Team they’ve been through, their mental health needs, they may need some help with basic life skills, with language… all of that orientation, and we’ve got that whole package of support here.” Is that what led to the #rethinkingrefugee campaign? “Yes, we set up the #rethinkingrefugee campaign in 2015. We want to say to people, instead of just seeing the vulnerability, or the humanitarian aspect, or the charitable aspect of refugees, we should see refugees as human beings who have skills, talents and aspirations. And if we give them opportunity to contribute to our economy, they will.

The campaign is based on facts, for example, do you know the number of refugees in the UK is just 0.2% of the whole population? And in 2015, when at the height of the ‘refugee crisis’, there were 65 Housing is the beginning, but it wasn’t our million people displaced. Of that 65 million only intention to set up a housing association. In fact we around 10,000 were granted asylum in the UK at don’t own any housing. [ACH places people in the first attempt. private rented accommodation] But housing is very critical in the journey of resettlement. When I believe that by sharing these facts with people, somebody comes to the country and is given their and also by sharing how the people that work with status, the first thing they need is a roof over their us are contributing to society, we can help to head. But in my opinion, where things go wrong is change people’s minds.” when a person is housed, often housing associations and other public sector bodies Find out more at perceive that’s the end of the game. In fact it’s the www.ashleyhousing.com beginning of the game. Very often the person or call 0117 954 0433 needs help, usually with some of the trauma that www.upourstreet.org.uk

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HAVE YOUR SAY

Handmade in Lansdowne Court Katarzyna lives in Lansdowne Court in Easton. She has worked as a journalist in Poland and got in touch with Up Our Street because she wanted to tell the stories of her new community in Bristol. Article translated by Pat at Up Our Street.

Rękodzieło w Lansdowne Court Jijo i Laila od kilkunastu lat mieszkają po sąsiedzku w wieżowcu Lansdowne Court przy Easton Road. Pochodzą z dwóch różnych krańców Afryki – Jijo jest Somalijką, Laila – Gambijką. Obie zapracowane mamy i żony. Wśród wielu obowiązków domowych, cieżko im znaleźć czas dla samych siebie. Zawsze uśmiechnięte, czasem bardzo zmęczone, otoczone gromadką rozbrykanych dzieci, ale nigdy nie narzekające. Po raz pierwszy spotałam je w sierpniu ubiegłego roku w naszej pralni – ja, zagubiona, ale przeszczęśliwa nowa lokatorka, swój pralniany czas miałam dzielić właśnie z Jijo i Lailą. Obie otwarte, rozmowne, ciekawe kim i skąd jestem. Nowe mieszkanie, nowe wyzwania, drobne i większe problemy dnia codziennego trochę mnie przytłaczały. “Nie martw się” powiedziała Jijo. “Wszystko powoli przyjdzie, krok po kroku. W tym bloku jesteśmy jak jedna rodzina, znamy się i wspieramy. Musimy sobie pomagać w obcym kraju.” Obie panie, wspólnie z kilkoma koleżankami postanowiły, że zaczną szyć, robić na drutach, wyszywać. Wszystko w znajdującym się na parterze budynku community room. Są to pomieszczenia, które bezpłatnie można wykorzystywać na wszelkiego rodzaju aktywności. “W Gambii raz w tygodniu spotykałyśmy się z sąsiadkami, koleżankami, ciotkami, kuzynkami i między innymi wspólnie szyłyśmy” mówi Laila. “Wiele rzeczy potrzebnych w gospodarstwach domowych wytwarzałyśmy własnymi rękoma. Do tego śpiewałyśmy, słuchałyśmy muzyki, gotowałyśmy.”

Jijo and Laila are my neighbours. For the last several years they have been living in the Lansdowne Court on Easton Road. Jijo is from Somalia and Laila from the Gambia. Both busy mums and wives, they often struggle to find time for themselves. Often tired and busy surrounded by frisky kids they rarely complain. I met them for the first time in August last year in our block Katarzyna: tales laundry. At the time I was a new, from the laundry somewhat lost but very happy resident of Lansdowne Court. Moving to a new flat came with smaller and bigger challenges and although excited to have a place to live I was also a bit down and struggling to adjust to the new situation. One of the first things I learned after moving, was that I was to share my allocated laundry slot with Jijo and Laila. Both friendly and chatty, interested in who I was and where I came from, they welcomed me and helped me to embrace my new life in the block. “Don’t worry” Jijo told me, “everything will slowly fall into place. In this block we are like family. We know and support each other here.” Recently Jijo and Laila along with other friends from the block decided to start a group in the shared community room. This room, located on the ground floor of our block is free to use for residents and so the idea to start sewing, knitting and embroidery making sessions was born in Laila’s and Jijo’s heads. Laila told me “Back in the Gambia, we used to meet once a week with neighbours, friends, aunties and cousins and amongst other things we would sew together. We would produce ourselves so many things needed in our households. It was fun as well; we were chatting, singing, listening to the music. We would cook together.”

Niedawno przechodziłam koło sklepu w centrum z ręcznie robionymi mydłami i pomyślałam “przecież ja też potrafię zrobić mydło! Samej w domu nie chce mi się, ale z koleżankami to co innego.”

Recently in the city centre Laila was passing by a shop selling handmade soap and thought “I also know how to make soap! I didn’t feel like doing it on my own at home but together with friends- it is a different story!”

“Sporo zapomniałam” dodaje Jijo “Ale chcę sobie przypomnieć, nauczyć się. To również okazja, żeby pokazać naszym dzieciom, jak żyły ich mamy i babcie. A Somalijki między innymi wyplatały koszyki, robiły wachlarze, dywany, dywaniki do modlitwy, odświeżacze powietrza, miotły i mnóstwo innych przedmiotów domowego użytku.”

“I forgot a lot,” added Jijo “but I will try to remember how things were done and besides I am keen to learn. This is also an opportunity to show our kids how we, their mums and their grandparents used to live. Somali women used to weave baskets and fans, rugs and prayer mats, air fresheners, broomsticks and so many other useful household items.”

Na razie jest nas tylko czwórka. Mamy nadzieję, że powoli przyłączą się do nas inne kobiety z bloku i z okolicy. Początki zawsze są trudne, ale myślę, że z czasem się rozwiniemy. 6

Up Our Street

For now there are just four of us but we are determined to start the group and we hope that other women from the block and from the neighbourhood will join us soon. Beginnings are always challenging but we hope the group will grow. www.upourstreet.org.uk

HAVE YOUR SAY

Ted Evans is 80 and lives in sheltered accommodation in Whitehall. He got in touch with Up Our Street because he is concerned about pavement parking. Ted uses an electric wheelchair to get around and says that cars parked on pavements make it difficult for him to get out and about - which he loves to do!

After talking to Ted, Up Our Street contacted Bristol Walking Alliance, who are campaigning for a ban on pavement parking. “Pavements take up a small proportion of the total road width, but suffer a disproportionate degree of obstruction,” said BWA spokesperson Alan Morris. “For some people, it is more than an annoyance. Think what it’s like for those using wheelchairs, mobility scooters or buggies, whose path is completely blocked. Think what it’s like for visually-impaired people.” So what is Bristol Walking Alliance trying to do? “Nationally, we are lobbying to change the law to make enforcement simpler and easier. At a city level we are calling on the council and the police to enforce the laws against pavement parking. We propose an initial six month trial ban on pavement parking in one or more areas of Bristol, as a possible forerunner of a citywide scheme. We also want to encourage community action on a neighbourhood level.”

Out and about with Ted

Want to find out more or take action on your street? Contact Bristol Walking Alliance at: pavementparking@bristolwalkingalliance.org.uk. Or visit their website www.bristolwalkingalliance.org.uk to sign their petition.

Local Councillors met in December and have approved an amended version of the scheme. Bristol City Council will now start the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process for the proposed changes, so look out for notices soon.

Jendayi Serwah (above right) came on the Up Our Street radio show in December to tell us about the Barton Hill Voices community consultation. The work was commissioned by Creative Youth Network to find out what young people and their parents and carers had to say about youth services in Barton Hill. Jendayi is now busy writing up the report which will be launched at the end of February. If you would like a copy of the report please contact Jendayi on 07767 763 630 or bartonhillvoices@gmail.com www.upourstreet.org.uk

The scheme now includes just one road closure to motor vehicles, on All Hallows Road by Bannerman Road School. It also includes footway widening and crossing improvements at various points and double yellow lines around street corners to improve visibility at junctions. You can see full details of the amended scheme at www.travelwest.info/easton

Have your say Is there an issue you feel strongly about in your community? Do you have an interesting story to tell? Contact Up Our Street on 0117 954 2834 or contact@upourstreet.org.uk Up Our Street

GET INVOLVED

Could you help transform this space?

David Martin from Wellspring got in touch with Up Our Street to tell us about their community allotment project. Wellspring uses the allotment as a therapeutic space for people recovering from depression and anxiety. They are currently looking for volunteers to help make the space more welcoming. “We have been working with Avon Wildlife Trust to develop designs” says David “and our plans for the next few months include building a shelter from recycled materials to provide a rest area and some new planting. It’s a great way to get out, get active and pick up some tips! There'll be free food to keep us all going and people will be left to work at their own pace.” For more information please contact David at Wellspring on 0117 304 1432 or email david.martin@wellspringhlc.org

Bristol Noise is a charity run by a group of local churches. They are planning a week of practical community action from Tuesday 3 to Saturday 7 April and they want to hear from you. Get in touch if you have a project that could benefit from some extra volunteer power this Easter. Call the Noise Office on 0117 979 1399 or visit www.thenoise.org.uk. Looking for something FREE to do in the school holidays? Don’t forget Felix Road Adventure Playground! Lots of free activities, open in the holidays Monday to Thursday from 12pm to 5pm and Sundays 1pm to 5pm

Introduction to Community Organising

Saturday 21 April, 9.30am to 5pm Easton Community Centre

Community Organising is the work of bringing people together to take action around their common concerns and overcome social injustice. Community Organisers reach out and listen, connect and motivate people to build their collective power. Join Community CoLab and Up Our Street for a free introduction to community organising.

Call Celia at Up Our Street to book your place on 0117 954 2834 or celia@upourstreet.org.uk 8

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GET INVOLVED

Step inside the Methodist Centre in Lawrence Hill, and the first thing that strikes you is how calm and welcoming the place feels. It runs as a day centre for homeless and marginalised people. Up Our Street visited before Christmas and spoke to Chris, who gave us a tour. “Making people feel welcome is the most important thing. We had outgrown our old premises in Midland Road and came here in November 2015. This building was the old Lawrence Hill Methodist Church, we completely refurbished it, making a space that is clean, modern, and most importantly warm.” It’s also noticeable that there is no talk of ‘service users’, the people who come here are guests. Although the centre is run by a Christian organisation, Chris is keen to stress that people of all or no faith are welcome. “We feed about 60-70 people a day, the computer room is always very busy, so many things like job searches and benefits are online now and when you live on the streets you can get cut off from that.” Chris shows us the neatly stacked store room full of tinned food, and the room next door full of clothes. “They’re full now, but after Christmas they will be empty, we always need donations. Clean dry socks are particularly important, you’ve got to look after your feet.” There are also showers, a laundry, a large day room where hot meals are served, a fully equipped art room, a small chapel and meeting rooms for guests to meet support workers and agency staff. The centre serves cooked breakfasts and lunches three days a week.

Litterpicking in Gaunts Ham Park

The centre is very close to Gaunts Ham Park, which has suffered in the past with anti-social behaviour. Chris and a group of guests from the Methodist Centre have been doing regular sessions in the park to pick up litter and clear leaves. “We know that we need to be good neighbours, and the group have really felt like they are making a difference.” Want to help? The Methodist Centre is currently looking for donations of:  Men's jeans/jogger bottoms  Men's boots/trainers  Sleeping bags  Men's coats  Tea lights Please drop off donations when the centre is open: Monday (1.15pm to 3.30pm) or Tuesday to Thursday (10am to 3.30pm). The Methodist Centre is on Lincoln Street. For more information please call Chris on 0117 955 5606.

It started with a simple Facebook post in 2016. Today Feed the Homeless is a registered charity that last year provided over 10,000 homecooked meals to homeless people in Bristol city centre. The charity is completely run by volunteers, many from our neighbourhood, divided into three main groups: the cooks who make hot food, sandwiches and snacks; the walkers who go out on Friday and Sunday nights to distribute the food and other supplies; and finally the management committee who help keep it all running smoothly. We spoke to Naseem Talukdar, one of the charity’s Trustees. “We are really fortunate to have such a great diverse group of volunteers, on both the cooking and the walking teams. We are currently training up some of our volunteers to take on more leadership roles, so that the organisation becomes more sustainable and that we can carry on helping people every weekend.” www.upourstreet.org.uk

Cooked with love and care Find out more on the Feed the Homeless Facebook page or visit www.neighbourly.com to sign up as a volunteer. Search for ‘Feed the Homeless Bristol’. Up Our Street

GET INVOLVED

Bristol Waste Company will be supporting groups to take part in the Great Bristol Spring Clean; part of a national weekend of litter picks organised by Keep Britain Tidy. So many groups wanted to take part last year that they are extending the event locally to cover the whole of the following week, from Friday 2 March to Sunday 11 March. Events like this are a great way to get involved in helping to make your community a cleaner, greener and more welcoming place. They also support the Mayor’s Bristol Clean Streets campaign to make Bristol measurably cleaner by 2020. Bristol Waste have hundreds of litter picking kits to loan out, so if you are interested in organising a litter pick or would like to join a local group then get in touch by calling 0117 304 9022 or email hello@bristolwastecompany.co.uk More information is available on their website www.bristolwastecompany.co.uk/springclean18

If you want to meet up with others and join in with a litter pick, here’s a few that we have heard of on the grapevine. Join the Tidy BS5 group on Facebook to keep up to date.

Anna and the DVSA litterpicking team Anna Harris, Sustainability Officer at local employer DVSA, got in touch with Up Our Street offering to clean up Lawrence Hill underpass ahead of our Carols and Samosas event in December. “Here at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) we carry out driving tests, approve people to be driving instructors and MOT testers, carry out tests to make sure lorries and buses are safe to drive, carry out roadside checks on drivers and vehicles, and monitor vehicle recalls. DVSA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Transport. Our headquarters are right here in Lawrence Hill and we will be regularly volunteering in the area, so look out for us!”

Ride by litter pick When: Friday 2 March What time: 10am to 1pm Details: Meet in Newtown by the metal sculpture at the start of the Bristol to Bath Railway Path. Find out more at www.keepbritaintidy.org Barton Hill Spring Clean When: Saturday 10 March What time: 9.30am to 11am Details: Join local residents and Up Our Street and give Barton Hill a spruce up for spring. Free tea, coffee and cake afterwards for all volunteers. Twinnell House clean up and family day When: Sunday 18 March What time: 3pm to 5pm Details: Pat from Up Our Street is working with residents in Twinnell House and Wills Drive to give the outside spaces some care and attention. Followed by fun activities for families. Let Up Our Street know if you are planning a litterpick on your street and we will help you spread the word! 10

Up Our Street

There has been a lot on the news recently about recycling plastic. You may have seen that China has announced tougher regulations which mean it is reducing the amount of plastic it accepts. This is what Bristol Waste has to say: “We would like to take this opportunity to reassure residents of Bristol, and our commercial customers, that Bristol Waste Company has sustainable recycling markets for the materials that you separate for recycling and that these are traded with environmentally responsible, accredited reprocessors.” You can read the whole statement on their website. Long story short, keep sorting your recycling! www.upourstreet.org.uk

GREAT BRISTOL SPRING CLEAN FRIdAy 2Nd - SUNdAy 11Th MARCh 2018

love WheRe you live? Then why not join thousands all across the country and do a community litter pick? It’s a fun way to make new friends and get to know your neighbours.

Get in touch www.bristolwastecompany.co.uk/springclean18 hello@bristolwastecompany.co.uk 0117 304 9022 #BristolCleanStreets

Bristol Waste has all the equipment you need for a safe event and you’ll be helping make Bristol a cleaner, greener city. Remember, a litter pick isn’t just for spring… you can borrow kits all year round!

PaRt of the GReat BRitiSh SPRinG Clean

WORKING TOGETHER

It’s taken a lot of hard work, but Easton’s newest nursery is finally open. Up Our Street was invited to look round and talk to Anne Malindine, one of the founders, about what makes Raised in Easton different. “We’re proud to be working in partnership with Easton Community Centre, sharing our values as well as the trading profits, and doing business differently. So we are now a long-term tenant of the Centre paying a fair, reliable rent to support its work and to enable it to have a more sustainable future.

Raised in Easton

in touch - we are offering places on a first come, In addition and because we are a social enterprise, first served basis and have some available now for there are no shareholders to benefit from the profit children aged one to five years.” generated from Raised in Easton. That profit will The nursery is holding its next open day on stay in Bristol and specifically in Easton, donated to Saturday 24 February from 10am to 3pm when you ECC for it to use for the benefit of the whole can meet the team and have a good look around. community, keeping it where it’s generated. You can also call on 0117 325 5016 and arrange a So if you’re looking for childcare that benefits your visit at a time to suit you. Find out more at family as well as the community you live in, do get www.raisedinbristol.org.uk.

DigiLocal has secured funding from Engine Shed to develop its Code Clubs. DigiLocal operates throughout Bristol and Bath, with a team of 48 volunteers helping to run clubs in communities, introducing children and young people to computer coding. Their Barton Hill club is one of their success stories, with three sessions a week. Club members start by using Scratch, a simple coding language they can use to make their own games, before progressing to using Python, a professional developer language. Ablie and Mohamed get to grips with coding The young people work on their own coding projects, which take around two to three weeks to with a celebration event in late summer to complete. showcase projects from clubs all over the city. John Bradford from DigiLocal said “The funding John says he would love to hear from local people from Engine Shed allows us to work with the Somali who would like to help run the club, and is keen to Resource Centre and other community stress that you don’t have to be a computer science organisations to make new culturally relevant professional, as problem solving skills are more coding projects. The idea is to develop a package of important. “Our ultimate goal is to have volunteers/ content that will have come from the community, mentors who are embedded in their community. for example one of our partners suggested a project Long term we would also like to see young people based on a traditional game from Somalia. It gives who have been to the club going on to volunteer.” young people contact with their heritage as well as The code club at Barton Hill runs on Saturdays from software design experience.” 3pm to 5pm. Call John on 07739705578 to find out The Engine Shed project is running until September, more about the club or becoming a volunteer. 12

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WORKING TOGETHER

Emma Tovey is the new Principal of Barton Hill Academy. Four teaching days after she started the job last September, the school was visited by Ofsted and received a poor report. Emma got in touch with Up Our Street to talk about the story behind the statistics. How did it feel to have Ofsted visit so soon after you started? “It was fine actually. We were expecting it, and everything we had on our school improvement plan was all there. The Ofsted report was published at half term, and Bristol Post reported we were still in Special Measures, which is not the case. They didn’t even get in touch with us to ask us to comment. We have been very open with our parents and our community. We have explained our Ofsted action plan, what changes we have made. Most importantly, although we require significant improvement, we have come out of that bottom category. We are looking to get Ofsted back in as quickly as we can, because the work in the children’s books, and the work you see around the school is so entirely different to where we were at the beginning of September.

Dragon’s Den winners from year 6 child gets the chance to practice reading every day. We also have a transient population. Since September we’ve had 18 children leave us and 18 new starts, the majority of whom have little or no English. They may come in any year group, but we still have to get them up to the required standard by the end of year six to do the tests in English. It is hard, but our aspirations for our children are that they leave us confident and fully ready to do well at secondary school. For me, it’s just one of the things that we deal with. That’s our school, that’s our community.

How are you working to involve parents? We have done a huge amount to engage our parents. We hold a parent open morning every What has the school put in place to tackle poor term so they can see what’s happening in the results? classroom. We hold regular family learning In 2013 only 17% of year six pupils were achieving conferences which are led by the children, the child expected levels for their age group, which is talks about their work, their achievements, and obviously totally unacceptable. Since the numbers what they are most proud of. This term we have have gone up, there has been an upward trajectory just held a school-wide Dragon’s Den involving ever since. There was a dip in 2017, this year there persuasive writing and a presentation to our tame won’t be. Based on the children’s work so far, we’re ‘dragons’ from our sponsors, the Merchant looking at double the results we achieved last Venturers. summer. Last year we had about 45% of parents not What we’ve got in place for that is the strong allowing their children to take part in Religious teaching team. Over the last two years there has Eeducation lessons. This year it’s just two families, been a high turnover of staff, we had a lot of staff because we’ve done a lot of work to explain to leave last year. We were sad to see some of them parents why it’s important. It’s part of British go. Now since September, we’ve got an amazing Values, it’s about tolerance of different faiths. We staff team, working unbelievably hard and really had a big Christmas celebration this year, we’ve well as a unit. never celebrated on that scale before, we were What are the main challenges you’re facing at brave and did it, we had a wonderful time. We will Barton Hill Academy? also have a big festival for Eid this year. 70% of our children have English as an additional And finally? language. This means practising reading in English It’s a wonderful place to work, the children are so at home can be a challenge. So, we’re looking for engaging. They have been all over the city on visits, reading volunteers with good English. I would love and we’ve had so many lovely emails from people to have reading volunteers in all classes, so every saying what an amazing group of children they are. www.upourstreet.org.uk

Up Our Street

WORKING TOGETHER There are many different sports groups meeting every week. As well as being a good way to keep fit, they are also a great opportunity to meet others in your community and make friends . Up Our Street went out and about to meet some of them. We dropped in to City Academy one Thursday evening to watch a lively Street Cricket session, led by Maz Khan. Sessions are completely free as they are funded by Chance to Shine, a national charity that aims to give all children the chance to play cricket. Maz works for the project three days a week as a Development Worker and it’s his job to spread the word. “For some people cricket has an elite image, but for South Asian and African Caribbean Maz (far left) and the Street Cricket group at communities it’s a game that really brings people City Academy together, it unites them.” He says that Street Cricket is a much faster version of the game, which doesn’t need expensive equipment, and in summer it’s ideal Yash (7) is a keen batsman. We asked Yash if he liked watching cricket “No! Watching cricket is for playing in urban parks. It’s also open to both boring! But playing cricket is fun!” boys and girls. Free Street Cricket sessions are held on Thursdays So what do the young people think? Nat (9) has from 5.30pm to 6.30pm (ages 8 to 10) and 6.30pm been playing cricket for about a year and says he likes the group because he’s made new friends and to 7.30pm (ages 11 to 15). Contact Maz Khan on met people from different schools, not just his own. 07958 271 415 to find out more.

Khalil from Bristol Horn Youth Concern got in touch with Up Our Street to let us know how well their free sport sessions for young people were going. The sessions were kick-started with a grant from the Up Our Street Endowment Fund last year, and the group has also had funds from Public Health and Learning Partnership West.

Borderlands is an Easton-based charity that works with asylum seekers and refugees. Up Our Street visited their Tuesday drop-in at Tolentino Hall. Delicious smells were coming out of the kitchen, but we headed upstairs to meet Nic Ferris and the ping pong crew.

Bristol Horn Youth Concern enjoying a game

We talked to Yunis (17), who comes along regularly to the Friday night sessions “I’m really enjoying it, but an hour is not enough! We want to get more games in.” As well as being fun, what else does the group give him? “It gives you team leadership skills and confidence. It helps us to stay fit, stay out of trouble.” Free basketball and football sessions run by Bristol Horn Youth Concern at St Pauls Sports Centre every Friday from 6pm. Contact Khalil on 07557 510 546 to find out more. 14

Up Our Street

“It is a simple game to learn, and many people have played it before” said Nic “It’s also good fun! Playing a game is a good way to connect with other people even if you don’t share a language.” The group was very welcoming and understanding of Up Our Street’s rather limited table tennis skills, even when the ball disappeared down the stairs a few times. Nic is looking for a volunteer to help run the group, so please get in touch with her at nicola.ferris@bristol.gov.uk if you’d like to find out more.

Are you involved with a local sports group? Got a story? Get in touch with Up Our Street! www.upourstreet.org.uk

WORKING TOGETHER

Up Our Street is working on a project called ’Bristol Values’ with United Communities and Celebrating Sanctuary. As part of the project Pat at Up Our Street is delivering a range of events and activities that build community cohesion and encourage people to build connections. What have we done so far?  We hosted a free workshop on white privilege and anti-racist practise.  We held a Festival of Solutions event on the  theme of Being Bristolian, featuring a local premiere of There is Black in the Union Jack.   Held pop-up events like Carols in the Underpass with Somali Kitchen to bring diverse communities together. What’s next?  We are making a short film with Var from Telling Tales, looking at what it means to be Bristolian in 2018.  We are planning lots of Neighbourhood

Conversations on different topics including access to higher education, how Brexit is affecting our community and the change to Universal Credit. In the summer we are planning some food related pop-up events, so watch this space. We are also exploring some intergenerational work pairing up a local school with sheltered housing for older people.

Get involved What are the important topics we should be talking about in our community? If you have ideas for Neighbourhood Conversations, please get in touch with Pat at Up Our Street on 0117 954 2834 or email pat@upourstreet.org.uk.

Mohamed Sayaqle from Bristol Somali Youth Voice got in touch with Up Our Street to tell us about some great work their young people have been doing in Gaunts Ham Park. “Representatives from Bristol Somali Youth Voice attended a stakeholder meeting in October about Gaunts Ham Park, to address issues in the park like antisocial behaviour, intimidations, lack of light and regular cleaning in the park etc. We decided to organise a family Fun Day in the park on 3 December, to bring the local community to use the park and properly address issues. Fun Day in Gaunts Ham Park

Some of the local community and businesses offered drinks and snacks for the children. The young people enjoyed different activities and facilities in the park. Local volunteers showed kindness and hospitality to all attendees, offering them drinks and a little chat about the park. Everyone enjoyed the event and showed good intentions to make their contribution to make it a better and safer park. We are planning to do another fun day in May.”

Find out more about the group and watch some film from the event on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bristolsomali.voice.5 www.upourstreet.org.uk

Up Our Street caught up over a cup of tea with Brendan and Sarah from The Network, the new partnership project aiming to connect residents across Easton, Ashley and Lawrence Hill. The team started in October and has been busy ever since getting out and about and meeting local people and organisations. They would love to hear about your ideas, skills and passions, or if you just want to be better connected with your community. Contact Brendan on brendantw@thenetworkbristol. org.uk or 07542 328 449 Up Our Street

ENDOWMENT FUND

Funding Opportunity Would a small grant make a big difference in your community? Up Our Street has a small grant fund which is open to residents in Barton Hill, Newtown, The Dings, and some parts of Redfield and Lawrence Hill. It is also open to local community organisations to run projects which mainly benefit residents in this area.

The grant is called the Endowment Fund because each year we only spend the interest earned on the capital investment. This means that the fund will be available for many years to come, a lasting ‘endowment’ to the community.

Who can apply?

The Endowment Fund is open to all residents who live in the area marked on the map on this page. It is also open to community organisations who run projects that benefit residents in this area.

What can the fund pay for?

Residents can apply for up to £300 to pay for things like training courses or equipment to help start a business. If you are aged 17 to 19 you can apply for help with driving lessons. Groups can apply for up to £1,000 to fund a range of activities that benefit residents in the Endowment Fund area.

Last year’s grants In 2017 Up Our Street awarded a total of £9,922 in small grants. This was made up of:

£1,950 to individuals and £7,972 to community organisations, including: Barton Hill Boxing Club Bristol Horn Youth Concern Carole’s over 50s Bingo Club Dadcast WTMD Easton Community Children’s Centre Friends of Hannah More Primary School Learning Partnership West Girls’ Group The Lamplighters Unique Voice CIC

Don’t forget! The Lamplighters at Barton Hill Festival in October

The deadline for completed application is 11am on Monday 30 April. The panel will meet on 15 May and you will find out whether you have been successful by 31 May at the latest.

For more information please contact Tracy at the Up Our Street office on 0117 954 2834 or download the forms from www.upourstreet.org.uk 16

Up Our Street

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Up Our Street

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Are you keen to reduce your energy use? Could you help others do the same?

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You could be one of the homes in Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill to receive an energy-saving appliance for free, as part of a new research project exploring how we use technology and energy at home! Smart Homes is a programme of activity within the REPLICATE Project – a five-year research initiative that is exploring how we could use new technologies to save energy and money, travel in more environmentally-friendly ways, and tackle local challenges. As part of the REPLICATE Project, Bristol City Council is offering households* a limited number of ‘smart’ washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers which can be controlled remotely via a mobile phone app: for example, you could switch the appliances on at a time of day when demand for energy is lower.

* In order to be eligible to test the

energy-saving washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers you must live in the Bristol City Council wards of Ashley, Easton or Lawrence Hill. You must own your own home or live in privately rented accommodation where your landlord is happy for you to participate.

About Us: The REPLICATE Project is a five-year European pilot project bringing together Bristol, San Sebastian and Florence to explore how new technology in our streets and homes could benefit our communities. The Bristol pilot is coordinated by Bristol City Council, working with local partners, and is taking place in Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill. www.connectingbristol.co.uk/replicate

To register your interest and find out if you could try one of the appliances, please fill in the interest form at www.connectingbristol.co.uk/replicate or call 0117 352 1180. If your home is eligible to take part in the research, the Smart Homes team will install the appliance(s) for you and explain how everything works. Households will be able to keep the appliances after the research period is over.

If reducing energy and our impact on the environment is a particular passion of yours, you could also become a Smart Homes Energy Champion!

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The REPLICATE Project is working with Bristol Energy Network to train and support a group of Energy Champions who are keen to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with others in order to help them save electricity and gas.

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As a Smart Homes Energy Champion you could get involved in activities ranging from demonstrating new technologies (such as the smart appliances) and ‘draught busting’ to learning how to construct solar panels and providing advice to others about how to make their homes energy efficient. You might also be able to try the smart appliances yourself! Find out more about becoming an Energy Champion by calling 07584 480615 or e-mailing Replicate@BristolEnergyNetwork.org. Replicate text WHITEOUT

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Over the next few months there will be lots happening relating to Replicate BLACKof activities Replicate WHITEOUT Smart Homes – keep an eye on www.connectingbristol.co.uk/replicate and future issues of Up Our Street.

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BARTON HILL FESTIVAL: COMPETITION WINNERS

Instagrammers of Bristol (@igersbristol) photo of the local flats and St Luke’s Church

@Stephanie_Tudor pictures of In Bristol Studios’ junk model of Barton Hill

Photography Competition

@dadcast_wtmd broadcasting live from the day with Pat from @BCfmradio

Rachel Adams’ pictures of the Fireside Tales installation by @wyldwoodArts

Up Our Street

www.upourstreet.org.uk

HEALTH NEWS

Charlotte Keel Health Centre is home to one of the largest GP practices in Bristol, with around 20,000 patients on their list. You may have seen information in the press that the current GP partners have given notice and their contract will end in March. Up Our Street got in touch with Pete Bramwell, local spokesperson from NHS England, to find out what this means for patients. “First of all, we would like to reassure people that noone will go without a doctor. We have come up with an interim arrangement where BrisDoc will manage the GP contract for the next two years from 1 April. BrisDoc have been in discussion with current staff, and are very hopeful that they will stay on when BrisDoc take over. “Because of the way NHS funding works for General Practice, the current GPs felt that it was no longer sustainable to run the business in this way.” Pete explained that this is not just a local issue, many GP practices that had been run as small businesses throughout the UK are now starting to work in bigger groups and networks, and adds “The two year contract with BrisDoc will allow NHS England time to plan a longer term solution that meets the needs of the local community.” Other services at Charlotte Keel, such as health visiting, district nursing, pharmacy and dentistry, are run by other organisations. They are not part of this arrangement and are not affected in any way. What is BrisDoc? BrisDoc is a company originally formed by Bristol GPs to provide out-of-hours services, which now employs more than 300 people. It became a limited company in 2006 and continues to be owned by GPs and the workforce. For more information please contact NHS England on 0113 825 5299 or england.primarycaremedical@nhs.net Following Bristol’s year as a European City of Sport in 2017, the council has created Bristol Active City as a onestop-shop for sport and physical activity in Bristol. Lots of sports clubs and providers in Bristol offer free taster sessions where you can try out something new. Visit www.bristolactivecity.org.uk and click on the Free Activities page to find what’s happening near you. www.upourstreet.org.uk

We can’t guarantee that we won’t get cancer, anyone can develop it, but there are things we can do to reduce those chances. Cancer is caused by damage to our genes. This damage can be caused for example by the rays from the sun or through our lifestyle, such as smoking tobacco. This damage can build up over time and causes the cells in our body to grow and multiply out of control – this is how cancer starts.

40% of cancers can be prevented

and this is why the Public Health team in Bristol are encouraging people to live healthier and make lifestyle changes such as:  Not smoking  Staying or getting to a healthy weight  Eating a balanced diet (getting your 5 fruit and veg a day and eating less red and processed meat)  Cutting back on alcohol  Enjoying the sun safely  Being active

Trying to do just some of these can reduce the chance of us getting cancer. Spotting cancer early means treatment is more likely to be successful. It is important to know your body and if you notice something which isn’t normal for you, go and get it checked out! Doing a bowel, breast and cervical cancer screen is an important way to help catch cancer early too. Article sponsored by Public Health Team Up Our Street

COMMUNITY NEWS “All of the local councillors in the area, Marg Hickman and Hibaq Jama in Lawrence Hill, and Afzal Shah and Ruth Pickersgill in Easton, hold what we call ‘surgeries’. These are scheduled drop-in sessions which anyone can use to raise issues that they want us to look in to. Nowadays, many people prefer to contact us by email or ring our mobiles, but for complex situations, it is often much easier and more productive to talk face to face. We have to be really clear what we can’t help with, as well as what we can take on. We are only able to support people who are resident in our actual wards, but it doesn’t matter what age someone is, or if they are on the electoral register, and it definitely doesn’t matter who they vote for!

by Councillor Ruth Pickersgill Sometimes they have ideas of what might improve the area, like traffic calming or more trees. Sometimes we can resolve a situation quickly by chasing up council staff or the police. In the last month we have had drains unblocked, fly-tipping cleared, planning applications called in to committee (if neighbours are unhappy with them), anti-social behaviour addressed. More often, it takes a bit of time to untie complex situations, for example, managing to stop people being evicted from council properties, supporting children and their parents in resolving problems with schools, sorting out issues with council leases, speeding up bureaucratic services like taxi licensing, getting yellow lines reinstated or advocating on behalf of voluntary groups whose funding is in jeopardy.

The main issues that people raise with us relate to council services. They might be upset about the Local councillors can’t work miracles, and in times amounts of rubbish in their road and how it is being of reducing funding and Central Government cuts, cleared, anti-social behaviour in their area, they may we are often just having to explain why services are need help with understanding council processes, not as comprehensive as they used to be. like applying for housing or admissions to schools. HOWEVER we are there to listen and will do all we They often want to talk to us about the cuts to can to try and support residents and organisations services or about consultations that the Council is in the area to have their voices heard- so welcome carrying out. anyone at our surgeries.” See page 23 for details of how to contact your local councillor and upcoming surgery dates.

Up Our Street

www.upourstreet.org.uk

COMMUNITY NEWS

DCMS is offering vouchers worth ÂŁ500 towards the cost of getting gigabit-ready broadband installed in local homes. www.connectingbristol.org

Ruth Pickersgill

Marg Hickman

cllr.ruth.pickersgill@bristol.gov.uk

cllr.marg.hickman@bristol.gov.uk

07584 480 583

07967 733 735

Afzal Shah

Hibaq Jama

(Labour)

(Labour) cllr.afzal.shah@bristol.gov.uk

07789 701 603

(Labour)

cllr.hibaq.jama@bristol.gov.uk

07429 653 309

Surgery dates for Easton councillors: Easton Community Centre from 10am to 12pm on 17 March and 12 May. St Annes Boardmill Social Club from 2pm to 4pm on 17 February and 28 April. Surgery dates for Lawrence Hill councillors: please contact Marg or Hibaq www.upourstreet.org.uk

Up Our Street

COMMUNITY NEWS

A huge well done to Fran and the team behind the first ever Window Wanderland in Easton, which brightened up a dark January weekend. Here are just a few of the windows we spotted around the trail. Over 40 houses took part over the weekend.

Photos by Jo Chesterman Up Our Street was delighted to be involved by hosting an art workshop and community meal on the Friday night. Over 50 local residents came along and got creative and enjoyed a delicious meal from new venture Food Without Borders.

Copy deadline for Summer 2018 edition of Up Our Street magazine is 13 April. Get in touch with Tamsin tamsin@upourstreet.org.uk or 0117 954 2834 24

Up Our Street

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FOOD REVIEW Looking for lunch one drizzly January day, Up Our Street popped into Zam Zam Bakery on Roman Road in Easton. The small shop was toasty warm thanks to the large bread oven behind the counter. Softly spoken owner Sipan Gamal is Kurdish. He runs the business with Azad, and they have been open for about a year. Zam Zam offers a simple menu of Middle Eastern dishes, all based around flatbreads. Their speciality is Lahmajon, a flatbread topped with a spicy lamb mix. And at £2.50, it’s a bit of a bargain. We tried a spinach and cheese flatbread (£1.50), folded over pasty style. You can watch your lunch cook while you wait, much to the delight of a local toddler who came in with his mum while we were talking to Sipan. Sipan at Zam Zam Bakery

We are always amazed at Up Our Street by the sheer diversity of food served in our neighbourhood. Get in touch if there’s a hidden gem you think we should feature...

This is quick and tasty food, served by friendly people. Thanks for the welcome Zam Zam! Find Zam Zam Bakery at 10 Roman Road, Easton. Opening hours 10am to 7pm, seven days a week. Contact them on 0117 902 8203.

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How could technology help us stay healthy at home?

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Healthcare is changing and more conditions need to be managed outside hospital. SPHERE is working with homes across Bristol to explore this challenge and test an exciting new solution. SPHERE sensors are placed in the home to create a picture of how we live â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from eating and sleeping to how active we are. Other sensors will measure room humidity, temperature and energy use. This information will help clinicians and researchers improve healthcare at home in the future - by spotting early warning signs of medical issues such as strokes and predicting falls. It could also help manage other conditions including obesity, depression, diabetes and asthma.

100 homes in Bristol can trial the technology. Would you like to be one of them? If so, the SPHERE team at University of Bristol would love to hear from you. E-mail sphere-admin@bristol.ac.uk or call 0117 331 5689. www.irc-sphere.ac.uk www.facebook.com/ircsphere

SPHERE - Sensor Platform for Healthcare in a Residential Environment