| The Spring 2021 newsletter from Bristol City Council is set out below ________________________________________________________________ Emerging from our winter lockdown After a turbulent year where all our lives have been affected by the COVID19 pandemic it now feels like there is a little bit of breathing space to reflect on our experiences, think about the future and reimagine how we would like our communities to be. We have seen how inequalities in our communities have affected some people more than others and together we need to take action on how we can rebalance the scales to address these issues. It’s not new but it is a reminder that we have lots of work to do. We can use this moment to seek out new opportunities to bring people together, to reconnect and make new connections, and to make the changes we want to see in the communities where we live. This edition is packed with useful information and great stories of community led social action. We hope you enjoy it. More: Bristol community stories Designing a New Social RealityResearch on the likely impact of COVD19 on Bristols VCSE Sector The Black South West Network in partnership with VOSCUR and Locality have completed their analysis of Covid-19’s impact on the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector. This research assess how to foster greater community resilience in a COVID19 world, and ultimately provide evidence for an informed strengthening-and-recovery strategy for the sector. For more details explore the research reports at the Black South West Network Help Shape the Future of Can Do Bristol Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Can Do Bristol website has welcomed 9000 new members and helped to connect thousands of them with the opportunity to volunteer. Volunteering is just one element of how we’d like Can Do to help connect and empower people to do good in their communities. With that in mind, we are joining forces with a range of individuals, community groups and organisations to ask the question: “How could Can Do Bristol develop to support volunteering, connections and kindness in the city?” This conversation started with a gathering of around 40 representatives for our first Can Do Bristol User Workshop in February. Why not take the following steps to join the conversation: Read the workshop summary on Can Do Bristol Email us to find out about our future plans. Can Do Bristol: Our city website supporting volunteering, connection and kindness Bristol Impact Fund, Round 2: 17 May deadline We have been working hard with council colleagues and partners to develop the second round of the Bristol Impact Fund. We have been extremely grateful for all of the contributions individuals and organisations have provided through the process, from early engagement sessions, responding to the consultation, attending launch events and asking insightful and useful questions and supporting one another to put together proposals. The second round of Bristol Impact Fund is currently open for applications, with a deadline of the 17 May. You can find out more here. In parallel, organisations funded through the first round of BIF have been continuing to deliver some exceptional work across the city, and have really shown the value of the community and voluntary sector in meeting the needs of the city and responding to the Covid19 pandemic. Growing the Power of Communities‘Growing the Power of Communities’ (GPC) is about working together to understand how the council, the police and Sirona Care & Health can empower citizens and communities. GPC project has been set up to answer questions like these: How do we…move from ‘doing to’ rather than ‘doing with’ communities?bring community-driven principles to our work in local neighbourhoods?find ways to engage people in community activities and actively support them to do this?get to a place where looking at community assets and planning our services alongside local communities becomes second nature? Growing the Power of communities is working in St Paul’s and Hartcliffe – getting services ready to work alongside local people. Stories from Bristol SouthLooking Back to Look Forward What a year its been! Last March we went into our first lockdown and we’ve been in a topsy turvy COVID19 world ever since. It’s difficult to remember what we were all doing pre-COVID so here is a wonderful story from the residents in Stockwood to remind us of what is possible when we come together again. Stockwood (arcgis.com) But we haven’t been idle in the community development world. We’ve been busy supporting amazing people across Bristol to help their neighbours and develop new innovative initiatives while in the throes of a pandemic. Check out these community stories of what has been happening in Knowle West. Knowle West (arcgis.com) Wow eh? These stories aren’t about the council but about people like you doing things to improve their communities. We can’t wait to find out what you’ll get up to next. Watch this space… To find out more please click here Covid Emergency Grants Over the past six months our Neighbourhoods service assisted the council’s benefits service to distribute Covid Emergency Grants to third sector organisations. While so many challenges were being faced organisations used the grants flexibly so that different citizen needs were met. Many voluntary organisations did this on top of providing vital support in the form of shopping and prescription errands, dog-walking, and social support on the telephone. Area Committee Funding 2021 Bristol has six area committees made up of local councillors who make spending decisions for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106 (S106) money.Despite challenges caused by the pandemic, some excellent projects were still able to be completed using area committee funding. Cotswold Community Association used the funding for venue improvements: to increased the accessibility of their car park they installed two disabled car parking bays and a ramp. Timeline for funding allocations, 2021 This year, Bristol City Council received 118 outline proposals for area committee funding. The next step is for Councillors to engage with local communities to choose which proposals are priorities for them.June 2021: Councillors engage with citizens to short list the outline proposals. July 2021: Area committees meet to decide on proposals they wish to invite to complete a full stage 2 funding proposal.October 2021: Delivery organisations have until 6th October to complete full stage 2 proposals. Nov – Dec 2021: Area committees meet to make final funding decisions.For more information about the process, visit the ‘Your local area committees’ page. Community Meetings & EventsCommunity Connections funding, 01 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 Due to the impact of Covid19 physical public meetings were unable to take place last year but many communities stayed in touch through online forums. This is the fourth year the council will be awarding nominated community organisations a small pot of money to organise public meetings. One purpose of Community Connections funding is to enable local input on prioritising projects for area committee funding. In line with the Area Committee funding timetable above there may be a online meeting in your ward in late May or June. To find out about public meetings in your area visit: Community Meetings and Events Let’s hear from East Bristol Ascending Barton Hill to drive down Covid numbers One of the greatest city successes in tackling Covid-19 took place in Barton Hill. At the start of the pandemic the area had the highest number of cases in the city. Local community champions, Samera Muse and Mohammed Sayagle worked with community and housing officers to take action to halt and reverse the rise in numbers. Success came through intensive, local awareness-raising in schools, shops and in high-rise flats. This encouraged a positive community response and adherence to the social distancing guidance. ‘Community champions’ worked with residents to ensure adequate distancing in communal areas, provision of sanitisers and face masks, and information sessions aty schools. Numbers dropped dramatically in two weeks. The champions have also supported local people’s access to vaccines: hundreds more people have now had the jab. A story from the West Volunteers from Sea Mills Together, Shirehampton Community Centre and Ambition Lawrence Weston are a great example of communities working together for positive results. With Ambition’s Ash Bearman coordination, the team in West Bristol has provided a lifeline of support through shopping, prescription deliveries and telephone social support. A kind and helpful cityOver 6,000 requests for support have been completed by volunteers across the whole of Bristol. Each of these actions is a story in itself. Got a story to share of kindness and community action? Email us: neighbourhoodsandcommunities@bristol.gov.uk Other news in brief To encourage vaccine take-up Avonmouth resident John Woolnough produced a short video about having the jab to help us all out of lockdown. The clip ‘went viral’ on social media and has helped to tackle anti-vaccine stories locally.We want to say a ‘Big Bristol Thanks’ to everyone in the city, and will be shouting this loudly in volunteers week, June 1-7th. Keep an eye out for more details of how you can get involved to offer your own thanks. 2021 May Elections: After a 5 year period there were elections last week. Mayor Marvin Rees has been re-elected and there are 36 new local Councillors. Councillors have a broad range of responsibilities including encouraging community participation in decision-making. Our service is involved with the induction of new Councillors. Find out who your Councillors are and how to contact them: Bristol Councillors Thank you Bristol communities, thank you everyone, for the amazing efforts you’ve made to support each other in the last year. |