Hartcliffe and Withywood

As the pandemic hit in 2020, local organisations came together with residents to provide a much needed support to the community. This video is a snapshot of the fantastic support provided by the community to their neighbours.

As well as the fantastic volunteer response highlighted in the above video, a new working relationship was formed between Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership and the Carpenters Foodbank which covers the area.  HWCP were providing the BCC Covid 19 response for the area as the Community Hub and, through the support of Community Development Officer for the area Sam Parker, made a new agreement with the foodbank who were under additional pressure during this time to support more people who were facing food poverty as a result of the pandemic. 

It was identified locally that often the people who need to access the foodbank were isolating and being advised not to leave the home due to underlying health issues.  So Sam negotiated with HWCP to send along two volunteers to the weekly foodbank collection to pick up any parcels which needed to be delivered due to the lockdown situation. 

In addition the foodbank was able to be more flexible over the referral criteria meaning that people negatively impacted financially were able to access support that they previously couldn't. 

The agreement led to approximately 20 families having their food parcels delivered by local volunteers, and 5 new referrals from the community welcomed by the foodbank - people who would otherwise have gone without. 

In March 2020, just before the country went into lockdown at the start of the pandemic, volunteers from across Hartcliffe and Withywood came together at a party to celebrate the great things they do and to map all the assets in their community. 

We had a great time and found out about lots of community action being taken, as well as learning more about assets we can use to develop more action. Scroll below to see the asset map we have produced. 

‘Welcome for Hartcliffe’ was Marilyn’s idea. She moved to Hartcliffe from the Philippines 25 years ago and reflects on how she and her children felt, in this unfamiliar environment.  

Marilyn 

“It was quite some time before we felt settled, especially my children. We had a hard time adjusting to the culture, food and weather. My six-year-old daughter didn’t speak or understand English, didn’t want to go to school and cried all the time. I felt sad, lonely, home sick and missed my family.” 

“My life could have been easier if someone in the community welcomed us, providing some information so that I could find support.”  

Inclusive Communities Facilitator, Claire, supported Marilyn to roll out her ‘Welcome’ idea in February 2021. Welcome volunteers have so far connected with 6 new residents referred by Housing Officers, Community Development and Children and Family Services. 

Welcoming Bobby 

“Being a volunteer 'Welcomer' feels like an achievement. I have been welcoming new residents; a lot are from BAME backgrounds. I meet them in the school where I work, at church, in the neighbourhood and at social events. It is humbling and makes me very happy when I see new residents and families that I’ve welcomed settle in and thrive in the community. If they are a new BAME resident, I invite them to join the resident-led group Vision BAME, where they can attend meetings, social events and family trips. The group shares advice and experiences and offers a much-needed support network in the area so that residents do not feel so isolated.” 

“Bobby lives in a flat three minute’s walking distance from my house. I called her to arrange a meet up. I brought her some flowers and a box of chocolates, as a kind gesture, and welcomed her to the area. We got to know each other; she told me she was doing some on-line studying but felt very isolated. She has now joined Vision BAME and is an active member, attending meetings and communicating through our WhatsApp members’ group chat.” 

“To be a ‘Welcome’ volunteer all you need is compassion, empathy and to be supportive.” 

Bobby’s Reflection 

“I really appreciate your support and the invitation to join the BAME group. It is a great welcome and lovely to meet them all. Many thanks to you and the community. I really appreciate your help.” 

Anne’s Reflection  

“I moved to BS13 in September 2018 and went to Hartcliffe & Withywood Community Partnership, who directed me to various services.  During the Covid-19 lockdowns, I volunteered with them, supporting residents with shopping and prescription collections. I made so many new friends from all sorts of cultural and regional backgrounds, worldwide. I want to improve my neighbourhood, so I signed up to be a ‘Welcome' volunteer. I have already welcomed several new residents to the area. I love to smile and have a chat over coffee and am known locally by the kids as Aunty Anne. I want my community to see me and others beyond my skin and make everyone feel welcome.” 

Following the break out of war in Ukraine, the introduction of the government’s Homes 4 Ukraine scheme saw a network of churches in Bristol establish 'welcome hubs' in communities across the city.  However in Hartcliffe there was no church stepping into this role. 

After holding conversations with local residents community development worker Sam connected Steff and Zoe with Natalia, a settled Ukrainian who has lived in the area for a few years.  They talked about what could be done to support people in the BS13 area.  Everyone recognised the need for a community response and wanted to use the local assets to offer support to new neighbours from Ukraine. 

We met with Bristol City Council’s refugee team manager and agreed that a community led welcome hub would be held in the old Mowcroft Methodist Church building and at the first meeting 16 newly arrived Ukrainian adults along with their children enjoyed connecting together and getting to know more about the local area. 

The offer of a weekly meeting was well received and now we welcome a growing number of Ukrainian families every Tuesday evening, not just from BS13 but from other areas of the city too.  We’ve shared food together, including a fantastic bring and share Ukrainian supper and the donation of pizzas from local food seller Hassan.  We’ve had a visit from JobCentreplus staff who talked to people about benefits on offer and the process for applying for them. The group have also enjoyed being welcomed to local soft play centre BOING at Inns Court 

Soon we plan to go on a trip around popular Bristol tourist attractions to introduce our new neighbours to the wider Bristol area and all that the city has to offer. 

The generosity of people has amazed us.  Having fled from their homes many people arrived in Bristol with few belongings.  The wider community have stepped forward to provide many items that people were in need of – including clothing, umbrellas, toys, coffee machines and even bikes and scooters! 

ESOL classes are now being run in Hartcliffe for the newly arrived Ukrainians who are keen to integrate within their new city, and many of the guests are already getting involved with local organisations and volunteering at local food clubs.  They are keen to offer support and bring their skills to their new community. 

Next steps are to meet with the host families who have stepped up to welcome people into their homes, in order to connect them together and offer any support they may need.  We are also thinking about how we can facilitate activities over the summer and more specialised support for the children who have been through a great deal recently and might need a bit more support to settle. 

We really hope we’ve played a small part in connecting people together and helping them to feel more settled in Bristol.  We plan on continuing to offer support, and opportunities to connect and make new friends. 

We are Ruby, Lannie and Kiera. We live in Hartcliffe and are studying at 6th form.  

In the summer of 2021, we went to a holiday activity looking at social action for young people and we ended up forming SAFE. Social Action for Everyone. SAFE is a group for young people who are interested in taking action in their community.  

In 2022 we organised a Reclaim the Night walk in Hartcliffe to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.  Later in the year we took part in the Bristol Youth Conference.  And we had a conversation with Bristol’s mayor about what it is like for young people living in South Bristol. 

We then held two new projects and would like to tell you about them below. 

What? 

On 5th August 2022 we held a picnic in Wilmott Park.  Sam from the council and Zak from HWCP helped us plan it.  We set up a table and some gazebos.  We had rounders and other sports.  We also welcomed other youth groups who supplied other activities.  The police were there too.  We had sandwiches, fruit (to make fruit skewers) and other picnic type foods like cake.  We had advertised a local bake off competition as well.  We wanted local families with young children to come and have a good, free day in the school holidays. 

Why? 

Hartcliffe is a community particularly affected by the high costs that we were starting to see in the summer.  We had some money left over from the Reclaim the Night walk we organised.  Summer holidays are always an expensive time for families with children so we wanted to organise a day where people could come free of charge and not worry about costs. 

We asked other organisations to help so that there was more on offer on the day. 

What went well?   

Lots of people came – over 100!  It was popular and people passing stopped to join in.  Going home was the best bit – we were really tired. 

We had left over food which we managed to donate to local residents. 

Did anything go wrong? 

We didn’t have much participation in the bake off competition – only two entries.   

What did we learn?   

Advertise it more.  When we go to other events there seem to be more people there – maybe because their publicity is better?  Particularly the bake off competition – it would have been good to have more entries. 

We had help on the day from Claire from the council who brought bunting which was good.  We managed to get the children to help with the clear up at the end which was good for us.  More help in this way would be good for next time. 

What? 

We planned a series of themed meals for young people in Hartcliffe and Withywood.  For 6 weeks we cooked a meal (with the help of one of our mums) and organised activities.  At first we did it at the community room in the @Symes building.  Then we moved to Hartcliffe Club for young people.  Overall we fed around 120 children and young people over the 6 weeks.  We had fish and chips, chilli, pizza, Hot dogs and burgers, Chinese and finished it off with a big Christmas party with a buffet. 

Why? 

We had talked a lot about the cost of living crisis and the welcome spaces.  Youth Moves had some funding for social action projects and so we thought we could apply for the funding to provide a meal specifically for young people.  We wrote the application form, got the money and started the sessions in November.  

What went well?   

Joining in with Hartcliffe Club for Young people was what went well.  It meant we had access to a wider community base of our target audience. 

Did anything go wrong? 

Yes.  At first we held it in the community room and this didn’t work – we had tried hard to publicise it but we didn’t get anyone coming.  The word just didn’t get around.  So we asked Hartcliffe Club (who we had donated the food to on the first two weeks) if we could hold the meal at their club where children were already attending a session.  This worked really well.  The kitchen was better and the children were already going and used to engaging with activities. 

What did we learn?   

Advertise it sooner.  Next time we think we could talk to young people about what they want and also have a better signing up/booking system. 

At the end of 2022 a group of residents living in Hartcliffe, set up a group called Family & Friends BS13. They applied for some funding through Bristol City Council’s - Social Action Small Grants Programme and were awarded funding in January 2023. The small grants programme was awarded to support activities to take place during the winter months, when the effects of the cost-of-living crisis would be the greatest. They wanted to provide a welcome for new people moving into the area, as well as bringing those already living there a connection to other families and to provide support and information, connected with the current cost of living crisis. The group is open to anyone living in BS13 and surrounding area. 

 This is what Marilyn had to say: 

"We are a Multicultural Community Group that bring residents together from the local and surrounding areas. We welcome old and new residents from all backgrounds and promote community cohesion, within a framework of inclusion, diversity, respect, and equality. Our aims are to increase access to social networks, introduce and connect cultures, support residents to settle into the area, and to help tackle isolation."

"We aspire to be a platform and a voice for the community, take on challenges and support equality of opportunity. We have built positive relationships with local community campaigners and have created partnerships with organisations such as Caring in Bristol, St Andrew's Church, "Free Social Meal,” by volunteering to cook cultural food, Morrisons via Karen the Community Campion, local Police and Zion Bristol."

So far this year, we’ve had meetings, which are on every second Friday of the month at Mowcroft Church Hartcliffe, were the group meets up to share food and plan future activities. In December 2022 the group had an end of year Party and in March held an event to celebrate International Women’s Day. Our plans for the Spring/Summer will include Easter activities, a summer picnic, and some Family trips.  

The group have their own Facebook page Family & Friends BS13, WhatsApp group and Email:  familyandfriendsbristol@gmail.com  

Claire’s reflection 

"It has been a pleasure to work alongside this pro-active group, support them to obtain grant funding and arrange training in Emergency First Aid for some of its members to attend. Between them they have created so much in just a short space of time. As well as their own activities they have great connections with what’s on locally and provide advice and support to residents who are struggling. They regularly help with cooking at the warm space venues, as well as providing activities and entertainment for the children."  

"One exciting thing that is happening on 1st April 2023, is the first Iftar in BS13 which has been organised by Muslims from the area as well as the Muslim community from Family & Friends BS13 group."  

 In 2022 Bristol City Council were awarded funding as part of the Home Office Safer Streets (4) initiative, aimed at reducing crime and anti social behaviour.  Bristol had two target areas with high levels of crime and anti social behaviour being reported for the fund – parts of Hartcliffe and parts of Bedminster.  As part of this, in October 2022 a group of residents from Hartcliffe started meeting to plan a consultation event for their neighbourhood to gather the views of the wider community.  

Liz, a member of the group says; 

"In October 2022 my friend Rachael invited me to a community meeting about Safer Streets.  I went along and met Sam and Claire from Bristol City Council and other residents who shared the same concerns about the area as I did.  We met weekly over November to January to plan a conversation with the wider community and this event happened on 21st January 2023." 

"We used a process called World Café in order to gather the view points of all the residents who came along. Part of the process of running a world café event is making sure the questions we asked would give us the information we needed to then use as criteria for a small grants fund which we would be designing and delivering together using a participatory budgeting approach."

"We held a practice event to make sure we knew what the roles we had volunteered for would entail.  Lots of people from the council and the community came to volunteer as participants at our practice event which was really helpful and gave us some insights into how we could do things differently at the public event to make sure it was as successful as possible."

"During our weekly sessions we learned a lot of different skills including; facilitation skills, engaging in circle practice and running check ins and check outs, poster designing, co-designing processes and world café hosting.  Of course, more importantly, we also learned about each other and made friends along the way." 

"We worked hard to make sure we reached lots of people in the community and told them about the event.  Once we’d designed the poster as a group, everyone took responsibility for some publicity.  This meant putting posters up around the community as well as posting leaflets through doors."  

"I also worked with Claire to do some door knocking, engaging local residents in conversation about the project.  Some of the blocks of flats we visited are viewed as no go areas so I was nervous about doing this at first but Claire’s support meant I soon got into a stride and enjoyed it.  It was eye opening talking to people about their experience of living in a block, it’s a different community altogether.  The first couple of doors I did with Claire but I soon got the confidence to do it alone which meant we talked to more people." 

"The event was really successful and we had around 40 local people taking part in the conversation which has given us the confidence to design the next stage of the project which is a small grants pot currently being advertised."  

Another member of the group, Marilyn says; 

"I am very pleased to be part and involved from the beginning on this project. It is led by residents, with the ideas and planning coming from us, sort of ownership." 

"It has given me the opportunity to meet new friends in the group and build up friendships. Through the project I met someone who I first met a few years ago.  She has now become an active member and supporter in our group. I love the check in and check out, sharing our life experiences."

You can read more about the next steps of the project here -  Hartcliffe Safer Streets  

Luke lives in Withywood and has a passion for his local parks and green spaces. “I am keen to support people to use and engage with their local green spaces and the communities around them."

"A few years ago I was feeling really burnt out and had suffered a lot of trauma which led to me feeling disengaged and disconnected from other people. A friend of mine encouraged me to get involved with local walking groups and this led me to local litter picking groups including the Whitchurch womblers. As I spent more time in nature I also reconnected to people and myself. Outside, I could switch off from my to-do list and just enjoy being in nature with others."

"At the start of lockdown, I thought it would be a good idea to set up a what’s app for dog walkers that might want to connect in Withywood park, the idea was to socialise our dogs, but we also got a lot out of talking to each other. Among the group there was a lot of comments about the litter so I thought… we can keep talking about it or, we can do something. I asked the group if they would join in if I got hold of some litter pickers, the response was really good, and we now run regular litter picking walks (sometimes filling up to 15 bags) There is something really powerful about doing something that isn’t for yourself but for the community and the land."

"It felt as if there was enough energy around the park to start a friends of group so I set up a Facebook page and also have an emailing list to promote park activities." 

"I recently invited park users to comment on what they liked about Withywood park and what they would like to see improved, we are now working with the Parks department to see how we can make the seating more accessible and install planters that will provide local groups with opportunities to grow herbs and vegetables."

"I am part of a parks group that meets monthly to talk about how we can come together to improve parks across Hartcliffe and Withywood. We had started to talk about creating a plan for our local green spaces and this is now developed into conversations around a big community plan which will include how we can improve our parks." 

"We're only just at the start of this journey, I have started speaking with local ecologists to understand what’s already hear and learn how we can improve biodiversity, I would love to plant more wild flowers and its something that came out of the Withywood park conversation. We would also like to improve the play area and install some fitness equipment for adults and children."  

"I am working with Community Development Worker, Hayley Swift, and Judy Gowenlock from Your Park to encourage more people to get involved. We also have a great community of parks activist here including Dawn Aldridge (head Whitchurch Wombler) Shane Richardson in Willmott, and the parks team Fliss and Steve – all these connections support me to keep going." 

 Learning: What ever it is that you want to do, just get out there and do it, don’t worry about being perfect, you won’t be! Imperfection is better than no action at all. 

Don’t do it alone, if you can find others with the same passion as you then work together, connections are important. Be yourself, don’t be afraid to follow your passion.