St Anne’s House shows community regeneration in action  

St Anne's House

Resilient, thriving, connected. People readily use phrases like these to describe successful communities.

They sound great on paper – and God knows I’ve used them myself enough over the years when writing about places. But words without people to make them real are just slogans.

After five years of hard work, I’m seeing something very special happening in Brislington that’s connecting positive intent with people’s lives.

Led by Jack Gibbon, the charity Bricks is moving forward with quiet determination to transform a 70-year-old former council housing office block at St Anne’s House into a space for hundreds of creatives, artists and community groups.

Its open house event this weekend attracted more than 1,000 people across three days. I went on Friday to the launch and on Sunday with my daughter for lunch and look around the exhibitions. It was fantastic to see the place busy, with so much happening throughout the building.

It’s fair to say that St Anne’s House was on its uppers before Bricks took on a lease from Bristol City Council to run the building as a community space.

I remember the first time I visited before becoming a Bricks trustee about two years ago. Its vastness, the single glazed metal-framed windows across three floors and the range and scale of activity happening there struck me. I was aware of Bricks’ public art installations at new developments across Bristol and thought they were the perfect custodian for a project like St Anne’s House. And I was hooked on the concept from that first meeting.  

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Business casual: two words to cause pre-awards jitters

Me with three colleagues at the PRCA awards

Those close to me know I’m a worrier, who likes to think situations through before stepping into them.

It’s superficial to some, but wearing the right outfit helps me prepare. I was raised by fashion retailers; it’s just part my make up.

Before lockdown, this felt MUCH easier: suits, shirts and ties for work and something casual at weekends.

None of this was ever set in stone, but at least it had some clarity. Those blurred lines got even fuzzier last week.

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Four years on, bank holiday pressure turns to perspective

Family together at home on May bank holiday

The late May bank holiday presents a welcome chance to draw breath for my family and I after a hectic start to 2026 for all of us.

Fresh from passing her driving test, my daughter Penny prepares to head to York to study archaeology in September. Having just returned from a month in New Zealand, she’s working hard, saving, and planning to travel again this summer. 

Her brother Henry, meanwhile, is a third of the way through the GCSE grind. His school in Wells texts us every day to advise us of an ‘unauthorised’ absence. I can confirm here (and have done to them) that he’s revising for the next exam. Anyone who’s had children at this life stage knows it’s a joyless slog.

My wife is studying for a certificate in systemic psychotherapy at Exeter University, on top of a demanding day job as a family therapist in Somerset.

And I’m working hard on the business as Distinctive approaches the end of our fourth year, reflecting on the progress we’ve made in that short time.

Between all of this and the tedious task of processing dozens of receipts from UKREiiF in Leeds this week, I realise how much has shifted since May 2022.

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There’s still time for Labour, if it matches promises with action

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves chat with Gordon Brown as he is appointed as Special Envoy on Global Finance and Cooperation at 10 Downing Street.

“In the first two years or so of government, we were right to level with the public about the challenges that we faced as a country, the legacy we inherited, the international situation, but what we didn’t do was convince them about the future and how things can be better.

“We need to do that, and to be really clear… about not going back to the status quo.”

Keir Starmer speaking to The Observer at the weekend.

The predictions proved correct. The local and devolved elections were as painful for Labour as the response was inevitable.

Ministers speak on the media rounds of the need to reflect and listen to voters. Some MPs, alarmed by the scale of the defeat, call for Keir Starmer to go. The PM himself says he’s not going anywhere.

And strikingly, he spoke on Friday of his determination to break with the status quo ‘once and for all’. Action is needed and act he did. By bringing Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman back into government the next day.

I have huge admiration for Brown and Harman. But their return masterfully sums up how the public sees the PM, pledging to break with the past one day and inviting a former PM back into the fold the next.

The media lapped it up, providing relief in a relentless news cycle. But talking about the election results as a big moment – or a ‘seismic earthquake’ as Reform weirdly did – misses the bigger truth which has screamed back at us for years.

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Holed below the waterline: why Starmer needs a vision for the country  

Sir Keir Starmer in a submarine

Two weeks before the next elections, headlines spell big trouble for Labour.

Candidates contest more than 5,000 seats across 136 councils and devolved governments in England, Scotland, and Wales a week on Thursday (7 May).

Sensible money points to a drubbing for a Labour Party led by a deeply unpopular Prime Minister facing calls to resign over the Mandelson crisis.

According to this projection, Reform stands to gain the most from Labour and Conservative losses.

Look at those numbers again for a second. Labour could lose more than ONE THOUSAND council seats in England. Reform could rise from nowhere to gain more than 1,200, councillors with Greens and Lib Dems also squeezing the Labour vote.

And, unthinkably until quite recently, Labour could also lose the Senedd to either Reform or Plaid Cymru.

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Seeking help to harness AI in a busy, growing business

AI tolls on handset

We hit Easter ready for a break, though I’m still working from my parents’ house in Broad Haven.

I’m immensely pleased with progress at Distinctive over the last year, while feeling intensely busy as the team continues its growth spurt.

We’re hiring again, in response to client requests to provide new services. We’re constantly learning and investing in training, tech and additional support to help us to work better.

It’s a challenging time, but there’s plenty to celebrate every day. Clients value what we do. Our work makes a positive difference and is turning heads. And we’re recognised as a good employer at a time when inclusive practice is under pressure.

But when you’re busy and keen to move forward, it’s often the small things that get in the way. Considered in isolation, they seem a manageable cost of doing business. Taken together, day by day, they add up to a lot.

Hello, bad tech. A constant irritant and frequent roadblock to getting things done. While we’ve hit on some areas with AI that help us, I regularly rub against the same frustrations with tools that make me question the hype around it.

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