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.
Creative community engagement
Today St Anne’s House is home to nearly 90 organisations and has a waiting list of creatives wanting to access its studio space. It has a busy canteen on the ground floor, alongside a sauna, a gym, a community pottery workshop and countless meet-ups, family sessions and clubs happening throughout the week.
Bringing St Anne’s House back from the brink against such a challenging economic backdrop is remarkable. It’s also testament to what’s possible with a clear vision, a plan and a commitment to work hard to deliver it.
After being vocal about regeneration for years, I’m so pleased to connect with Jack over the trustee opportunity. He spoke brilliantly on Friday at the open house event about Bricks’ journey, sharing impressive numbers about its positive impact over the last year – detailed below.
Away from the spreadsheets, the personal stories connected with St Anne’s House shine through. Teenagers joining workshops with professional artists. Older neighbours speaking about how St Anne’s House improves their lot. Creatives – so often dislodged from areas by gentrification – saying this space has transformed their lives.
All in an office building that would have cost local taxpayers a fortune to revamp, taken on by a local organisation with a stake in the area. This is what inclusive growth looks like up close.
In his book about the affordability crisis facing cities, Richard Florida argues that succcessful places need their creative communities to flourish. Too often, however, they find themselves priced out of the places they helped create. Bricks is helping to address this challenge in Bristol by creating connections, providing affordable spaces to work and offering a place for people to to just be.
The next step is to build on the progress, by putting St Anne’s House’s future on a firm footing and connecting Bricks’ public art offering with other places across the city.
Meeting challenges together
None of this is easy, and there are obstacles along the way. St Anne’s House sustained several break-ins last year. The single glazed building costs a fortune to heat. And discussions over its long-term future take time to progress. Despite these odds, the team is moving forward backed with funding and a growing community of supporters.
It feels after this weekend that many in the community support the vision for St Anne’s House, thanks to the team’s brilliant work over the years. That makes the hard yards of regeneration – funding, planning, legals – more doable alongside the day job.
Those who work in regeneration should take notice of Bricks’ work. Step by step, they’re bringing those warm words people use to define communities to life. It really is happening here.
There are some important announcements on the horizon, which I can’t wait to see. If you want to know more about what Bricks is doing, I’d be happy to talk.