Activate Westside 2014

At the end of 2013 we received funding from Awards for All, to run our Activate West Side project and Sarah Bentley (Project Coordinator) worked hard to expand the offer of activities for the community and supporting the volunteers that lead on them.

2014 saw more than 60 sessions ran by 26 volunteers as part of the project, from weekly writing groups, women lunch clubs, art collectives meetings and workshops to creative play sessions for children as well as healthy eating sessions and exhibitions. Over 230 participants have been involved in our activities this year.

The project has created new partnerships with local organisations like Parents4Play, Children's Scrapstore, Trinity Community Garden and University of West England (UWE). Trough the project we have also been able to support the Bristol Somali Youth Network, who now call Arts West Side home.

Sarah finished her post in October and left successful pilot partnership activities in place, like the Art Café for over 55's in partnership with LinkAge and UWE as well as Creativity Makes me Happy for people with learning difficulties, in partnership with Stepping Out. Both activities ran weekly from October until December 2014 and we look forward to continuing both projects in 2015.

This year we also welcomed our new tenants, Phase 8 Photography and The Good Roots Café.

Get in touch if you have an idea or project you would like to test out at Arts West Side. Email westside@3ca.org.uk - or next time you are down Old Market, come in say hello!