New community festival

Residents, voluntary organisations and city leaders came together to celebrate one year of the Community Resilience Fund and share their stories of the projects that have been delivered through £4 million investment from the council.

The council also announced the launch of a new Bristol Community Festival that will take place 22 March to 5 April 2025.

The fund aims to invest in the recovery and resilience of the Voluntary, Community and Sector Enterprise (VCSE) sector following the pandemic.

In total, 55 community and voluntary sector projects were chosen to receive funding in the first year. A  list of recipients and funded projects can be found on the council’s website.

Councillor Stephen Williams, Chair of the Communities and Public Health Committee, said: “It was a wonderful opportunity to hear about some of the projects that have been funded through the Community Resilience Fund that will help VCSE organisations to continue their important work for years to come.

“The innovative community-led approach that was taken really allowed residents to be at the forefront of the decision making and meant they could have a say in the things they need and want to see happen. I hope we can continue to keep building these relationships and use collaborative approaches to decisions again in future.”

The new Bristol Community Festival will take place in community venues across the city to celebrate and encourage social action. Any group or organisation is welcome to organise an event as part of the festival. A limited number of grants will be available to eligible community groups and voluntary organisations to support this.

Applications are now open on the council website and will close on Monday 21 October.