Trinity Community Arts Trinity Community Arts Annual Report 2012 Trinity Community Arts Ltd Registered Charity Number 1144770 Registered Company Number 4372577 CHAIR STATEMENT What a great year! 2012 finished with the news that we had been awarded £500k from BIG Lottery – this will enable us to open up the first floor and to generally improve access to the building. Congratulations to all involved with our successful bid. During the year there have been successes on all fronts. 2012 was our first as a charity, enabling us to apply for funding from a variety of trusts who we would not have been able to approach previously. Following extensive negotiations, Bristol City Council has granted us a 35 year lease on the main Trinity building, a tremendous vote of confidence in our ongoing ability to maintain and look after this wonderful building. We have also received significant financial and technical support from English Heritage in the planning of essential roof repairs – due to commence in Spring 2013. Whilst these will be largely unseen they will nevertheless contribute to the general air of progress and stability at Trinity. Trinity’s outpost in West Street – Arts West Side - opened in the Spring and has gradually built up both custom and a challenging and enjoyable programme of events and activities. Community Matters have assessed our policies and procedures – by means of the VISIBLE accreditation approach – and have been very pleased with our approach, although there is always room for improvement! It’s a privilege and great fun to be the Chair at Trinity. Trinity’s continued success is a tribute to Emma and all the staff, volunteers and fellow Trustees who have jointly contributed so much during the year. We are very grateful too for the ongoing support from Bristol City Council, English Heritage, Arts Council, and BIG Lottery. With so much change anticipated in 2013, we look forward to reporting on even more progress and success in the coming year. Simon Birch, Chair Trinity Community Arts Ltd Registered Charity Number 1144770 Registered Company Number 4372577 Community When I was younger, I didn't believe it when older people told me that time seems to speed up as you get older - now I do! This year has flashed by and there doesn’t seem to have been enough time for all that has happened over the last 12 months but we have continued to develop Trinity as a venue for a wide range of activities and services for local people to access. Our weekly classes and activities have continued to grow in numbers. Even though we have come down to a 3-day-a-week programme, it still includes the Youth Club, Gardening and Gentle Dance for over 50's, Bristol Samba, Zumba Fitness and Hype Dance classes in the evenings and morning Awaz Utaoh meetings as well as monthly RMA and BOREA (retired associations) socials. 2012 saw the Trinity Centre used on over 100 occasions by more than 60 groups or organisations. The Trinity Community Initiative offers free/subsidised hall space to help local community and voluntary groups get their activities off the ground. These activities include Awaz Utaoh's new sewing class, theatre rehearsals as well as meetings from Occupy Bristol, DYI Arts Network, Bristol Art Marketers and BMEP. We hosted over a dozen of weddings and receptions for people from a range of faiths and cultural backgrounds. We also celebrated Somalian independence day, The Kurdish new year, EID and hosted a couple of Senegal and Gambian fund raisers. In May, we played host to the City of Bristol College and UWE students' end of year fashion shows while we continued to support Misfits Theatre tea dances and their quarterly Rhythm of the Night social events. Canadian group InSite visited us in July to give a controversial talk, exploring alternative methods of harm reduction for those affected by drug addiction and VOSCUR organised a very well attended Mayoral Hustings in November. We have had some familiar faces coming back to Trinity: over the Easter weekend, the Swing Dance convention featured Lindy Hop dances, performances and an evening cabaret. The South West Hoop convention was also back for the 3rd year, with sold-out hoola hoop workshops and an LED show over a weekend in November. Burn Brightly charity burlesque also came back, this time donating all the proceedings of their night to St Peter's Hospice and thanks to Link Age and SXS Events, we were able to host our annual Christmas Social Dance for over 50's. In May, our free Garden Party was the biggest to date with over 1000 people attending to watch Dub from Atlantis & Mr Woodnote perform and 1,200 people came to this year's Fireworks Party with Count Bobo providing the music after the display. We hosted a Faux Glasto event in June, providing opportunities for local musicians to perform and created a graffiti mural within the garden. Trinity Community Arts Ltd Registered Charity Number 1144770 Registered Company Number 4372577 This spring, the Art Market had a great turnout and our popular Christmas Art Market was back for the 4th year, giving local artists & makers the opportunity to sell their creations. If ever a day were to come that I questioned the effect Trinity has on the community, I would need to look no further than the stack of thank-you emails and cards on my desk. As in previous years I must pay tribute to all of our dedicated and multi-skilled staff team, whose commitment and willingness to deliver centre services to a high quality in a friendly and professional manner deserves a huge public thank you! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our volunteers - Dave, Troy, Sooz, Dani, Jen, Lois, David (IT) and Nick - whose willingness to offer their skills, time and energy is becoming an increasingly vital part of our ability to deliver such multi-dimensional services. As ever, we must thank Trinity's facilities team - Phil, Shane, Simon, Mark and Martin - whose hard work in the seemingly never-ending task of keeping the centre's equipment and premises in such good working order, 7 days a week, is very much appreciated for this often overlooked but essential part of the centre's well-being. Also, big thanks to all the volunteers who have worked so hard to make the new Arts West Side space a successful project that keeps on growing - Lucy, Aimee, Kate, Marcus, Samantha, Helen, Ellie, Emily, Sam, Sarah, Becky and Chris. And last, but not least, massive thanks have to go to Charlie Hanson and Anita O'Flynn, who have spent another amazing year developing the community garden and coordinating volunteers, as well as fund raising to further develop the volunteer concept that has grown since its' inception seven years ago. Karina Castro, Bookings Administrator Trinity Community Arts Ltd Registered Charity Number 1144770 Registered Company Number 4372577 Theatre 2012 was an extremely busy year at Trinity. Throughout the year, we provided free rehearsal space for a range of theatre and performance groups under our Trinity Community Initiative. These included Juncture, ACTA and Norma Daykin dance rehearsals and we also hosted regular rehearsals for the Original Spinners and Bristol Old Vic. We have seen the utilisation of the Trinity Centre as a theatre space in terms of both rehearsals and performances increase dramatically, welcoming a number of new companies who have taken advantage of our subsidised hall hire including Bristol Ferment, Frenetic Engineering, Travelling Light Theatre, Made in Bristol and Juncture Theatre. Trinity also took part in Theatre Uncut 2012, a national festival, hosting 6 new plays all on one night. Imaginative use of the main hall, IT room and stairwells brought new plays into reality entirely through people freely volunteering their time and energy to this wonderfully creative endeavour. We were delighted to be involved with Mayfest 2012 who brought us The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, a show that proved that with a little imagination, a quality performance and simple, effective staging you can transport an audience from springtime Bristol to a cold winter's night in the deepest Scottish highlands and beyond. A creative mix of music and interactive setting brought this play into the laps of the audience who were completely rapt from beginning to end. This performance received rave reviews and has helped place the Trinity Centre on the map as a worthy host for theatre performances. The Bangladesh Association hosted an exciting and colourful performance and one of our longest running theatre group partners, the Misfits, have also continued to make the most of our space, celebrating with friends and family at their quarterly parties whilst creating new performances to share at our Garden Party and other events. In 2013 we will look to build on partnerships both old and new that will enable the Trinity Centre to continue it's growth as a hub for creating, participating and engaging with inventive performances that have a breadth of activity that truly highlights the versatility of the space we have here. Rhiannon Jones, Training & Events Coordinator Trinity Community Arts Ltd Registered Charity Number 1144770 Registered Company Number 4372577 Project Trinity Community Gardens After a revision of activities in 2011, we realised that one day a week was not enough time to fulfil the garden's potential in terms of social inclusion and growing food. A couple of local groups approached us asking if we could provide weekly gardening courses for them, so we applied for an Awards For All grant (Big Lottery) and were successful! With the help of that grant, 2012 saw the garden develop beautifully with four local groups learning about growing, composting and herbal first aid.