Knowle West NewsletterIssue 3This is the third edition of Knowle West Newsletter.

Thank you for all the positive feedback we’ve had about the last edition. We welcome your comments on this one. Ifyou would like to contribute an article, or have comments about neighbourhood renewal please contact Anita Pearce atthe following address.Neighbourhood Renewal Steering GroupThe KabinFilwood BroadwayKnowle WestTel: 0117 9231930

All articles express the views of individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of theNeighbourhood Renewal Steering Group.

Knowle West Carnival 11.07.02Blue skies beckoned for this years carnival as pirates, crusaders, bees, butterflies, ladybirds and a giant friendly alienparaded through the streets. Many thanks to all those involved (you know who you are) and special thanks to JulieMaunder at the Knowle West Development Trust.

Northern SlopesDoug Steeds, local resident and member of the Cloverdown Action Group, talks about his involvement in theimprovement of the area where he lives.

It started because people all around me were getting broken into and we wanted more security. Knowle Safe put upsome fencing, which made a difference. People started getting interested and we organised a clear up, which was verysuccessful.

About 20 people turned up - great for a Sunday morning! We cleared up a great mound of stuff and Ralph Hoyte(Community Development Worker) suggested the action groups at the Slope get together. So the groups at Novers Hill,Cloverdown and Wedmore Vale linked up to form ‘Northern Slopes’. We’ve called ourselves that so people know we’retalking about the whole area.

We’re trying to get the fields tidied up and made safer so they’re more accessible for local people. We want to get lightsinstalled and make it a place where you can walk your dog, or just go for a walk to see the wildlife, fruit trees andplants. It’s surprising just how much wildlife there is down there.

We’re funded by an organisation called ‘Doorstep Greens’ who gave us £3,500 which we put together with £1,500 thatwe raised. To find out what local people want, we’re doing an initial survey in the Cavan, Kenmare, Glen Vale andWedmore Vale areas. But we hope to talk to everyone who lives along the Northern Slopes over the coming year.

Our work has started at the back of Cloverdown and Cavan Walk. We’re working with Buried Treasure, based at thePark, who’ll make a model using our suggestions. We’d like to have everyone’s comments on that.

Sometimes it can feel a bit slow because we have to fit in with nature; like at the moment the birds are nesting so wecan’t disturb them. It’ll take a while to improve things, but eventually the Slopes will be better place for local people toenjoy.If you like the sound of what we’re doing and want to get involved contact

Ralph Hoyteon 0117 9036414 Mon-Weds daytime.

The Knowle West Action PlanThis Newsletter is being funded by money from the Government’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.Over three years this Fund is bringing almost one million pounds into Knowle West and will help attract even morefunding.This money will be used to deal with the most important issues that local people want to see tackled and to make surethat the responsible public agencies work with community organisations and local people to do it.A group of local people have been working for the last nine months to identify priorities and produce an action plan thatsets them out and says how they have been agreed.

What do local people say are the top priorities?Anti-Social BehaviourWe want to see available powers used more effectively to deal with Anti-Social Behaviour when it happens, but also tofind ways to stop it happening in the first place.Family SupportBetter support for families will help adults andchildren to deal with problems before they get too serious.Postcode DiscriminationWe want people in Bristol to have a better image of Knowle West and for people that live here to feel less isolated anddiscriminated against.Education and AchievementW e want local people to have more choice and to have better chances in life. Far too many children in Knowle Westare not getting the education they need and deserve.Health and Well-BeingWe want to see a healthier Knowle West. We need to do more work on what this means. For now the priorities are –healthier eating, more exercise and tackling drug addiction.Making sure local people are involvedLocal people have decided what the priorities are and need to be fully involved in making sure that effective action istaken.

We Need Your Help!We need local people to work with public agencies and community organisations to decide the best ways to tackle thePriorities and then make sure it gets done. If you want to help or just want more information pleasecontact Anita Pearce at the Kabin on Filwood Broadway, tel: 9231930.Copies of the Action Plan Summary are available from the Kabin on Filwood Broadway.

Interview with Alison BryantLocal people can do itI work with Sue Baldock at The Park in Daventry Road with boys and girls near to exclusion from school. They’re aged12, 13, 14 in years 7,8,9 at school. They come to the Park to try to get a second chance and to get them back intomainstream school. We’ve been really successful.

We work with 6 young people or so. They call us by our names, not ‘sir’ or ‘miss’. Sue calls us ‘community parents’! Atschool their attendance is less than 50% - some haven’t been to school for a year - maybe two, whereas we getattendance to our project of 95%.

We listen. We don’t shout at them – well, not very often! We can give them one-to- one time. We had one boy whocouldn’t read a word – I don’t know how that didn’t get picked up at school… he lacked a lot of confidence. He’s nowreading pretty well and his confidence has gone up a lot. Another one is going back to Hengrove and we’ll go with himpart-time at first.

I got into this through Sue. We did it voluntary for 6 weeks. Hengrove School pays for this project now. We’ve had a fewpeople with great qualifications start to work with us but pretty quickly they’ve found they can’t handle it. But people likeme and Sue know these kids, know what it’s like on the street.

What I’d really like is a full Pupil Referral Unit at the Park, with local people running it. We’re proving that local peoplecan do it for ourselves!'

Anti-Social Behaviour On The EstateCraig Rankin from Knowle West Play Centre tellstheir story"In the last couple of months we’ve had one window smashed. At another time children threw stones at the building andat our staff when they tried to stop them. They threatened to steal a moped at the centre and young people using ourgroups have been threatened. More recently, slabs for the new patio we were laying – unpaid, in our own time - weresmashed up, 150 were stolen and the skip we’d hired was set on fire. The local man who tried to stop them was peltedwith parts of the patio. He rang the police but they didn’t come out to us to investigate the incident until seven dayslater. That just discourages people in the community from bothering to ring the police at all, which can’t be good.The police took hours to respond to the stone throwing incident after we called them. When we phoned 999 I spentabout twenty minutes on the phone to them answering questions – we phoned at 10.00 in the morning and they arrivedat 2.30pm. Then again, one evening when we rang during our 10 to Teens session the police didn’t even respond at all!

Camera on FilwoodThe police have said that if there are any problems we’re to ring the camera control unit and ask them to record it onreal time otherwise it only records a blur. The bottom camera hasn’t been working for some time as far as I can see –it’s been pointing at the ground or going round and round.

Feeling threatenedBasically, our staff feel threatened, they don’t like leaving their cars at the Centre. There’s been a drop in numbersattending the 10 to Teens, too, as they don’t feel safe. The continuous damage costs us so we can’t spend it on whatwe’d like to spend our money on, like new play equipment and improving the service.

How things could improveObviously we think the young people throwing the stones are the same ones who did the damage to our patio so if thepolice had come round then they would have had them. The window situation isn’t that important but when the damageis actually happening we want an immediate response.

I wasn’t aware that Anti-Social behaviour on the estate had been identified as a priority for Neighbourhood Renewal towork on but that’s interesting to know.

A Knowle West specific police team would work really well, I think, because the police would know the young peoplewell and they’d have better relationships and more respect, which might improve the anti-social behaviour.

We’d like the camera on Filwood to include the Play centre in its coverage as a matter of course. A better policeresponse, along with things like the new Neighbourhood Wardens scheme, would make a big difference to our situation– and help us get on with our job of making life better on the estate!

Health and WellbeingIt’s never too late to start looking after your health, says local resident Rose ManningFirst of all I, like many others, took my health for granted over the years as far as smoking and not eating properlygoes, thinking ‘It’ll never happen to me’.

Smoking caught up with me, causing endless bouts of bronchitis and my poor diet in childhood resulted in arthritis – wejust didn’t have the right foods.

I’ve actually stopped smoking this year! Nobody believes it, they think I’m still secretly smoking at home! I was a 40-50a day smoker for forty years. I would like to see more spaces available at the smoking clinic though. I had to wait twelvemonths and when the appointment finally came through I’d stopped three weeks before under my own steam. I thinkanyservice has to acknowledge that no-one’s going to make you stop until you know it’s right for you and you’re ready. Ithink stopping smoking services need to be flexible enough to deal with that.

I have to say that the Walk-In at the Health Park has been a life-saver for me on at least two occasions. Just being ableto call in there at short notice and take that short cut through the system helped sort out health problems I wasn’t awareof, but that could have killed me. I’d encourage everyone to use the Health Park.

To be honest, my own ill-health is a real source of stress and frustration, but not just mine, members of my family havealso been unwell this year and putting all that together has been hard. From my experience I’d like to encourage youngpeople not to ignore their health while they are young.

I’ve heard that there is going to be a small referral hospital built in South Bristol, which can complement the HealthPark. That has to be a good thing. We all need decent services to help us get and stay as healthy as possible.

You Can Make A DifferenceA Neighbourhood Partnership for Knowle WestHave you ever wanted to make a real difference in getting better, more effective services for people inKnowle West? One way of doing it is to consider becoming a resident member of the Knowle WestNeighbourhood Partnership.

People power in the PartnershipAs this edition of the Newsletter highlights, getting better responses from services around Anti-Social behaviour,Achievement and Health & Well-being is central to the first Knowle West Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan.

The Partnership will be the main body which will make sure the Action Plan works and will be a major route for localpeople to influence what happens and how it happens. To make sure of this local people will be in the majority on thePartnership.

What will a Partnership look like?It will bring together local resident representatives from every part of the estate with representatives from all the majorservice providers, such as Housing, the Police, Education, Health, local community & voluntary organisations, localCouncillors, young people, black and disabled groups. One of its jobs will be to make recommendations on whichprojects get funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, making sure they fit the priorities of the Action Plan.

How will the Partnership be set up?The Knowle West Development Trust is responsible for developing Neighbourhood Renewal in Knowle West. Theyhave set up a Steering Group of local residents to develop the Action Plan. This Steering Group has been responsiblefor producing this Newsletter and for organising the public meetings between local residents and service providerswhich have formed the basis for the Action Plan. But this group is only a temporary measure and the residents on thatgroup want to develop a process which will build wider resident representation from across the estate to form thePartnership. They are aiming to do this by October 2002.

The current Steering Group is looking at a range of different ways of getting local representatives who can speak for all

parts of Knowle West. They are visiting other areas of the city, such as Hartcliffe & Withywood, St Pauls & Southmead,to look at how they’ve gone about creating similar Partnerships. They are also looking at ways of supporting localrepresentatives on the Partnership.

The next edition of the Newsletter will carry a full update on the range of ideas they’ve explored.

As present on steering group meeting 9th July 2002):

Fresh Blood Sought!In the meantime the temporary Steering Group is looking for new members to join it. This would only mean acommitment to working on the group from now until October 2002, when we are aiming to have the Partnership inplace.

Meetings are friendly and ‘old hands’ will always help you out if you’re not sure what’s happening at first. We can offeryou a lift to and from meetings if you need it, and help out with childcare costs. Tea, coffee, biscuits and pizza can all beyours to in return for your ideas, experience of life in Knowle West and willingness to speak your mind!

If you would like to join the Steering Group or if you would like to find out more contactAnita Pearce 9231930 or Michael Webb at the Knowle West Development Trust on 9532957.

Pictures From OportoA report by Jo Hansford, Media Development Worker at Knowle West Media Centre

Months of preparation and work paid off in May with a fabulous visit by Knowle West Media Centre to our twin town ofOporto in Portugal. Sandra Manson (KWMC trainee) and myself were accompanied by Jenny Hill of Knowle WestYouth Forum on the trip.

Our main aim was to develop links with local schools and organisations and our varied itinery included a presentationon the first night, a visit to the local university, to Urban 11, and photography & writing workshops in several localschools. Along the way we made the best of the numerous colourful photo opportunities we found in and around thehistoric & beautiful town of Oporto.

We now hope to develop this project further through the enthusiasm and interest of young people in Knowle viaemailing, writing and exchanging views with their Portuguese counterparts.

Our thanks go to Urban 11 and the Bristol Oporto Foundation for part-funding this project; in particular Liz Gamlin of theFoundation for all her hard work and support, and last but certainly not least to the amazing Cora Asprey of thetwinning Association in Oporto. Her energy and hard work (at 82 years old) was an inspiration to us and her hospitalityand dozens of cups of tea kept us fuelled during this hectic week!

Bristol MediationHelping to resolve community disputes and conflict

Bristol Mediation is a community mediation service which develops new approaches to conflict resolution in the city. Wewill be looking at how local residents health can be affected by disputes and conflict.

We are operating a weekly drop-in ‘Quarrel Shop’ at the Healthy Living Centre on Wednesday mornings. The shop willprovide an opportunity for local residents to talk with a project worker or mediator in confidence about any local conflictor neighbour dispute they are experiencing.

People and organisations benefitting from this project will gain a better understanding of conflict resolution skills andtheir own abilityto resolve conflicts constructively.

If you have any questions or suggestions please come along to see us on a Wednesday morning or phone our office on9043321and ask for Jo. We would like to hear from you.

Jo Plum

Florence Brown - A Community School

Florence Brown School was awarded “Community School” status on May 10th. Deputy Head Dick Berry describes whatgoes on out of school hours.

It is the many community-based activities that take place at the school which have helped us attain this achievement.The school is regularly open for three nights a week and at weekends.

One of our recent successful community projects was a father and children family learning group. Together with ‘thePark’ we organised learning activities for our own parents and those from three local primary schools.

Over the summer there’ll be a variety of events going on, including a Literacy/Numeracy summer school for youngpeople; on-going courses in Aquarobics and Keep Fit, and the popular Tuesday night Bingo session.

In July five of the young Millennium Volunteers will gain their 200 hour certificates when they finish the construction ofthe Community Garden.

The Bowling Club will hold the league end of season tournament at Florence Brown and the Avon Clubs Fourscompetition will be held here in July. We are also hosting the Avon Short Mat Bowling Association AGM.

In September we plan to tutor a number of new and existing courses as part of our contribution to lifelong learning inBristol. Courses on offer include ‘Concrete Creations’, Do It Yourself, Therapeutic Swimming, Designer Dressmakingand Organic Gardening.

If you’re interested in any of our courses or activities, contact the school on 9668152for further information.Dick Berry

Art Of Well-BeingIf you would like further information about the Art of Well-Being Festival, or would like to offer aworkshop or taster session please contact Annie Beardsley, Project manager, Art of Well-being on0117 3772256.

Knowle West Health Park will be home to a sustained programme of creative activity for the next 3 years.Now that the Health Park is open and the buildings and outdoor spaces are being used, there is an important role forartists and arts workers to play. The arts will help to bring the park alive as a vibrant and creative resource for the wholecommunity.

It will offer three interlinked arts strands:performing arts, media arts, and public arts, with an ongoing programme of workshops, commissions, exhibitions,performances, seminars and work on the web. Artists will work with groups of local people and health careprofessionals, youth workers, architects and contractors to develop the physical fabric of park, the health services itoffers and aprogramme of creative projects that will link the park, its facilities and its communities together.

Artists Michael Pinsky, Zoë Walker and Neil Bromwich have been recruited and are due to start work on a programmeof workshops and consultations in early July. There are also plans to recruit 2 youth workers to help deliver artsprojects.

We are currently planning an Art of Well-Being Festival for the end of September 2002. Watch this space for furtherdetails about when and where. The festival will offer taster workshops, performances, exhibitions,displays, information, food and other stalls.

Mark Baker

Come On Down To The MedeThe Mede is a community centre where you can learn new skills, meet people and become a volunteer.

We also run an Out of School Club, a Youth Centre, holiday play schemes and a café, so there’s something foreveryone.

We have computers where you can learn to use the Internet for free and also run a range of regular courses. OnFriday’s between 9.30-10.30 there’s a popular Keep Fit class with a crèche, which is open to all abilities. We are alwaysopen to suggestions as to what courses you’d like to see here, whether it’s Sewing or DIY.

Our Out of School Club is open 5 afternoons a week. If you’re interested in being a play worker, either as paid staff oras a volunteer, we’d like to hear from you. We have volunteering opportunities in everything from working with children;building maintenance/caretaking; paperwork and reception duties and can offer meal allowances and, in some cases,training.

If you’re thinking of having a children’s party, meeting or social event, you can hire rooms at the Mede, with discountedrates for individuals and community groups. For legal, housing or benefit advice, we have South Bristol Advice based inthe building. There is also a lone parent advisor, and a worker from Victim Support here regularly.

Our café, Connoisseur Cuisine, offers affordable home-cooked food. Why not come in and treat yourself to our fullEnglish breakfast. Our staff are allergy aware and discount is available to senior citizens. The café is open Mon-Thurs(8am-6.30pm) and Fridays (8am-2.30pm).

Contact Bev for more information:9041220Bev Leworthy

Interested In Sports Or Coaching?Alistair Dale is the recently appointed Community Sports Development Worker for Knowle and Filwood, working herefor the next 2-3 years, to increase sports and physical activity opportunities in the community.

The main aims of my job will be to: make the best use of current facilities; support the development of localclubs/teams, and set-up new activities as determined by local needs.

The job is partly-funded by a National Programme called “Positive Futures”, which aims to target young people aged10-16 years old, and engage them in exciting sporting opportunities as a diversion from getting involved in crime,and/or drugs misuse.

I can offer:

Advice on developing your local club - starting a junior section/reserve teamAccess to funding opportunities available to sports clubsAdvice on how to form a new clubContact details of sports bodies, courses etc.

Soon there’ll be a poster around Knowle West publicising all the sporting opportunities in the area, including times andvenues, the age group that they target, and contact details.

I want you to tell me what sport you’d like to see on offer in the area, whether it’s short-mat bowling, table tennis,athletics, martial arts, women’s football or rugby, or any other sport that you are interested in.

If you’re interested in coaching/volunteering, I will be looking for people to coach sports courses, who may then be ableto get paid employment delivering sessions in the local schools/sports clubs as coaches.

We always need volunteers and people willing to spend an hour or two a week to help the coaches deliver sessionsand to help with the organisation and running of clubs.

I‘m based at The Park where you may be able to say hello, or call me on:9039766 or 0773 664 0936.Alistair Dale

Sure StartSure Start works with existing projects, creating new services according to needs in Knowle West. Our offices are at thePark, where you’ll have spotted our staff team in their purple polo shirts. We have refurbished the caretaker’sbungalow, now called the Play and Learn House (the PAL).

The PAL House officially opened in March and now runs ‘chill-outs’ (for a few stress-free hours after the weekend), our‘KEEP’ early learning programme, crèches to support activities and courses, men’s and children’s groups, healthyeating and much more.

There’s loads of space around the outside of the house, so we’ve been working with our very own Charlie Dimmock; Milfrom Buried Treasure, to create a child centred play space, designed with the help of parents. It’s hard to believe thatjust 6months ago the garden was a pile of rubble and over grown weeds. Now it has a beautiful lawn, a bike path, apatio, anda space in the shade for water, sand and other activities and fruit trees.

The garden will develop over time to include original artwork, integrated play equipment, allotments and a child-friendlywater feature. Mil said, “Parents really enjoyed helping to create this area, while learning new skills, so why not comealong – the more help the better.”

There’s lots going on in other venues across the estate and Sure Start membership is free.

To find out more, call Liz on 9039789or call in to see us at the Park.Lil Bowers

GoodbyeCommunity Caretaking ClosesFor the past three years the Knowle West Development Trust has provided a reliable low cost service to vulnerable andolder people in Knowle West, helping them with their gardens and home maintenance. Unfortunately the grant fundingfor the service has come to an end and no new funding has been found.

The service is popular and still in great demand, so it is unfortunate that the project has to close. We hope that anotherlocalcommunity organisation will get funding to do something similar soon, so that local people will continue to get help withtheir gardens.Michael Webb

And FarewellJill Jones retires.

Jill Jones came to Eagle House Youth Centre in 1989. After 13 fruitful years as a youth worker, she retired this May andwill be moving down to Cornwall. From the moment she first visited Knowle West, she said ‘this is for me’. One of Jill’smany successes is the women’s group that she set up with just 3 people. It soon expanded and is still going strong allthese years later. Lisa, one of the group, remembers the fun they had doing everything from strawberry picking tomaking a rock and roll film.

Jill gave staff a lot of support, showing the way to good youth work and gave people in Knowle West a lot ofencouragement. Knowle West meant a lot to Jill and Jill meant a lot to Knowle West, and this was proved at the turnoutof Jill’s farewell do which was attended by over 100 people, including ex-members, current members, professionals andfriends. She will be missed tremendously.Margaret Rawlings

New Soul For Knowle?Knowle has got an Education Park for the mind, and a Health Park for the body. What about a centre for the soul? Thisis what the Barnabas Centre, based on St Barnabas, Daventry Road, is aiming to be.

We’re a community centre with a difference, offering counselling, advice and buddying services for all ages, withspecial emphasis on family support.

We’re working together with the Park, the Health Park, Eagle House, Filwood Hope, Neighbourhood Renewal andeveryone who is working for a better Knowle West in body, mind and soul.

We’re well aware that Knowle West isn’t the most church-going place in the world but that does not mean it has no soulor spiritual needs. To tap into that, the church needs to widen its reach beyond the existing congregation.

That’s why we offer activities for all ages: a toddlers group, cubs, scouts, drama club for 8-14s, a dance club mostly forsenior citizens, a Community Fayre and a laid back Family Service on Sundays at 11am.

But to do more, we need a development worker and better facilities. We’ve got planning permission for the facilities,which include community rooms and a big new hall out the back, overlooking the ‘bombie’ one of Knowle West’s hiddenassets! We’ve raised about £120k, but need £450k more.

But we’d like to know what you think:

How can we make St Barnabas more usable by local people?What have the churches got to offer the wider community?

What should the Barnabas Centre be doing?

Let me know, on 9664139

Ross Thompson, Vicar

A Safer KnowleStreet Wardens UpdateEight street wardens and one trainee have now been recruited and have started their training and inductionprogramme. They will start working on a shift basis from July 29th. You can expect to see wardens out and about onweekdays 11am-10 pm and weekends 10am-4pm. The project has been funded for two years but hopes to attractfurther funding beyond 2004. The presence of street wardens will help to make people feel safer and improve thequality of life in the area.

Their work includes:Patrolling the area and keeping an eye on things, reporting anything that needs doing and ensuring this is followed upVisiting and checking on vulnerable residentsHelping people improve the security of their propertyWorking with the community and local organisations to clean up the area and keep it free from abandoned cars, graffiti,untidy land etc.Working closely with agencies dealing with youth issues in the communityProviding a link between the community, the police and other key agencies

Anita PearceWarden Supervisors Alan/Lorraine Tel: 9084223

CompetitionCan you think of a new name for the ‘Street Wardens’?Something which describes their role and makes themsound friendly and approachable.See back page for details.

Neighbourhood Renewal SteeringC/o Knowle West Media ProjectLeinster HouseLeinster AvenueKnowle WestBristol BS4 1NL

Learn DirectLearning and Earning with the Helpof Knowle West Development Trust

Maybe you’ve seen the Learndirect advertising on telly? Learndirect is a new way to learn and it’s available at theTrust’s Computer Training Centre39 Filwood Broadway.

We’re open every weekday including Tuesday and Thursday evening. Book a time to suit you; phone 9231140 or dropin to talk about Learndirect and other interesting courses with Tina, Pam and Sam.

The Trust runs the One Stop Job Shop through Dave and Polly. They have job adverts, job contacts, help and adviceon all aspects of employment, money to pay the costs of getting a qualification and money to help with some of thecosts of returning to work. Call in and see them at 43 Filwood Broadway or phone 9231101

If you’re interested in working with children, funding is available for childcare qualifications from the Trust’s ChildcareDevelopment Worker.

Contact Sian at the One Stop Job Shop, 43 Filwood Broadway,or phone 9537394.

Mike Shotter

Local Election NewsStatement from Councillor Kelvin BlakeThe recent local election result in Filwood was a major disappointment for the Labour party and the many people whohave supported us year after year. George Micklewright was a hard working councillor who understood the problemsand opportunities for Knowle West and was in a position, as the leader of the Council to make a difference. He servedthe people of Knowle West as a matter of duty for many years. Labour colleagues, the people of Knowle West andmany community groups will miss him. Politics is sudden death - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose -politicians have to live with this fact and I know George will do just that!

I believe we lost the election for two main reasons:

People in Knowle West want to see things happening in their street much faster than has been the case.

Anti-social behaviour and the lack of respect by a few very disruptive people have started to undermine our community,damage our property or threaten us.

The Lib Dems in Bristol appealed to people saying that it was time for a change and that they will make these thingsbetter - always promising the earth because they know they don’t have to deliver it. The people of Knowle West will bethe judge of the Lib Dems and personally I am not interested in their short term, false promises.

I am going to work harder than ever to try and address these issues. Working with the many good people and greatcommunity groups we have in Knowle West, I am sure we can make a real improvement.

Statement from Councillor Ann CooperI want to say thank you to everybody who made the effort to vote in the local elections on May 2nd (whether they votedfor me or not!) Democracy is what I believe in and what I stood for, then and always. I don’t have all the answers or amagic wand to change things overnight, but hopefully if everybody isprepared to work together, we can start to climb the mountains ahead.

I will be available to residents as much as possible and also hope to work closely with the police, the council, localshops and schools, the elderly, the disabled and young people.

I will endeavour to talk to as many people as possible over the coming years so that I am better placed to represent themajority ofresidents in this area, especially when attending meetings or making decisions that will affect you.

The election campaign was one of the hardest job interviews that I have ever had and no doubt my bosses (you) will betough to please. I hope that I will be given your support and guidance to enable me to do the job to the best of myability.

CompetitionTake up this challenge and you could win a family ticket to the cinema, a family takeaway or a bowl of fruit.Can you think of a new name for the ‘Street Wardens’? Something which describes their role and makes them soundfriendly and approachable. We want to hear your suggestions. Send your answers to:Neighbourhood Renewal Steering Groupc/o Anita PearceThe KabinFilwood BroadwayKnowle West

Competition WinnersLast edition’s lucky competition winners are Mrs H Showering who wins Cineworld tickets and Pam Hayes who wins afruit basket.Many thanks to Chappells greengrocers on Leinster Avenue and Cineworld in Hengrove for donation of prizes.

Credits & ThankYousWith thanks to the following people:Neighbourhood Renewal Steering Group, Manager - Michael WebbNeighbourhood Renewal Facilitator - Anita PearceResident Members - Denise Britt, Rene Gough, Ross Thomson, Floss Moulton, Carole Casey,Rose Manning, Mary Smith, Sue Baldock, Margaret Jordan, Sister Joanna BrennanPhotography: Jo Hansford, Sandra Manson, Mouth of the South news teamEditor: Frances KingDesign: Rowena DugdaleKeith Houghton - Bristol City Council Community Development, for his interviews with local residentsKnowle West Media Centre who facilitate the production of this newsletter.