The communities of Lockleaze and Cheswick Village have shown their strength more than ever since coronavirus struck.
Locals have spoken about their pride in the area and celebrated the huge amount of positive work happening there, in response to last week’s coverage of concerns about recent crime issues.
Bristol Live has heard uplifting local stories of mammoth efforts to support those in need, particularly during the Covid crisis.
Anna Lart Greene, 22, is one of many who have volunteered in the community during that time, helping out at the National Food Service in Lockleaze Sports Centre.
The project saw some 300 volunteers deliver more than 50,000 meals to people across Bristol between March and September.
Anna said both the National Food Service and The Vench community centre’s food club have been instrumental in making sure people have not gone hungry during the pandemic.
The University of Bristol student said: “There’s a really strong community feeling in Lockleaze. It’s a lovely area and a great place for families to live.”
Opened as an adventure playground in 1973 – with John Cleese at the launch – The Vench expanded its service over the years to help people in a range of ways.
Anna, an activist in the community, said: “I used go to The Vench a lot as a kid. It’s fantastic.
“During the holidays they do a lunch club and play club for a range of children’s age groups, and they do youth work for teenagers as well.
“It offers itself out as a community space for all age groups, not just kids. Lots of groups come in and use it for cultural stuff or local politics discussions.
“Especially during lockdown and the free school meals scandal, it has been really crucial to delivering emergency food provision to families.”
Anna, who grew up near Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Stadium, says Government austerity means there are fewer youth workers in the area than in years gone by, which has led to volunteers giving up their time so youth services can continue to be provided.
She added: “A lot of people are really passionate about issues in the community.
“There is a pub at Gainsborough Square which has been burnt-out pretty much my whole life. It’s been sitting there derelict and it doesn’t look like people care about it, but there’s actually been a big campaign in the area for Bristol City Council to compulsory-purchase it so it can be brought back into use.
“There isn’t a single pub in Lockleaze at the moment. People do struggle to find social spaces they don’t have to hire out. They really care about each other and want spaces where they can be a community.”
Anna says the campaign for action on the pub site is ongoing, as is a local initiative by Acorn, a Bristol-based union for the community.
“Recently Acorn has started a lot of work in Lockleaze, knocking on people’s doors in a Covid-safe way to ask what kind of issues people have, and recruiting people into the union to do community organising together,” Anna added.
“They got a really good response and one of the things that came back was the roads are in a bad state, and not safe for cycling or driving.
“Kids started drawing posters about safe driving, and so there’s all these lovely posters around Lockleaze in people’s windows.
“People have also been drawing attention to the potholes by spraying around them to show they can’t just be ignored. One of those problem areas is at the bottom of Sheldon Road.”
Anna says the Acorn campaign has been going on for the last couple of months and people’s views are being fed back to the council.
Neighbouring Lockleaze to the north is Cheswick Village, which shared the same issue of not having a pub until 2019 when Bessell Scotts opened. Both a bar and a barbers, people can in normal times visit for a haircut, a drink, or both at once.
Jodi Bessell, who runs the business with barber Chris Scott, contacted Bristol Live to talk about why he loves living and working in Cheswick.
“People in the village have supported us from day one,” said the 42-year-old.
“As many of our customers are from Lockleaze as from Cheswick. I think the community’s very well integrated.
“You get crime incidents as you do in any village, but I think they’re isolated. Everyone’s really friendly. You’ll walk down the shops and it’s like the old days – you’ll always get a hello.
“There are some retirement flats near us, and a couple of the ladies there take care of the plants outside our door without being asked. They just say, ‘Your plants need a bit of pruning, we’re happy to do that for you.’”
Jodi moved to Cheswick two years ago after being impressed during visits to see his partner’s mum who lived in the village.
“Whenever we’d visit, we’d go to the Boston Tea Party and think, ‘This is a lovely area.’ A lot of people don’t know it exists.”
He says the close-knit nature of the village has been evident during the pandemic.
“When we were allowed to do the takeaway sales of alcohol and people could come to the door, they came out to us even though they could have bought a bottle of Moretti for a pound at the shops.
“I was saying I didn’t think we should open because we wouldn’t be busy. Who’s going to buy a takeaway pint when you can buy 24 for £24 at the shops? But they bought it off us at full price to support us.
“There has been a lot of support for others as well during Covid. On the Cheswick Facebook group a lot of people were saying, ‘If you’re struggling at the moment or you can’t get out of the house, we will drop food at your doorstep, we won’t judge you, we will just help out.’"
Though it is a new build estate – work started in 2008 – Jodi says it feels like a long-established community.
He said: “We know quite a lot of people who have started community groups. There are things like Halloween walks for kids with lights that go up around the neighbourhood.
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“The landlords have been looking to introduce farmer markets once a month and events out on The Square when lockdown eases.
“We have been trying to build a community where people get to know each other.
“When we were open we were having acoustic music nights on Fridays and Saturdays – no heavy drum and bass tracks, just guitar or piano. It’s gone down really well with people and we’ve become known for it.”
Bessell Scotts – when open – has become something of a hub for the community, with a pool team and regular movie nights.
Jodi said: “The pool team has 30 to 40 members, people who lived in the village but many didn’t know each other prior.
“We’ve had a few quiz nights too. Gareth, the local quizmaster, has been on Eggheads and is very brainy. He organises the whole night. We do that for Cancer Research UK, raising £2 per person.
“It’s been an eventful couple of years. We haven’t had a full season in the venue because it’s been open and shut with lockdown, but we have really got to know the community. It’s just a nice place to be.”
Retired teacher Hedley Bashforth says he objects to concerns raised last week that his area, Lockleaze, is a source of recent crime issues in Cheswick.
Hedley, who is in his 60s, says Lockleaze and Cheswick are full of decent people who face increasingly tough circumstances due to rising rent costs and the impact of the pandemic.
The former councillor for Ashley Down, who moved to Lockleaze about six years ago, said: “Lockleaze was built as a council estate for working-class people, and a lot of it has been sold off to private landlords, which has meant higher rent being charged.
“It is a strong area and people look after each other. If you look around Lockleaze there are plenty of examples of people clubbing together and working together.
“There are a lot of initiatives being run by local people for local people.
"If you look at the Vench and the National Food Service, they have given people a break in hard times.
“There has been a real outpouring of people wanting to support each other during the pandemic, and people recognising they are not on their own.”
The council has been approached for comment on its response to the campaigns in Lockleaze.
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