ISSUE 55 DEcEmbEr 2012 - FEbrUArY 2013

Something to smile about...

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KNOWL DGEFor the residents of Filwood, and parts of Knowle & Windmill Hill

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Post-Christmas diet again this year? Local mum proves that you can lose weight and feel great! Check out our feature about eating well this season.

Meet your MayorHear from your newly-elected Mayor George Ferguson.

Positive change for you and your area.

Problem parking – what a waste of space!

Residents have identified prob-lem parking on Melvin Square and around the junction with Connaught Road as a Commu-nity Safety priority as they were concerned children were be-ing put at risk of accidents. The Filwood, Knowle and Windmill Hill Neighbourhood Partnership have secured funding to reinstate mandatory ‘keep clear’ markings and remove the advisory white lines outside Oasis Academy Con-naught. The ‘keep clear’ mark-ings will also be extended round the corner of Ilminster Avenue to remove at least one parking space past the traffic island on either side of the road.

Rachel Clarke

This has been one of my favourite issues to edit in recent years. It marks the conclusion to our series about the Bristol Mayoral election and although the turn-out in Filwood was lower than I’d hoped (see p. 3), I’m pleased to report some promising outcomes: almost 400 people in South Bristol took the ‘Mayor for the Day’ survey/game (see p. 8) and 40% of Year 6 children from Christ the King Primary School reported that their parents had been to vote. This issue we have a piece from new Mayor George Ferguson (p. 3). I’m also delighted to include two pages of articles written by community reporters. The Knowledge journalism group has proved very popular - why not resolve to get involved in the New Year? If you’re in need of a resolution for 2013 you could volunteer with the Mede Sprint or other organisation in your area, collect tins and food for the new Foodstore (p. 7) or follow a local mum’s example and eat more healthily. Let us know how you get on! You can contact me with your articles and letters on 0117 903 0444 or rachel.clarke@kwmc.org.uk

Next issue

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Lending a helping hand

Residents can receive advice and help on Housing Benefit, Home Choice, Travel Cards, and Blue Badge applications between 9.30am and 4.30pm on Wednes-days at Filwood Library, and Tuesday and Thursday at Knowle Library. Residents are also say-ing that Filwood is looking cleaner and tidier thanks to the hard work of the local May Gurney Street Cleansing Team. You can do your bit to keep Knowle West clean and tidy by not dropping litter or fly tipping, and using litter bins. Don’t make the area we live in a mess! Finally, the Neighbourhood Partnership has given 30 free shed alarms to local residents to help them protect their property.

A word from your Editor

All I want for Christmas is…a new play area

Young children in Filwood will get an early Christmas present when Bristol City Council install new play equipment on Filwood Broadway in December. Local residents and Councillors came together in October to agree new play equipment for a revamped Chil-dren’s Play Area on Filwood Broadway which would be paid for with £17,621.09 of funding from the Filwood, Knowle and Wind-mill Hill Neighbourhood Partner-ship. The appointed Contractors, Sutcliffes, have promised to start work on improving the play area on 10th December, and aim to have it finished by 21st December 2012, if the weather allows.

Protect your valuables with Immobilise

Safer Bristol are encouraging residents to protect their valuables by registering with a free national property register. Items such as mobile phones, laptops, cam-eras, Sat Navs, music players and bicycles are among the items that can be listed with Immobilise. If stolen items are recovered, police officers can trace them back to their rightful owners. Sign up for free online at www.immobilise.com

Copy deadline: 6th FebruaryNewsletter delivered from 21st February.

Sutcliffe Play South West LtdFreeland Business Park, Wareham Road, Lytchett Matravers, Dorset BH16 6FHTel: 01202 621528 Fax: 01202 621538Web: www.sutcliffeplay.co.uk Email: sales@sutcliffeplaysw.co.ukDrawing Number: 5798a - Bristol C.C. - Filwood Broadway Play Area Rev1 RB/RA 15/11/12

Bristol City Council - Filwood Broadway Play Area Rev 1

Cherry Twist

Inclusive Dish Roundabout

Toddlerzone Hide & Slide

Toddler & Junior Swings

what it wants Bristol to do for it, and make this known to the Mayor and Bristol City Council. Residents have complained about decades of promised development that never seemed to get off pieces of paper, drains being blocked, the loss of local shops and facilities being closed and not replaced, the poor state of parks and green spaces, especially when compared to neighbouring wards, the poor lo-cal transport service, and more.

Every resident reading this will have their own moans and groans and list of problems that, if solved, would make Knowle West a better place to live and raise families in. If you have one of these lists of moans, groans or bright ideas, it’s no good just telling your family, friends or neighbours, as it’s now time for the city and the Elected Mayor to hear your voice. We want you to tell us what needs to change or be done better to improve the area that you live in. Make your voice heard to help speed up the change coming to Knowle West.

No Drinking Zone consultation extended

Have your say about the proposed Filwood No Public Drinking Zone by 21st December. Residents of the Filwood ward have reported street drinking and related anti-social behaviour as local priori-ties, most recently at the August Neighbourhood Forum. As part of the effort to tackle this issue, Bristol City Council, in partnership with Avon and Somerset Constab-ulary, has proposed to set up a No Public Drinking Zone to cover the affected areas. You can find out more and have your say by filling out a questionnaire at www.bristol.gov.uk/filwoodnpdz

Community Priorities

The following priorities were agreed at the Filwood Neighbourhood Forum meeting on 7th November 2012:1. Newquay Road/Torrington Ave-nue - Drug Dealing and Anti-Social Behaviour (All times) 2. Inns Court/Creswicke Road - Nuisance Motorbikes & Associated Anti-Social Behaviour (All times) The next Filwood Neighbourhood Forum will be on Wednesday 6th February 2013 (7-9pm) at Knowle West Health Park, Downton Road. If you’re concerned about some-thing in your area please come along. Contact Anita Pearce on 0117 908 4248.

I am honoured, as a South Bristol resident, to be elected as your first ever City Mayor. I want to make sure that I do all I can to protect you from the

worst of the budget cuts and help protect essential services and improve lives in extremely difficult times. To do so I shall work closely with your Neighbour-hood Partnerships, the new Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens and of course your local Councillors. As a signal of my commitment to Bristol’s com-munities and a new style of local democracy, I am planning to bring my first Mayor’s Cabinet meeting out of City Hall to The Park in Knowle West on 20th December to ensure that we engage with the real issues in the area. Let me know what issues you think we should be addressing and what ideas you have for your community to mayor@bristol.gov.uk - or to City Mayor, City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR

Mayor George Ferguson to bring first Cabinet meeting

to Knowle West

Dear Knowledge,

Ex Marksbury Road College site – Kingswear/Torpoint and Haldon Close

By the time you have read this the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the City Council will have announced their proposals for the ex-College site; which will be on a different timetable for the proposals for the rest of the Kingswear/Torpoint/Haldon Close area.

So what are we doing? We are:

• collecting people’s stories, pictures or evidence about how they use the green space or the college site;• finding out how people are feeling about the proposals as they stand at the moment.

If you have anything you can tell us - email us on enquiries@northern-slopes-initiative.co.uk, visit the North-ern Slopes Facebook page, or write to NSI, c/o Buried Treasure, The Park, Daventry Road, Knowle, Bristol, BS4 1DQ.

Thank you for reading this.

Julia TuttonMarksbury Area Community Association

Len WyattNorthern Slopes Initiative

Bristol Mayor: after the count

In the recent Elected Mayor election for Bristol, 993 residents of Filwood voted, of the 7,473 that were eligible to do so. After Hartcliffe ward, the 12.47% turnout in Filwood was the second lowest in Bristol.Whilst many residents in the area chose not to vote, many others across Bristol did, and elected George Ferguson Mayor of Bristol. This means that the Mayor is now responsible for making Bristol work: a huge amount of responsibility that voters have given to one person. Knowle West now needs to decide

Proposed development of former college site

The Homes and Communities Agency, along with Bristol City Council, are preparing an outline planning applica-tion for the mixed-use redevelopment of the former college site at Marksbury Road. The application, which is due to be submitted in mid-December, will seek permission for the principle

By John Boutwood

of development for the following land uses across the site, supported by an indicative masterplan: partial refur-bishment of the college building for a new primary school, residential uses (incorporating an element of Self Build housing), employment uses, enabling infrastructure works, and land to potentially accommodate a doctor’s surgery to enable local GP’s to relo-cate from the existing St John’s Lane building. For more details contact John Boutwood on 0117 937 7230.

Mayor George Ferguson and Police & Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens on Melvin Square

George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol

32 Read on for Twitter messages, posted on www.knowlewest.co.uk, tagged #kwnews. For training contact KWMC on 0117 903 0444Visit www.knowlewest.co.uk for more news and info

By Kurt James, Area Coordinator

Eating wellFeature

Your Views“What can we do to support children and young people to succeed?”

“After school clubs should be provided for children so they have somewhere to go when parents are at work.” Elsie Thorpe (38, Filwood)

“We need another school because the one in my area can only take about 150 pupils.If we can get more children in school then we have more leveled education in this area.” Mark Cooper (50, Windmill Hill)

“Bullying should be stopped in school andteachers should be tougher on these issues.” Jemma Bryant (25, Knowle)

Local Cookery School ‘Britain’s Best’

A Knowle West cookery school has scooped an award for Britain’s Best Community Cookery School 2012. Square Food Foundation, based at The Park, received the top vote in an online poll hosted by an indepen-dent review site for cookery courses, Looking to Cook.

By Community Reporter Oliver Wu

The Great Knowle West Menu

The BBC’s hit cookery programme The Great British Menu came to Knowle West in October to film an episode for its eighth series. The show - where top chefs battle it out to cook one course for a ban-quet - will feature local organisation re:work when it airs on BBC2 next year. The film crew visited locations in Knowle West where vegetables are grown as part of the Edible Landscapes Movement (ELM) project, and the contestant chef, Em-ily, cooked one of her dishes in the polytunnel at The Park using locally grown vegetables.

General Manager at re:work Vicky Beckwith said: “It was a really fun day, the filming crew and chef Emily were very friendly and the food she cooked was great.” re:work supports young people who wish to re-enter the world of work. For more details call 0117 963 2521.

By Community Reporter Oliver Wu

Raising the aspirations of the children of Filwood – Why do

we need to do this?By Kurt James, Area Coordinator

Success Stories!

This issue we’re celebrating three children from Christ the King Primary School who have achieved great things this term. We know they’re not the only ones doing things to be proud of: there are lots of talented children and young people in our area. If you have an inspiring story you’d like to share please get in touch. We’d love to feature you in a future issue!

Year 2 pupil Lucy Norris entered a gymnastics competition for the City of Bristol Gymnastics team. 26 pairs entered the competition from across the eight gymnastic clubs in the South West. Congratulations to Lucy and her partner who came second!

Oakley Vile, currently in Year 5, plays for the Bristol City Junior football team. He appeared in The Post newspaper in a photograph that captured an amazing sliding tackle against his opponent, which cleared the ball out for a throw in.

Ellie-Mae Channing, in Year 5, enjoys reading Shakespeare. Her school enabled her to go with her Dad to see a produc-tion of Macbeth in the half-term holiday. She enjoyed it so much that she wrote a review of the play and now wants to be a Theatre Critic when she grows up.

“Schools need to offer more sport facilities because the obesity rate is really high for kids these days.” Richard Aplin (37, Filwood)

“They should offer more training courses for children leaving school and EMA [Education Maintenance Allowance] should be brought back to encourage them to go.” Joanne Kidd (44, Knowle)

Filwood, Knowle and Windmill Hill Neighbourhood Partnership and Bristol City Council are investing funds in a year-long pilot project aimed at rais-

ing the aspirations of pupils at Christ the King Primary School. The project is bringing a range of cultural influences and experiences into the school and classroom, introducing pupils to how the city and coun- try works, and taking pupils on trips to broaden their horizons. Since September, local councillors have taken pupils on a tour of City Hall and held a debate in the Council Chamber. Pupils have visited the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House, and he has visited their school. MP Dawn Primarolo and the Red Cross have talked about what they do in classrooms, businesspeople have helped pupils with their reading

The school’s company representa-tive Claire Allen said: “Square Food Foundation is so excited to have been awarded Best Community Cookery School in the UK...Receiv-ing an award like this brings it home to us that what we’re doing is impor-tant and that people do benefit from learning to cook. We’re even more motivated to get out there and work with as many hard to reach groups and individuals as we possibly can … We’ve got a busy few months

VOLUNTEER MINI BUS DRIVERS NEEDED The Mede Sprint urgently needs Volunteer Drivers.

Do you have any spare time? Would you like to work with and for the local community? Are you over 21 with a D1 entitlement on your licence?

If the answer is yes, we will offer you MIDAS training and options of other training opportunities.

If you are interested please contact Suzanne Jones on 0117 904 1220 or www.themedecommunitycentre.co.uk A

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lined up working with schools, community groups and charitable organisations and we’re looking forward to sustaining this into 2013 and beyond.”

Square Food Foundation has been offering courses to local people of all ages and abilities for the past 15 years. It aims to ‘make food and cooking more accessible, more fun and more part of everyday living.’ For more details call 0117 904 6679.

MP Dawn Primarolo visits Christ the King Primary School

and Maths and hosted visits to their workplaces, and Bristol Old Vic are teaching children drama and debat-ing skills.We’re doing this because the children of Filwood should be shown that they are the future as-tronauts, doctors, builders, Olympic gold medalists, judges, priests, chief executives, engineers, roofers, Premiership footballers, scientists, electricians, teachers, politicians, pilots, lorry drivers, journalists, TV stars, billionaires, and musicians.

What we’ve found is that the city is very happy to open its doors and show children what is possible if they’re willing to put the work in. Finally, we’re doing this because we believe that those who say the children of Filwood can’t do special things because of where they live are simply wrong.

MP Dawn Primarolo

5 4 @knowlewestmedia: Don’t forget to cast your vote in today’s #BristolMayor & #PCC elections. EVERYONE’S views are important and EVERY community matters! @NForumFilwood: Does anyone have any old photos of the Knowle West Carnival? #kwnews

Weight-loss success for local mum

By Community Reporter Oliver Wu

A Knowle West resident shed nearly six stone in 13 months –

after joining a local branch of weight loss organisation Slimming World. Now Kim James, a 34-year -old mother of two, has become a consul-tant for the organisation and leads two groups at Filwood Community Centre. Kim says: “I had struggled with my weight since my early teens … What upset me the most was that it was really hard to find things that fit when I went out clothes shopping, and I was very conscious about the looks other people gave me. Looking

at a picture of me and my newborn daughter, Gracie, I realised I needed to do something about my size while the girls were still young. I wanted to set a good example of a healthy lifestyle for them.” She decided to do something about it and joined the Slimming World group in Whitchurch just over a year ago. Talking about the secrets of losing weight, Kim advises: “Diet is really important, but don’t cut off food completely. Do it in moderation. I still eat chocolate and stuff but I make sure I leave plenty of room for fruit and vegetables too.”

Slimming World classes are held at Filwood Community Centre on Mondays.

To find out more call Kim on 07920 023170.

www.knowlewest.co.uk www.knowlewest.co.uk

Community reporters

A dog has been reunited with its delighted Knowle West

owners – four years after he was snatched from their home. Cotton, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, was sto-len from Joanna Martin’s previous house in Hartcliffe in October 2008. But for the past four years she and daughters Kira (13) and Katie (6) never gave up hope. Ms Martin (31) recalled: “I was heartbroken. It was literally like losing a member of the family. I can’t believe somebody would do that…” Ms Martin found it increasingly difficult to persuade pet shop owners to put up posters of Cotton, as he had been lost for such a long time. Then a close fam-ily friend discovered a photo of the dog on Facebook. Ms Martin pre-tended to be a buyer interested in Cotton and got all the details of the seller before contacting the police, who retrieved the dog in October 2012. Kira, who turned 13 shortly after his return, said: “I’m really happy that we got him back. This is my best birthday present!” Although Cotton is back with the family, Ms Martin said he is not quite the dog he used to be: “He has shown signs of abuse. My dad and mum have walking sticks; he won’t go any-where near them unless we take

the walking sticks away.”Ms Martin now wants to start a cam-paign to get more vets compulsorily scanning microchips. She advises other dog owners who have lost their beloved pets: “Do not give up hope.”Avon and Somerset Police have confirmed a woman in her 20s had been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

For the full story visit www.knowlewest.co.uk

A birthday party for the whole community!

The café at Knowle West Health Park celebrated its first birthday in November with the popping of cham-pagne corks and a free afternoon tea. The café is run by Bristol cater-ing company Whisk Food Experi-ences Ltd. and serves breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks. Local resident and enthusiastic customer Adrian Smith (72) said: “I come here almost every day for a cup of tea. The staff are very helpful and it’s good for meeting friends.” Direc-tors Mike Merelie and Evan Roberts founded the business and Evan told The Knowledge: “I’m absolutely delighted that we overcame so much to get here. At first I was worried because we were the first café (of its kind) opened in Knowle West, and at the same time a lot of pubs were closed…but we gradually gained our reputation and grabbed our foot-hold.” The café is open Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm, at Knowle West Health Park, Downton Road.

Stolen dog returns home after four years

@ComChanTV: In 35 minutes, Wild West Going Green travels to Knowle West in Bristol and visits a community living a #sustainable lifestyle

By Community Reporter Oliver Wu

Local family raise thousands for charity

A local family held a benefit char-ity evening at Filwood Community Centre – and raised over £3,000 for a Bristol cancer treatment centre. Craig Knight got together with close family members and organised the event to raise money for the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, in memory of his father, Peter, who died of cancer. Around 300 people packed into the venue and enjoyed a Rod Stewart tribute act, singers and an auction. A Manchester United football signed by the team raised £1,000 alone and a further £500 was raised from a signed Aston Villa football. Craig’s wife Claire said: ‘We would like to thank everyone for their kindness and support. Many people donated their services for free in-cluding the raffle and auction prizes.”

By Community Reporter Jan Catterall A new foodstore has opened in Knowle West to provide emergency food

for people in the area struggling to feed themselves and their families. Based in the old butcher’s shop at Inns Court, the project was launched in July by the Mede Community and Learning Centre in part-nership with the Matthew Tree Project and local churches. The Rev Alister Palmer, Chairperson of the Mede Management Committee and Vicar at Holy Cross and St. Barnabas Churches said: “We’ve been quite taken by the amazing response of the public to this. Particularly from Knowle Westers who have been generous to the project, not only by giving food but also those who wanted to offer their time as volunteers.”

As well as providing a nutritionally bal-anced diet for a week, the foodstore also tries to help clients resolve some of the problems causing their food poverty – from debt and recent benefit cuts to addictions and breakdown of rela-tionships. Maureen Cole, a Management Committee member of The Mede who helps run the store, said: “People come here by referral from different agencies, including Filwood Hope. The aim is to get them out of financial dif-ficulties and to give advice.” A foodstore user and single mother who did not wish to be named, told The Knowledge: “It’s brilliant. Staff are really nice and caring and there’s no judging. It’s a big relief, I have three children and I will be able to give them more than I could before…”

The Foodstore at 5 Marshall Walk is open Tuesdays from 10am-2pm. Donations – especially of tins, cereals, long life milk and juice – can be dropped in to The Mede Centre or the Neighbourhood Partnership Office on Filwood Broadway. For more information call 0117 904 1220.

New foodstore to fight food poverty

in Knowle West

Walk up the aisle just round the corner!

Couples from Knowle West won’t need to go far to tie the knot - with Filwood Community Centre offering a local wedding venue from early next year. Run by Community in Partnership Knowle West (CIPKW), the centre will host its first reception in March 2013 and the organisation hopes to also hold wedding ceremo-nies there in the future. CIPKW’s Buildings Supervisor June McNeil is confident that even ‘bridezillas’ will be satisfied with the venue, which aims to offer ‘affordable, high quality

By Community Reporter David Amesbury

weddings’. With facilities to accom-modate up to 300 guests, the rejuve-nated hall has already attracted a lot of interest. June says: “We’ve already secured five bookings including a Gothic wedding with its own black and white theme. We’re happy to ca-ter for everybody within reason.” For wedding enquiries please call June McNeil on 0117 903 8052 or email june.cipkw@live.co.uk For full article visit www.knowlewest.co.uk

The articles on these pages have been researched and written by our team of community reporters. If you’d like to report on

local events and learn journalism skills contact Sue on 0117 903 0444 or sue@kwmc.org.uk. We meet on Tuesday evenings at

Knowle West Media Centre. No experience necessary!

Community reporters

Knowle West’s Wild Fest

WildFest was held on the Northern Slopes between 8th and 13th Oc-tober and aimed to get people out to enjoy what our community and the Slopes can offer. During the week, the festival was visited by six local schools and six commu-nity groups and on the Saturday we had well over 300 people come along, including the Lord Mayor of Bristol. Contact us if you would like to be involved too – we want to make the Northern Slopes even more beautiful and interesting for people and wildlife. E-mail enqui-ries@northern-slopes-initiative.co.uk. A very, very big thank you to all those who supported WildFest.

By Len Wyatt

Library craft group a big hit with youngsters

A new after school craft group at Filwood Library is proving so popular with Knowle West youngsters that the class is full every week. Running on Monday afternoons, the group helps children aged between eight and 12 develop their skills in arts and crafts. Pupils, some of whom are pictured on the front cover, have tried activi-ties from pasta pictures to decorated books. Marilyn Calder, grandmother of Phoebe and Archie who take part every week, says: “They love it. They have made new friends here and it

By Community Reporter Oliver Wu

gives them something to do, other-wise they would just get bored or sit in front of the TV at home. We need more things in this area for children to do after school.” Library Assistant Jane Silman, who runs the group with colleague Sarah Miles, said: “There’s a real need in this area and we could run it every day if we had the staffing and resources…We used to have 23 children a week but now we have had to limit it to 12 because of health and safety...” The craft session runs on Mondays during term-time from 3.30pm at Filwood Library. For more information call 0117 903 8581.

Celebrating the café’s first birthday.

7 6

4

By Community Reporter Oliver Wu

@itreallyisEmma: Oh I love receiving my #Knowledge mag!

By Community Reporter David Amesbury

www.knowlewest.co.ukwww.knowlewest.co.uk

Who are we?We’ve been based here for over 15 years,

supporting people to get the most out ofdigital technologies and the arts.

Contact us: 0117 903 0444 www.kwmc.org.uk

Find knowlewestmedia on Facebook and Twitter.

KnowleWestHealth Park

Walking Groups at Knowle West Health Park

KWHPC is still running three regu-lar walking groups for people of

all ages and abilities. Starting with the One Heart Group for those perhaps with limited mobility or recovering from a period of ill health, you can progress to our Two or Three Hearts groups as your fitness and enthusiasm grow. Visiting local landmarks, hidden treasures and our beautiful green spaces, walking is a great way to get active, make new friends and improve your health and wellbeing.

Young People’s Activities ffi: 0117 377 2255

Tuesdays10-10.30am: Stretch-n-Grow, stories, songs and games for 2-5 year olds (80p).4.30-5.30pm: Boxing for 8-14 year olds (80p).4.15pm: Play Rangers in the Park (free).

Wednesdays4.15-5.15pm: Olympic Club for kids aged 5-11, try an Olympic Sport (80p), call Lee on 07917 187771.9am-1pm: Family counselling for children and families (free), call 0117 377 2256.9am-1pm: Young People’s Counsel-ling, part of Focus on Families (free), call 0117 377 2256.

Thursdays1-5.50pm: Play Therapy, counselling for children (free), call 0117 377 2256.4-5pm: Afterschool club for 4-12 year olds: fun, active play (80p).

Half Term Fun Day for 5-11 year olds: Friday 15th February, 10am-3pm (£5 for the day), call Barry on 07809 483171.

Advertorial

KnowleWestMedia Centre

Advertorial

For more information pop into the One Heart Group every Monday at 11am or call 0117 377 2255 and ask for Laura.

Adult Activities and Services

Daily Activities at various times, call 0117 377 2255 for more info:Smoking cessation: it’s easier with support! (free).

Wednesdays9.30am-12.30pm: Health Matters, the fun and informative way to learn more about good health. Call Laura on 0117 377 2257 for more info (free).10.30-11.45am: Tai Chi for Wellbeing, with Andrea Bailey (£4 per week or £9 for a four week block).6.15-7.30pm: Run fit running club (£4), call Jason Hodge on 07855 465872.

Thursdays10am-12pm: Fit and Fab, a support group for women wanting to make a change (free).1.30-3.30pm: Mentime, men’s support group for those wanting to make a change (free).6-7pm: Step Aerobics, improve strength, stamina and flexibility (£3).7-8pm: Absolute beginners exercise class, a good place to start getting active (£2).

Fridays10am-12pm: Lipreading class, for people who are beginning to lose their hearing, term time only (£1). 11am-12.30pm: Ear Acupuncture, ben-efits include relaxation, de-stress, and better sleep (£4 per session).11am-12.30pm: Thyroid Support Group, first Friday of the month (free).

Find out more about the full range of Health Park activities at our website www.knowlewesthealthpark.co.uk

Think you know Knowle West? Think again…

Almost 900 short films starring local people are now available to browse

and watch on the new University of Local Knowledge (ULK) website. Visit www.ulk.org.uk, log-in and arrange the films into courses of your choice. You can add your own clips too! The website was launched to the community on Thursday 29th No-vember at a Freshers’ Fayre, when resi-dents and local organisations gathered to celebrate local knowledge. The launch was the start of ULK’s first academic year and there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved. There’ll be pop-up log-in sessions around the area and tool-kits available to help you upload new knowledge to the website. Let’s keep the momentum going and share the expertise that’s right here in our community!

Music to our ears!

Television channel 4Music and hip-hop artist Wretch 32 came to KWMC back in November to shoot a docu-mentary about volunteering. 4Music interviewed some of the volunteers who support our music programme, while Wretch 32 helped young people write lyrics about things that inspire them. The film will be shown on cable channel 4Music from 10th December and will be available to watch online at 4music.com/volunteer

Pathways to Health: support to help you change your lifestyle and be hap-pier (free).Parenting Courses for parents or car-ers who would like support and advice on parenting issues (free). Call Lisa/Katrina on 0117 978 2441 for more info.Self-development courses providing skills and information for improving mental and emotional health (free). Call Garth on 0117 377 2256 for more info.Counselling for men and women who are struggling with life and want sup-port (free). Call Garth on 0117 377 2256 for more info.Bootcamp: the way to get fit is now on daily at various times with Jason Hodge: 07855 465872 or www.hodgehealthandfitnesss.co.uk

Mondays10-11am: Armchair Exercise, gentle exercise for people with limited mobil-ity (£2).11am-12pm: One Heart Walking Group, meets in the café for a guided walk of one or two miles (free). Also provides information on joining the Two & Three Heart Groups.9.30-10.30am and 4-5pm: Waist Watchers, support to lose weight. 6.30pm: Diabetes UK, meet the last Monday of the month.

Tuesdays10am-12pm: Art on Referral – speak to Sue Cooke to find out more on 0117 377 2254.6pm & 7pm: Hips, bums & tums, fat burning exercise to help all become trimmer (£3).

Volunteer vacancies: we are currently looking for Volunteer Walk Leaders and a Treasurer for our Board. Call 0117 377 2255 for more information.

‘Mayor for the Day’ – what did you say?

Over the last few months, KWMC has been working with artist Dane Watkins on the arts project ‘Mayor for the Day’. Using an interactive survey-game, we asked six ques-tions to find out what the residents of Bristol would do if they were in charge of the city for the day. The survey, which was done online and using tablet computers, generated a unique coat of arms for each person who completed it and, as we went to press, 374 people had taken part, the majority of them from Filwood and Knowle.• 26% of people would focus on transport, over crime, healthcare, education, jobs and housing.• Courage (25%) and vision (29%) were identified as the most valuable leadership qualities. • If they owned a field, 30% of people would play sport, rather than build houses, raise horses, grow wild flowers, have a party or build a car park.• 38% of people felt Bristol’s bus ser-vices should be developed, followed by bicycles, trains, cars, horse and carts, and skateboards.• The most popular form of healthy living that people would support was fitness (27%), followed closely by healthy shopping and allotments.

Although the election has come and gone, you can still find out what kind of mayor you’d be at iconikit.com/mayor

Local Heroes Exhibition - coming 2013

Do you know someone who brings dif-ferent people together? A person who makes you feel proud of Knowle West

or who’s full of enterprising ideas? We’re planning a new exhibition that will uncover Knowle West’s lo-cal heroes, share their stories, and showcase a selection of their portraits alongside other ‘place-making pio-neers’ from Bristol. To get involved or tell us about your local hero contact Melissa on melissa@kwmc.org.uk

www.knowlewest.co.uk www.knowlewest.co.uk

ULK Freshers’ Fayre.

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Advertise here! Community rates from only £25 per boxContact Rachel on 0117 903 0444Youth Moves

Oxford Positive Futures football tournament In the past, Halloween has some-times been a time where a lot of anti-social behaviour can take place on the estate. We gave the opportu-nity to 13 young men from the area to take part in something positive this year instead of possibly hang-ing around on the estate. The young men represented Youth Moves in a football tournament hosted by Posi-tive Futures based in Oxford. The group was split into two teams, an under 14’s and an under 17’s. Each age category had 10 teams and all played each other once. The tourna-ment was a success, the under 17’s went all ten games unbeaten, win-ning eight and drawing twice to then go on and win their age category, collecting a nice trophy!

The under 14’s also played superbly but just missed out on winning their age category and finished a respect-able second place. To cap off such a great day we treated the young people to a celebration meal at McDonalds!

Some of the young people who were involved also represent Youth Moves in a weekly football league at Action Indoor Sports, where they have been crowned U16 champions.

New members of the teamWe are delighted to have had two new members of the team join us in recent months. Jackie Eddy and Charlotte Smith both have lots of experience of youth work, running youth centres and setting up exciting projects. They will be running a num-ber of our sessions including setting up a new Young Mum’s programme, opening up The Park on a Tuesday evening from 6pm, our Freerunning session, street-based work around the Filwood ward and supporting our school delivery programme.

Opportunity inspired by the London 2012

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Happy Christmas from re:work!

Youth Moves rewarded a group of 10 young volunteers who had been working with us as part of the Inspired by the London Olympics pro-

gramme, by organising a trip to Madame Tussauds.

The young people had helped to volunteer in a number of projects run by Youth Moves and had shown the Olympic values of friendship, respect and excellence. The individuals had then gained either Bronze, Silver or Gold certificates for their time and commitment.

If you are interested in volunteering with us please speak to a youth worker at a session, come into our office, or call us on 0117 903 9796.

We often have new opportunities for young people to play in games, tournaments and get coaching quali-fications – please speak to a Youth Moves worker for more info.

Delivery ProgrammeWe run a number of projects across the week: you could come in to our music studio and record a track, get involved with our Community Space Challenge environmental projects, help shape the future of the area and our Youth Moves projects by joining our Youth Opinions group, or ask for individual support through our Breakthrough Mentoring.

Below are some of our open drop-in sessions available across the community. They are all free and we would love to see you.

Re:work is a social enterprise and charity that has been trading since 1999. We run the shop re:store (17 Filwood Broadway, tel 0117 923 1970) which offers low cost furni-ture, a range of exciting ‘upcycled’ items, paint and general treasures; we have a team of expert builders (re:build) and brilliant gardeners (re:grow) (call 0117 963 2521 to book in a free quote). We work on a lot of local projects:

• some of the veg in the Edible Landscape Movement veg bags comes from us• we look after the green space around the Health Park• we undertake building work for local charities to help keep their premises running• with Knowle West Media Centre this February we helped 100 local households make their homes warmer and cheaper to run• each month we have a positive impact on 70-100 households, most of them within Knowle West.

Our volunteers are brilliant. They come to re:work for differ-ent reasons. Some are still at school: they are referred to us by their school for 1-2 days a week because both the school and the young person feel that a more practical kind of learning would give them a boost.

We also have a regular bank of adult volunteers. They have an opportunity to change their career path, gain some work experience, volunteer their extremely useful skills and to give back to their local community. We owe all of them a great deal of thanks for their hard work and generosity.

Whilst in London, David Johnson, our current apprentice youth worker and ex-volunteer, accompanied Aaron Daniel to an event held at The House of Commons, where Aaron was awarded a trophy to recognise the support he had given to running the Junior Youth Club at The Mede. The award was given to him by gold medallist paralympian Craig Maclean.

www.knowlewest.co.ukwww.knowlewest.co.uk

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DatEs For Your DiarY

Health Matters course Starts Wednesday 16th January, Knowle West Health Park. A 10-week program that will look at the key issues around health and well-being, including alcohol and drugs, sexual health, physical exercise, mental health, and debt. Refresh-ments, incentives and rewards for those who complete the course. Contact Laura on 0117 377 2255.

Filwood Community Centre Christmas FayreFriday 14th December, 4pm. Contact June on 0117 903 8052.

‘The Magic Castle’ pantomimeWednesday 19th Decem-ber, 5pm, Filwood Com-munity Centre, Barnstaple Road. Tickets cost £2 per person. Call Knowle West Health Association on 0117 963 9569 for details.

Carol Bus & Carol ConcertThursday 13th December, from 5pm. Don’t miss the annual spectacle of music and lights as the carol bus takes to the streets of Knowle West, followed by a carol concert on Filwood Broadway around 7pm. As we go to press, the route will be as fol-lows: Filwood Broadway; Hartcliffe Road; Broadbury Road; Creswicke Road; The Mede (with a stop); Leinster Avenue; Jarman’s shops (with a stop); Melvin Square (with a stop); Newquay Road shops and Eagle House (with a stop); Throgmorton Road; Filwood Broadway. Contact Denise and June at Fil-wood Community Centre: 0117 903 8052.

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Christmas & New Year

Over 50s Christmas Buffet & FilmTuesday 18th December, 1.30-4.30pm, Novers Park Community Centre, Leinster Avenue (£3 per person). Join the Silver Screen over 50s film club for a festive buffet and a film. Contact Karron on 0117 907 7038.Parkour Film

Screening Sunday 16th December, 2.30pm, Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue. KWMC will be screening a series of films about Parkour, also known as freerunning, in associa-tion with the Bristol Palestine Film Festival. Contact KWMC on 0117 903 0444.

Work to transform Filwood Park gets underway

Knowle West residents will no doubt be aware of the proposals to deliver the transformation of Filwood Park, with new homes, jobs and a new improved park, that have emerged over the last year, following detailed local consultation. Having received planning permission at the end of October, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has started bringing these plans to reality with the first phase of construction work.

HCA has appointed a contractor Britannia Construction Ltd to carry out the following work:• New signal controlled highway junction at Hengrove Way (on the former Hangar site). These signals will not become operational until occupation of the first development site.• 100m access road with a temporary turning space.• New footpath through the park.• New dropped kerb and other minor alterations at Creswicke Rd.

This work, as set out in the picture, will take four months to complete and finish by the end of March next year. Britannia has signed up to the Considerate Constructors scheme, which is designed to limit the impact of construction work on local residents and businesses. As part of this commitment, they have provided a local contact Graham Pickersgill who can be called on 07824 536 902 to answer any questions.

This early work, which is supported with HCA investment, will help the Agency market part of the site to find a developer to deliver up to 150 new homes and a new park. These proposals will be designed in detail with the local community. It is hoped that a developer will be appointed in Spring 2013, with work to start on site a year later.

The remainder of the site (part of the Hangar site) is earmarked for a Green Business Park which is being promoted by Bristol City Council and is subject to a planning application. Subject to final confirmation of funding, this should be completed during 2014.

For more information on the overall project contact John Boutwood at the HCA on 0117 937 7230.

www.knowlewest.co.uk

Christmas Family Fun DaySunday 16th Decem-ber, 2-8pm, The College Project, Marksbury Road. A youth-led charity event featuring Santa’s Grotto, circus skills, live music and comedy, bingo, refresh-ments and stalls. Visit www.artspacecollege.com for more information.

An aerial view of Filwood Park which shows (in white) where the work is taking place.