Recent updates

Order your limited edition prints by 06 Dec in time for festivities!

Dec 2 2024

Reward 1: Limited Edition, A5 Glicee Print of an exclusive piece of artwork by local artist Amy Hutchings, depicting Jacobs Wells Baths.

Are you looking for a unique gift this festive season? Then look no further - we have not one but two artworks on offer as part of the mission to secure funds to repair, re-open and restore Jacobs Wells. Order your prints by 06 Dec to collect them in time for Christmas.

Reward 2: Jane Northcote illustration, A4 Print, Glicee Print. Printed on high-quality, 310gsm Canson Arches Aquarelle Paper

A limited edition screen-print of an original watercolour sketch by the talented artist, Jane Northcote. This exclusive artwork captures the essence of the Bristol Community Dance Centre on Jacobs Wells Road, the very place where so many of us have experienced the transformative power of movement.

Head to the pledges page to secure you print now.

Imagining a future for Jacobs Wells

An update for Jacobs Wells Baths

Nov 28 2024

Historic England visit Jacobs Wells Baths. Credit Alistair Brookes

A place to dance? A place for the community? A place to gather or a place to rehearse?

What are your hopes and dreams for the future of Jacobs Wells? We need your help to imagine the possibilities of Jacobs Wells as we breathe life back into this iconic building for future community use.

As part of our campaign to save Jacobs Wells Baths, we are calling for people to take part in a photoshoot. Working with Bristol-based photographer Khali Ackford, we will create a public photo series, capturing portraits of the people who will be at the centre of Jacobs Wells’ future. Through your participation, we can highlight the importance of our civic buildings and the impact on our community if those places are lost.

How to take part

If you would like to find out more about participating in the photo shoot, please email Trinity’s Producer, Esther Afikiruweh, at esther@trinitybristol.org.uk or call the office at 0117 935 1200, Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm.

Shoot dates will be on w/c Monday 09 Dec. We will let people know if they have been selected by Friday 06 Dec.

About the photographer

Khali Ackford has built up a name for his iconic portraiture, working at the heart of some of the most culturally significant moments in UK’s history, including the UK BLM movement, the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol and marches against male violence.

About Jacobs Wells Baths

Since the start of 2023, Trinity has been on a mission to save the Grade II listed Jacobs Wells Baths building, following the news that Bristol City Council had put the asset up for disposal. Since securing a 35-year Community Asset Transfer lease, we’ve completed emergency repairs to limit further damage to the building and Phase 1 Repair Works are now underway to bring the space back into community use by Autumn 2025.

Opinion: The Art of Transforming Municipal Buildings

An update for Jacobs Wells Baths

Nov 11 2024

At Trinity, we are committed to protecting public buildings and spaces and keeping them in the service of the local community.

As part of our mission to restore and reopen Jacobs Wells, a former public swimming baths and dance centre, into a vibrant community arts space, we have been gathering opinions from individuals with experience of breathing new life into former public buildings.

We recently caught up with Kathryn Chiswell Jones of Artspace Lifespace, to share their experiences of occupying public spaces and the opportunities this affords the local community.

Click the link below to read more:

https://www.trinitybristol.org.uk/about/news/opinion-transforming-buildings

Funding target reached!

An update for Camouflage helmet covers for Ukraine

Sep 20 2024

We are delighted that we have reached our target of £300. In total, we have now made over 100 helmet covers and have materials in stock for another 50 to 100. For this reason, we have closed the donations for the time being. Thank you to all our wonderful supporters who have made this happen.

The helmet covers are being used by Ukrainian defenders to protect them in the field. They use different colours in the different season. Our first batch were spring colours - greens and browns. We then purchased material direct from Lviv, which is for summer - more browns and neutral beigey colours. For the winter season, they need white, but are not requesting any of these at the moment.

This is one of the helmet covers in summer colours.

Final Total Raised - 3 Peaks 4 Ukraine!

An update for Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks - Hike for Ukraine

Jul 14 2024

Dear Backers,

You have each helped to raise a grand total of £722 (£455 online and £267 in cash donations) for the camouflage helmet net project organised by the Settle Area Refugee Support Network in North Yorkshire.

This will facilitate the purchase of materials that will be used to make the helmet nets that will be sent to Ukraine for the soldiers defending their country on the Eastern Front.

You are all potential life savers and I am deeply grateful for your support.

Thank you once again,

Tony and Daniel Walker

Miriam Margolyes Visits Jacobs Wells

An update for Jacobs Wells Baths

Jul 12 2024

Miriam Margolyes - Image Credit: Alastair Brookes

Acclaimed actress Miriam Margolyes took time out of her busy tour schedule to visit Jacobs Wells Baths, showing her support for the ongoing recovery efforts of this historic building. As an early supporter of the campaign, and a patron of Trinity Community Arts, Miriam's visit highlights the importance of restoring Jacobs Wells as a vital community and cultural heritage hub.

“I’m thrilled to have a chance to visit Jacob’s Wells Baths and encourage the Council and my fellow-supporters with their exciting plans to return this listed building to the service of the local Community. This will help so many to have a go - opportunity knocks at last.” Miriam Margolyes

During her visit, Miriam Margolyes met with our team and some of the professional team from PH3 Design who have developed the recently approved planning scheme to restore the space. Planned works include a street-facing main entrance and modernisation of the previously unused ground floor Pump Room, transforming it into a new cafe-bar and studio.

Miriam's visit comes as we complete key milestones for the project, including securing planning and lease completion. This means we can now begin crucial Phase 1 Repairs including works to the main hall roof, funded by £1.6 million secured from the DLUHC Community Ownership Fund and match funders.

We are excited to now be able to move forward with our efforts to bring the building back into use as a multidisciplinary venue for arts, heritage, youth, community and educational use.

We want to give thanks to everyone who has so far shared in our journey to make this vision possible, including our Patron Miriam, Bristol City Council, local stakeholders and the Hotwells & Harbourside Community Association, who led campaign efforts to save the building from disposal.

Completion of the 35-year leasehold is still to be confirmed by asset owners, Bristol City Council.

3 Peaks 4 Ukraine!

An update for Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks - Hike for Ukraine

Jul 10 2024

Dear Backers,

Thank you a million times for supporting this project.

In this uncertain world, your donations will give practical and psychological help to young men and women fighting for the survival of Ukraine as a sovereign nation.

So, far we have raised £455 through fundsurfer.

Some pledges are still in the pipeline.

Recent events at the hospital in Kyiv demonstrate that Ukraine must defend itself against Russian aggression.

I hope that our camouflage helmet nets will provide some help on the front lines?

Thank you all very much for helping with this worthwhile project.

Your acts of kindness could save lives in the war raging in Europe!

Take care,

Tony and Daniel Walker

Jacobs Wells Community Meeting July 15 2024

An update for Jacobs Wells Baths

Jun 26 2024

Come along to a public meeting to find out more about Trinity's mission to restore and reopen Jacobs Wells

As part of a series of public community meetings, we're hosting an informal session at The Commonwealth Society for anyone to come and find out more about the construction works we've carried out at Jacobs Wells so far, and our proposed plans to re-open the building for community use.

Don't miss the chance to have your say as we progress our plans to transform Jacobs Wells into a dynamic space for youth, arts, community and learning.

Come along and find out more.

Meeting details:

Date: 15 July 2024

Time: 3:00 - 4:00pm

Address: Common Wealth House, Whiteladies Road, BS8 1PD

First shipment reaches Lviv

An update for Camouflage helmet covers for Ukraine

Mar 22 2024

Today we heard from Lexa in Lviv, who co-ordinates the international project to make helmet covers. Our first shipment of 14 helmet covers has arrived! It was sent by Parcelforce over 5 weeks ago - both Lexa and I have been nervoursly checking the parcel tracking apps for updates, becoming frustrated as we watched it languishing in limbo, sent a long way out of its way via Kyiv, then to the wrong post office in Lviv! Finally it arrived and Lexa collected it. This is our package being unpacked in Lviv. Today the covers were checked by Svitlana, the head of the Lviv netmaking centre, and they meet specifications.

We took Historic England on a tour of Jacobs Wells

An update for Jacobs Wells Baths

Mar 13 2024

Historic England and Jacobs Wells - Image Credit: Alastair Brookes

We invited Historic England to join Corinne Fitzpatrick, Conservation Architect for the project on a tour of Grade II Listed Jacobs Wells Baths to inspect the current emergency works taking place.

These works are in preparation for a phased repair scheme to begin later in the year as part of the mission to restore Jacobs Wells as a community arts space.

The tour uncovered the rich social and architectural history of the building; from the lantern roof, side blocks, boiler house, large chimney to its exterior and ornate features of terracotta dressings. The tour also showed glimpses of the former pump room - a space that has never been open to the public.

The first phase of repairs, set to start later this year, is supported by £1m from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC) Community Ownership Fund, and £400,000 in match funding from local trusts including Nisbet Trust, the John James Foundation and other funders keen to support recovery efforts and revive the building.

The vision for Jacobs Wells is to develop and deliver a £4m regeneration scheme in keeping with the building's dance heritage, which will see the centre reopening as a vibrant community arts hub that will include much-needed youth provision and services.

Watch the full tour:

Find out more about our missions to restore and reopen Jacobs Wells:

https://www.trinitybristol.org.uk/activities/jacobs-wells