Meet the Bristol artist casting nipples to celebrate bodies 

Ellen Downes’ pioneering bodycasting project aims to help women, trans and non-binary people 'connect to' their bodies, while challenging hypersexualisation and sexual harassment.

Racial justice charity handed lease to create ‘new kind of community space’ in St Paul’s

Black South West Network successfully secured the long-term management of the Coach House, near Brunswick Square, via a community asset transfer. Now it can raise funds for an ambitious plan to turn it into a ‘centre for Black enterprise and culture’. 

Disabled people are struggling to access ‘lifeline’ services amid the cost-of-living crisis

University of Bristol research has uncovered a dire national picture around disabled people’s financial wellbeing. We spoke to locals who are worrying about heating bills and visiting crucial social spaces less often.

Bristol’s Imperial Tobacco is profiting from farmers trapped working for suppliers, film reveals

A new film by the Tobacco Control Research Group exposes how the company, with its HQ in Bedminster, is benefiting from a modern form of exploitation.

Four years on from booting out bailiffs, is Bristol’s ‘ethical’ council tax debt collection working?

Bristol City Council's 2018 vow to stop using bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax, after a Cable campaign, appears to be giving vulnerable people breathing space. But Covid and the cost of living crisis have seen debt levels spike.

‘We want to give people their space back’: clock ticks on crowdfunder to save Barton Hill’s last pub

Thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, the Rhubarb Tavern could be saved from redevelopment after three years closed. In a changing city, and with pints becoming a luxury for many, what will be needed to make it a success?

‘We need people to step up now’: the Bristolians working to save cricket from climate change

Cricket's past is tangled with colonialism, a key root of climate change. Now, it's the pitch sport most at risk from global heating – but a group based in Bristol are working to highlight the threats and protect its future.

From city of sanctuary to ‘city of opportunity’ – how Bristol can better integrate refugees

Asylum seekers and refugees should be thought of as ‘citizens-in-waiting’, people with rights, skills and potential, a new report argues. Instead, many people at the sharp end of the system feel shut out of contributing to society.

Trams, or an underground? As Bristol weighs its public transport options, can it learn from across the Channel?

Bristol is notorious for its congestion and poor public transport, and has been hit by a worsening bus crisis. As it looks to a new mass transit system to solve its problems, cities such as Rennes and Bordeaux can offer valuable lessons.

‘The sector won’t survive much longer’: can Bristol’s indie cinemas regain their pre-Covid highs?

Independent cinema in Bristol has been severely impacted by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Does it have what it takes to keep going?

The Bristol police chief embroiled in corruption who died with a razor in his hand

John Henderson Watson had a long and distinguished police career and was Bristol’s chief constable for 14 years – before his career ended in scandal and his disappearance.

When words fail: Meet the Bristol group nurturing male musicians’ mental health

The Seed Sessions project combines counselling and music mentoring to help young men express themselves. We heard from its founder, one of the participants and a counsellor working with the group about the power of music as a therapeutic tool.