‘Precarity is the thing that joins all this work together’: Bristol’s sex workers demand labour rights

The UK needs to decriminalise sex work to expand labour rights and protections to all, and enable sex workers to unionise, local activists say. 

Darin J Sallam on what shaped her creative life, her film Farha and the controversy it sparked from the Middle East to Bristol

Sallam’s film has been praised for its bravery in choosing to tackle the events of the Nakba – one of very few films to do so – but was also heavily criticised by Israeli authorities and prompted a boycott campaign

Transparency matters: why is Bristol City Council failing on freedom of information?

Cable research shows that Bristol is worse than many other major cities at handling citizens’ FOI requests. Why is this a problem – and will the end of the mayoral system next year bring more open local government in the city?

St Paul’s, through the eyes of the reverend patrolling for peace

For years, the Reverend Dawnecia Palmer – a United Nations Peacemaker – has worked on Bristol's inner-city streets. After a recent spate of stabbings rocked St Paul's, she's praying for an end to the 'pandemic of the blade'.

A year on from fires, delays to safety works are leaving tower block tenants shivering

While the dangerous cladding on some of Bristol’s high-rise blocks has been removed, it’s yet to be replaced – meaning residents face a winter without insulated homes.

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.