Bristol’s Clean Air Zone is not exactly winning people over – but the data says it’s working

A new report shows air pollution has reduced both inside and outside the zone a year after it came into force. But many feel poorer people are being punished while traffic is just being rerouted around the city.

‘Stealth closures’ of libraries leave casual staff facing hardship and city with fewer warm spaces

Dozens of temporary library closures have been announced since the council abruptly cut casual workers' shifts in November. With the council under huge financial stress, there are renewed fears for the future of the service.

Bristol’s politicians are in deadlock over underground mass transit. What can the city learn from trams in Sheffield and Nottingham?

West of England Mayor Dan Norris has vetoed building the region’s new mass transit region underground to save cash. But trams in other cities bring their own challenges.

‘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.