Voices

Voices

Image of Laura Williams, whose house move almost fell through due to problems with the Help to Buy loan scheme (credit: Alexander Turner)

How the Help to Buy scheme became a massive hindrance to my family moving house

Government loans promised an affordable path onto the housing ladder. But for some they have only deferred unmanageable debt, and a change in the firm administering Help to Buy has set off a nightmare for people trying to move.

Laura Williams
Laura Williams

Voices

Bristol Harbour boat dwellers face harsh winter as council bans stoves

People living in boats on Bristol harbour are locked in a legal dispute with the council after it hiked mooring fees. Now, new licences outlawing the types of heaters used on most boats could make life even harder.

George Colwey
George Colwey

Voices

How a Bristol historian found Edward Colston’s brother was a slave trader too

Groundbreaking new research into the city's slave trade by a historian at Bristol University reveals it began 35 years earlier than previously thought.

Dr Richard Stone
Dr Richard Stone (Senior Historian, University of Bristol)

Voices

Image of jerk barbecue as St Pauls Carnival returns

Carnival returns to St Pauls, with a homage to its heritage

After a three-year hiatus, St Pauls Carnival will return next month. The director of a recent documentary on this colourful, vital celebration of Caribbean culture reflects on its historical importance.

Keziah Wenham-Kenyon

Voices

Illustration for knife crime debate article showing contributors, knives and CCTV cameras (credit: @laurence_ware_design)

Is CCTV the answer to Bristol’s knife crime epidemic?

This spring Bristol City Council passed a motion on knife crime, brought by a councillor who lost a friend in an attack in Castle Park. A commitment to increase CCTV grabbed headlines, but will this help? And what else can Bristol do to address the epidemic of violence?

Neil Maggs
Neil Maggs

This Better Work

How can workers turn strikes into wins?

As the cost of living crisis bites, recent months have seen the return of mass strikes. While the cards are stacked against workers, they have won important victories – how have these been achieved, and how can we build on them?

Josh Connor

Voices

How to escape the coronation farce? Celebrate King Charles’s ex at a Big Gay Diana Party

London right now is a hellscape of coronation doughnuts. Thankfully in Bristol this weekend you can escape the royal wankfest – and instead embrace the Princess of Wales, hearts and gays

Daisy Steinhardt
Daisy Steinhardt

Voices

‘I was finally diagnosed with ADHD at 25. Would I have got this sooner if I was a boy?’

After years of being misdiagnosed and incorrectly medicated, Dolores has finally got an ADHD diagnosis. But how different could her childhood have been if she’d been diagnosed sooner, like boys often are?

Dolores McGurran
Dolores McGurran

Voices

‘I needed therapy after I gave birth, but now I’m going it alone’

Steph experienced a mental health crisis while having her second child. Therapy saved her, but when it ended she felt loss.

Steph Cullen
Steph Cullen

Voices

Image of the 2021 UCU Bristol strike

‘Academic and support staff are suffering – it’s time for universities to dip into their rainy day funds’

University of Bristol staff deserve a pay rise after years of real-terms cuts, so why won’t it lift salaries? Recent growth is unsustainable, and investing in pay could help not just workers but local businesses and the city.

Jeff Pocock

Edition 31

‘We need to keep the local currency dream alive’

The Bristol Pound’s managing director discusses the rise and fall of the local currency project, where it went wrong, and why we should keep experimenting.

Sean Morrison
Sean Morrison

Voices

‘Childcare costs prevent countless ambitious women from fulfilling their potential’

Across the UK, mums have been protesting against our broken childcare system. We need urgent change to enable women to work, train and progress in their jobs without constant pressure, a local nursery worker argues.

Anonymous
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