Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston Ward: Port Communities Resilience Fund

Information on the Port Communities Resilience Fund for Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston Ward.

A Port Communities Resilience Fund was approved by Cabinet in March 2015 using capital from the sale of the port of Bristol.

One million pounds was committed to support capital projects.

In August 2017 after a period of review and public consultation Cabinet approved the following decisions:

1: Approved the proposed three thematic Priorities and Technical Assistance scheme for the £1 million Port Communities Resilience Fund and their respective capital allocations

2: Approved the objectives, criteria and delivery plans for the Community Facilities Grant Scheme and its public launch in August / September 2017, and to delegate the award and distribution of grants , including signature of grant agreements, to the Strategic Director Neighbourhoods in consultation with Cabinet Member:Resources

3: Approved the delegation of further decisions to approve final delivery plans for schemes under the Jobs and Enterprise and High Streets priorities to the Strategic Director HR, Change and Communications, Business Change in consultation with the Cabinet Member: Resources

It was agreed that the one million pounds would be used to support the following priorities with up to 10% (£100,000) to deliver Technical Assistance and Project Management:

• thriving high streets: £135,000
• jobs and enterprise: £450,000
• community facilities grants scheme: £315,000

Thriving high streets

A proportion of the funding has been allocated to regeneration of the high streets.

This will largely involve improving the look and feel through improvements to street furniture and signage, known as 'street scene' improvements. This will help address the issues raised by residents and traders during surveys in 2016 and through ongoing consultation with local community organisations.

Designs have been developed by us for Coombe Dingle and Lawrence Weston. We are partnering with Sustrans to add street scene improvements in Avonmouth and Shirehampton. Some improvement works have been completed in Sea Mills during 2019 with the majority of works across the four locations being expected to be delivered by us and Sustrans during the spring of 2020.

Jobs and enterprise 

The funding is planned to deliver an improved network of Jobs, Training and Enterprise (JTE) facilities supporting all four communities. 

JTE Hubs are planned for:

• Lawrence Weston: within the new build community hub building
• Avonmouth: as part of the community centre renovation
• Shirehampton: an updated community building next to the High Street, in partnership with Shirehampton Methodist Church, Shirehampton Job Centre, Shirehampton Community Action Forum and BCC 
• Sea Mills: extra furniture and equipment is being provided into the library. A collaboration between the library service, Friends of Sea Mills library and Sea Mills Together will be providing new activities and JTE support within the library space.

Enterprises supported

Space4Makers

Evolving from the original aim of providing a Maker lab type venue in the ward, this project has created a loose network of ward based creative venues and groups.

PCRF has provided a set of technical learning resources aimed at 5-15 year olds that are available through Avonmouth Community Centre. Also available is high quality 3D design and print equipment that can be used by residents and businesses. We hope that a 3D printer will be used to enable a new club to form in Sea Mills.

Space4Makers has also supported expansion of textiles based design and create groups at the Oasis Community Hub.

Avonmouth Space4Makers Workshop

PCRF has funded the build of a new community workshop in partnership with the Bristol North West Foodbank.

The new facility will open in summer 2020 and focus on supporting members of the community who maybe socially isolated through engagement with woodwork projects. The space will be flexible enough to host other creative/technical groups/clubs.

Community Markets

PCRF funding has been provided to establish a ward based outdoor community market in partnership with Avonmouth Projects Group CiC.

The project will create a large number of volunteer hours and seek to directly support local sole traders to try out retailing their products in a supported environment.

Community facilities grants

Applications for funding closed in December 2017. 

BCC have supported five successful applicants with various Capital project. Local organisations had to show how their projects will strengthen them for the future, double any PCRF grant they received.

Selection process

The selection of projects that were funded was made by combining:

• technical assessment
• public votes
• resident panel assessment

Technical assessment

This was completed by the council to ensure organisations were eligible to apply and with the capacity to proceed.
Public votes

Residents voted on nine local projects during January 2018. Residents within the Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston Ward could vote either online or at local venues.

Residents panel assessment

This consisted of  residents from Shirehampton, Avonmouth, Lawrence Weston and Sea Mills/Coombe Dingle. 

As well as reading and scoring the nine written applications the residents met all the applicants.

The meetings included a presentation by each applicant followed by a structured Question and Answer session. The residents panel then scored each of the applications.

Selection results

The results of the public vote and the Residents Panel were combined with the technical assessment to decide which organisations were offered funding to take their projects forward.

The outcome of the assessment is that six applicants were selected as the preferred projects and proceeded to the next stage to develop detailed plans for delivery. 

The remaining three applicants declined the opportunity to be reserve projects.

Project summary

Download the pdf PCRF summary document (442 KB) for more information on the supported projects.