Impact

What difference does Knowle West Media Centre make? What impact does our work have?

Our mission is to achieve social, environmental and economic regeneration by involving the community in media activity, education and action.

At Knowle West Media Centre in the financial year 2016-17:

• • There were 12,856 attendances at events, workshops and projects
  • 6,516 individual people took part in our activities
  • 809 of those people were under 25
  • 138 of them were over 60
  • 732 were local people
  • 397 5-11 year olds attended 27 in school KWMC sessions
  • 782 people gained skills
  • 44 Volunteers spent over 170 hours supporting KWMC’s programme to be planned and delivered
  • 57 artists were commissioned
  • 30 artists were employed to work with young people
  • We worked with 11 European partners, from four countries outside the UK, to identify innovative and environmentally beneficial uses of open data
  • We worked with more than 10 different academic partner organisations to inform research about the socially beneficial uses and applications of digital media, tools and data

The difference these experiences make for a wide range of individuals, including artists, academics, partners and people who have taken part in projects and workshops, is illustrated in a set of case studies about people’s journeys.

How does Knowle West Media Centre make a difference?

We evaluate all of our work against three aims to make sure our work is effective.

1. By working with people to build tools, skills and places that will support positive social change

We work with people to create learning spaces and we provide skills training and opportunities for all ages to experiment with ‘making and producing’. In the last 12 months we have:

• Supported eight Junior Digital Producers to enter employment in the creative industry
• Developed new ways of visualising data so it is more accessible to people
• Established a Pop Up Furniture Factory and hired three local people as trainees to produce furniture
• Developed plans for a Bristol Maker Lab
• Enabled people to gain skills through volunteering

 

2. By shaping the way we’ll live in the future by experimenting with new ideas

We develop opportunities for a wide range of people to ‘imagine’ the future, by testing ideas and technology within communities, public spaces and homes. In the last 12 months we have:

• Developed six new apps by working collaboratively with people, including local social network My Knowle West
• Created six new spaces where young people can learn creatively
• Supported eight young people to develop their own agency and further their employment prospects as freelancers
• Supported artists to develop their practice
• Supported people to reduce their energy consumption and lower their bills

 

3. By making visible the cultural and creative wealth that exists within communities

We support people to celebrate and build on the assets within their neighbourhood, and we ensure there are meaningful opportunities for people to engage in arts and culture in Bristol – particularly those who have had the least opportunity. In the last 12 months we have:

• Animated the streets of Knowle West with circus and performance
• Shared the knowledge of Knowle West residents on an international stage
• Organised an event where local people could contribute their home movies, photographs and film to Bristol’s archives
• Co-created digital solutions with young women based on their own experience of unhealthy relationships and how to recognise and change them
• Developed a series of digitally fabricated objects, inspired by the rich tattoo culture and people of Knowle West