From inside their homes, people across Knowle West and Bristol have joined forces to imagine new ways to make, learn, create and support each other.
– Residents and engineers worked together to design and build an outdoor pavilion, showcasing the possibilities of digital construction and providing outdoor space for people to meet safely.
– Makers and volunteers lit up local streets with a celebration of Knowle West’s neighbourliness and community spirit.
– Artists worked with families to explore making and creativity at home – and what home means to them.
– Young people developed their skills as coders, music-makers and product designers, and created campaigns to raise awareness of social and environmental issues.
– KWMC The Factory technicians manufactured hundreds of face shields for local pharmacies and care workers.
Like many organisations, in 2020 KWMC has responded rapidly to unexpected changes – shifts in direction, in priorities, in how we bring people together without being physically present. Yet we have also had to remain steadfast and committed, continuing work that is still needed, and perhaps made all the more urgent.
When we were reflecting on this, three images associated with navigation came to mind:
1. setting a compass: we set our compass in accordance with our values, to ensure the steps we take have purpose.
2. changing direction: being responsive, whether to local needs or the upheavals of a pandemic, enables us to change direction when we need to.
3. staying the course: in accelerating our work in certain areas, such as understanding the extent of digital exclusion and how people’s access or lack of access to technology impacts their lives, we ensure we stay the course and remain true to our aims.
Our Annual Report for the period April 2019 to March 2020 also follows this theme of navigation and you can read it via the Issuu magazine platform or as a PDF document. It highlights 12 projects – six from 2019-2020 and six that are ongoing.
In the gallery below are some of the projects and activities you can find in our 2020 celebration event and Annual Report.
