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University of Bristol opens new ‘micro-campus’ in Hartcliffe
A new ‘micro-campus’ in Hartcliffe from the University of Bristol hopes to go some way to combatting the stereotype of the university being an out-of-touch institution up in the leafy enclaves of Clifton.
The new campus at the Gatehouse Centre on Hareclive Road was officially opened by the minister for skills and former home secretary, Jacqui Smith, now baroness Smith.
The aim of the initiative is to work with the local community to bring university-run activities and opportunities to the area.
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Drop-in sessions offering pet advice, a menopause cafe with researchers and GPs, and a history project exploring the legacies of tobacco factories in the south Bristol area have already taken place at the micro-campus.
It joins the university’s existing micro-campus at the Wellspring Settlement in Barton Hill which was established in 2020 and is now used by more than 160 people every week.
University bosses hope the micro-campuses “will form part of a network of civic spaces” linked to the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, due to open next to Temple Meads in 2026.
University of Bristol Hartcliffe and Withywood Micro-Campus is within the Gatehouse on Hareclive Road – photo: Martin Booth
Smith, who was a teacher before becoming an MP, told Bristol24/7, that “there’s no point having brilliant universities if people don’t know how to access them and all you can do is look at the university from a distance”.
She said: “What’s so great about what’s happening here in Hartcliffe is that the University of Bristol has come out from behind its walls and is working here in the Gatehouse Centre with local people and local organisations so that people within this community can see the university and can be part of the university, and that’s going to help them with all sorts of communities in the future.”
For University of Bristol vice-chancellor Evelyn Welch, the new micro-campus is a “huge opportunity to be where our students are”.
“So rather than expecting people from all across Bristol, but particularly from Hartcliffe and Withywood, to come up the hill to the University of Bristol, we’ve come down to meet them where they are to create micro-credentials that are meaningful for them.”
Among those gathered in the Gatehouse Centre for the opening of the micro-campus was Karin Smyth, the MP for Bristol South, who for a decade has held a jobs and apprenticeships fair for the local community, bringing employers south of the river.
Smyth said: “I think it’s absolutely right that an institution like Bristol University, who I’ve given a really hard time to over the years – and as Tony Dyer said is like ‘the castle on the hill’ – is here in Bristol and gives back to the community that’s given it its name…
“It’s an indicator to the rest of the city as well about how important Hartcliffe and other communities like it are.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read next:
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- ‘We’re working with the city to shape the University for Bristol’
- Hartcliffe could receive £20m after being designated as new ‘trailblazer neighbourhood’
- Former Bristol West MP becomes Baroness Debbonaire of De Beauvoir Town in the London Borough of Hackney
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