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‘The only way of getting through challenges of conflicts and rising costs is by acting together’
Every day across Bristol hundreds of thousands of acts of kindness take place. These provide the background hum to our city where, most of the time at least, we get on well together.
Despite this, divisions can feel loud and those quieter stories of hope rarely get the spotlight they deserve. From May 13 to 20, a UK-wide coalition of organisations aims to change this.
Small charities, like Bristol’s Bridges for Communities, alongside national groups and community and faith organisations, are coming together to inspire and celebrate A Million Acts of Hope. It might seem like a distraction amid global conflicts and the daily struggle with rising living costs. But the truth is, the only way we get through these challenges is by acting together.
The charity hosted the latest edition of their Peace Fest at Avonmouth Community Centre in March – photo: Bridge’s For Communities
At a time when crises dominate news cycles and social media feeds, encouraging us to retreat into the familiar, we need to work harder than ever to counter polarisation by building trusting, compassionate, and more hopeful communities.
This campaign offers us all a chance to help shape Bristol into the kind of city we want it to be: one where we look out for and value each other, whatever our differences. We already see this spirit in action across all our city’s neighbourhoods, whether it is taking the time to chat with a stranger at a bus stop or getting involved in running sports clubs, litter picks or food banks. These gestures ripple outwards, building the Bristol we all want to live in.
A Million Acts of Hope also arrives at an important moment for the city’s efforts to strengthen community cohesion.
Since August 2024, when anti-immigration protests and counter-protests led to violent disorder in the city centre, the council has been working with partners and communities to understand what lay behind the demonstrations, and the linked rise in discrimination and hate crime. The causes are complex, but among them are feelings of insecurity and lack of opportunity, coupled with a sense of being overlooked or undervalued. Add to that the spread of misinformation and social media’s power to fuel division, and you have the conditions for the distressing scenes we saw in 2024 and since.
Betweem May 13 to 20, organisations across the country are uniting to celebrate acts of hope
Thankfully, there’s another side to that story. Since 2024, at Bridges for Communities, we’ve seen record numbers of volunteers eager to make the city kinder, fairer, and more welcoming.
We’ve hosted events bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and created spaces for honest, respectful conversations on difficult topics. That appetite for understanding and connection gives me hope about Bristol’s future.
For the council’s new community cohesion strategy to succeed, it must tackle the root causes of division while leaning into the city’s true community spirit: a place where everyday acts of kindness and solidarity are the norm. Hate and intolerance must be confronted, but the real key to cohesion lies in hope.
To take part in A Million Acts of Hope, including organising an event, head to: https://millionactsofhope.org
This is an opinion piece by Stephen Frost, the managing director of Bridges for Communities, a charity connecting people of different faiths and cultures
Main photo: Bridges For Communities
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