BRIEFYou are being asked to take a return journey on the given bus route below. Please be safe and do not upset the other passengers. If you have been on the route before see a tutor for another bus route. If more than one of you is on the same bus, do not sit with each other. When you get off at your given destination, you must find a local person/s, shopkeeper, resident etc. Your aim is to collect 10 statements these people have in regard to the local area - they should feel passionate about the subject. These could be observations, improvements, how the area is treated/represented

For this project I had to take the number 76 bus to Southmead, a northern suburb of Bristol. Once there the purpose was to obtain a series of 10 statements from local residents about their views on the area. This document supports the poster which documents the- statements. Southmead is an area of Bristol that receives more bad press than positive news. For example it featured in a BBC Panorama document in 2009. This documentary exposed an apparent problem with racism. The undercover reporters were victims of racist threats and violence. This documentary added to the history of negative press. Residents reacted angrily to the documentary stating it was an unfair representation of the area and you get trouble in all city suburbs. According to various reports the youth are ‘socially deprived’ and less likely to go to university than other areas of Bristol. Without much to occupy them and little career prospects a few can cause problems. However, when talking to the local people it was clear that anti-social activity is not as much of a problem as the press often makes out. In fact the majority of people asked believe that there is a really strong community spirit. A local volunteer explained how events and organisations work hard to put things on, such as the youth centre and the community centre. The area has also started to run programmes aimed at solving the issue of racism. It seems Southmead is an area which is trying it’s best to improve, alongside anti-racism programmes such as Operation Staysafe and the Family Intervention Project whic-h are run with the aims to keep streets safe at night and to tackle family problems which can lead to troubled youngsters. Like all city suburbs Southmead has it’s troubles but it seems that the bad press it receives isn’t always true and the area deserves to have its positives, such as the community spirit reported on for a change.

“This is an area I used to live in and have now owned my buisness here for 10 years. There’s a close knit communi-ty, people are loyal, but you don’t feel it unless you live here. The area gets a lot of bad press. It’s not

always true.”

Business Owner, 48.

“Positives? There aren’t any - it is Southmead after all. Nah it’s alright I’ve lived here my whole life. I think the kids are a problem. They can cause trouble.”

Bar Staff 28.

“24 years I’ve lived here. It’s brilliant I really enjoy it for the most part. The community is strong and that’s positive. I guess people with drug problems can cause trouble because they beg and steal .”

Barber, 24.

“For 16 years I have worked here. To me it is a very good area I’ve had no trouble. People are friendly, yes. I can’t think of any negative

thoughts.”

Shop worker 39.

“I’ve lived in Southmead for 18 years, it’s good as long as you aren’t in the old estate. There’s a reasonable commu-nity spirit; the youth club, the library and the community centre - but - you have to get involved.”

Volunteer, 54.

“I don’t live here, but I ‘ve worked here for 3 years. It’s a friendly area and at least I have a job.”Hairdresser, 22.

“Yeah, it’s alright, it’s fine and quite nice. I haven’t had much trouble”

Store manager, 29.

“I don’t live here but I’ve known the area all my life. There’s good and bad points as with all places. In my opinion the community is

strong.”

Self employed 59.

“I’m in school at the moment and I know some of the kids are naughty - they burn cars and stuff. The town’s ok though, yeah it’s ok”

Secondary school student, 12.

“I like it I suppose, I don’t live here but some of my friends do. A few of the older kids cause trouble but it’s not too

bad.”

School student, 11.

After collecting the 10 statements from local residents we were asked to place the poster back into the location. I wanted to put mine in places that would suit the newspaper theme. For this reason I chose to put it on the board outside the front of the newsagents and also in the newspaper section in the local Tesco. After asking the permission of an employee at the newsagents I was allowed to use the board at the front to put up my poster. In theory the large bold font should have caught the attention of those walking by. However after leaving it up for some time I found that most people were too busy going somewhere or on their phones to really take time to stop and notice. Considering the way many locals feel the false negative press is giving the area a bad name I think that they would’ve been pleased to find a publication that in many ways defends the area by highlighting the positive community spirt, for example.