Welcome to the Cost of Living page!
A focused Cost Of Living campaign ran on Can Do Bristol between August 2022 – June 2023. The campaign helped kickstart volunteer recruitment to support projects set up to mitigate the impacts of the rising Cost of Living.
During the campaign Can Do offered a space for:
- Community organisations to advertise volunteering opportunities related to Cost of Living
- Active citizens to find out how they could support fellow Bristolians.
Over the first eight months of the campaign 246 people pledged to support 34 cost of living volunteer opportunities. Programmes recruiting volunteers on Can Do included BOOST looking for financial advice volunteers, FareShare, SouthWest looking for van drivers and warehouse assistants, Bristol Citadel and multiple roles in Welcoming Spaces (see links below for more information on Welcoming Spaces).
The Can Do team want to extend a huge thank you to residents and community organisations who volunteered their time to ease the impact of the Cost of Living crisis over winter 2022/23. Volunteers have made a huge difference in supporting the network of Welcoming Spaces and other Cost of Living programmes across the city, and will continue to do so.
The impacts of the rising Cost of Living are present and ongoing
Current volunteer opportunities supporting the Cost of Living community response are available to view and sign-up to on Can Do volunteer activity pages.
Use the filter ‘Crisis Support’ to view activities which urgently need volunteers.
Welcoming Spaces Information:
Bristol is a city of people who ‘can do’ and who want to make a difference. We saw this clearly during the pandemic, and since then in the response to the crisis in Ukraine and the Cost of Living.
We could not have imagined that six months into the Cost of Living winter response we would have a network of 105 Welcoming Spaces. And that 86 per cent of Bristol residents would be within 10 mins walking distance from a Welcoming Space. This has been a true collaboration where we each play to our strengths and share what resources we have.
Welcoming Space activities will continue to recruit for volunteers on Can Do.
Bristol City Council website also hosts a cost of living support webpage will remain live and updated.
We Are Bristol helpline is available for people to call for support (0800 694 0184 – Monday to Friday, 8.30am – 5pm)
Find your nearest Welcoming Space on this map of Welcoming Spaces:
What is a Welcoming Spaces?
See this video: Bristol's Welcoming Spaces - YouTube or Read this: Wellspring Settlement, one of Bristol's Welcoming Spaces - The Bristol MayorIf you are a resident looking for support, find more information on Cost of living support (bristol.gov.uk).