News and stories - Can Do Bristol

Cllr Stephen Williams shines a light on the upcoming Bristol Community Festival this June

From Saturday 6 to Saturday 13 June, the second Bristol Community Festival will take place, where everyone can get involved, celebrate social action and reflect on the power shown by our local communities throughout the city. This year’s festival builds on success from last year and with over 25 events for people to choose from, it’s a great opportunity to connect with others and see how individuals and groups are making a difference in their local area.

Cllr Stephen Williams shines a light on the upcoming Bristol Community Festival this June

Bristol Community Festival 2026

We’re pleased to announce that the Bristol Community Festival is returning from 6–13 June 2026, with a week of community‑led events across the city and a final celebration at City Hall on Saturday 13 June.

This year’s festival will shine a light on the people, groups and volunteers whose everyday social action makes Bristol a better place to live, celebrating the connections, creativity and community spirit that shape our city.

Read our Stories of Hope in Community

In 2025, Bristol City Council responded to a call for more stories of hope from community organisations, and worked with Rising Arts Agency to produce eight stories about community resilience. Click the button to discover the eight videos, illustrations and publications!

Relaunching our badge 'Supported Volunteering for Refugees and Asylum Seekers'

Our newly refreshed badge highlights which volunteering opportunities are providing extra support to volunteers who have sought asylum in Bristol.

Relaunching our badge 'Supported Volunteering for Refugees and Asylum Seekers'

Reflecting on the first ever Bristol Community Festival

The festival brought together residents, local groups, and city leaders for two weeks of celebration, connection, and action. Hear firsthand stories from those involved and be inspired by what’s possible when communities lead the way.

Reflecting on the first ever Bristol Community Festival

Launch of Bristol Community Festival

Bristol City Council will be partnering with organisations across the city to host a multi day event celebrating people who come together to make positive change in their communities, and connecting and inspiring those that want to get involved.

Applications to organise events are open until Monday 21 October for community groups and voluntary organisations. Find out how you can apply and other ways to get involved with the festival now!

Get involved

#CanDoStories - Migrateful

In #CanDoStories, Georgia from Migrateful's Bristol branch tells us about Migrateful and finding volunteers through Can Do Bristol.

#CanDoStories - Ian

In #CanDoStories, Ian, a retiree and former Hewlett Packard employee tells us about volunteering at North Bristol Post 16 Centre.

What is Employer Sponsored Volunteering?

Are you a corporate employee wanting to give back? Or a community organisation seeking professional skills and support?

If so, this article on employer-sponsored volunteering (corporate and pro bono skill-based volunteering) is for you!

Read article

What is Employer Sponsored Volunteering?

Share your views

Are you a VCSE leader interested in Bristol's corporate volunteer opportunities?

Share your views and needs with us through the Voscur and Can Do Corporate Volunteering survey.

Take the survey

A Time to Say Thanks - Volunteers Week 2023

2023 marks the 39th year of Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June) when thousands of charities and voluntary organisations recognise the contribution volunteers make across the UK.

A Time to Say Thanks - Volunteers Week 2023

Hillfields Library Welcoming Space

In our May 2023 newsletter, we feature Sarah Rogers, Co-Founder of Friends of Hillfields Library and Project Manager for the Hillfields Library Welcome Space.

Sarah coordinated the Welcome Space, managing volunteers and setting up free food provision. The program started with just one volunteer in December 2022, but by the end, they had 12 dedicated weekly volunteers.

Read more about their April 2023 celebration and the heartfelt thanks from visitors to the Welcome Space.

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Henbury and Brentry Community Council and Centre

Spotlight on Wonderful Wendy!

In our May quarterly news, we hear from Wendy Baverstock. Henbury Community Centre joined Can Do Bristol when Covid restrictions started in March 2020 and found it helpful for recruiting volunteers to support those shielding.

During Volunteers Week in June 2023, Wendy, a volunteer herself, will host a small event with food to thank everyone for their contributions.

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Henbury and Brentry Community Council and Centre

#CanDoStories - Hartcliffe City Farm & Windmill Hill

May 2022

Volunteer co-ordinator Sarah Mountford from Hartcliffe City Farm & Windmill Hill spoke to us about her work with the project, her learning from the pandemic and how she has utilised Can Do Bristol volunteers.

Hartcliffe Farm is re-opening June 2022 and the project aims to become a local hub where people can visit, learn, work and volunteer.

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#CanDoStories - Hartcliffe City Farm & Windmill Hill

#CanDoStories Citizens Advice Bureau Cost Of Living Response

This Autumn we hear more from Kirsten Kerr from Citizens Advice Bristol who explained how Citizens Advice are working with

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“Citizens Advice, as a network of independent charities, is currently helping more than two people every minute with access to crisis support like food bank referrals and charitable grants. More than 137,000 people have been referred for this type of support - an 50% increase on the same period last year, and a 167% increase on the same period in 2019.”

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#CanDoStories Citizens Advice Bureau Cost Of Living Response

#CanDoStories - Women's Day on Saturday 5th March 2022

9th March 2022

In our first #CanDoStory of 2022, Bristol Women's Voice talk about their work and the annual Women's Day event this Saturday 5th March!

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#CanDoStories - Women's Day on Saturday 5th March 2022

#CanDoNews - Wall of Thanks 2022

May 2022

We are pleased to announce that this years Wall of Thanks 2022 has been relaunched!

As part of Volunteers Week we have decided to once again display thank you messages from those who benefit so greatly from all the incredible work volunteers do and the difference it makes in their lives.

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#CanDoStories - Brigstowe

13th August 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, Brigstowe Peer Mentor Coordinator Robyn tells us about their Type 2 diabetes peer mentoring scheme.

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#CanDoStories - Bristol Local Food Fund

11th November 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, Bristol Local Food Fund tell us about their crowdfunding project.

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#CanDoStories: Global Goals

8th October 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, Global Goals Project Lead Jenny Foster tells us about the Bristol 17 Campaign.

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#CanDoStories: Friendly Neighbours

10th September 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, we hear from the local residents who make up the Friendly Neighbours...

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#CanDoStories: Well Aware

8th July 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, Care Forum CEO Kevin Peltonen-Messenger speaks to us about the relaunch of Well Aware.

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#CanDoStories - Vaccine Stewarding

May 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, volunteer Alex tells us about her experience of stewarding a vaccination site in Bristol.

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#CanDoStories: Badges

April 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, we focus on the awarding of Volunteer Star badges on the platform.

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#CanDoStories: The future of Can Do

Feb 2021

In today's #CanDoStories, we share feedback from our first Can Do Bristol user workshop.

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#CanDoStories: 10,000 members

January 2021

In this month's #CanDoStories, we hear from Nerissa who is our 10,000th member on Can Do Bristol. She tells us about her experience of community action in the city.

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#CanDoStories - Widening the circle

November 2020

In this month's #CanDoStories, we hear from Professor Martin Parker, leader of the Bristol Inclusive Economy Initiative, who shares his vision for how Can Do could connect the whole city together.

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#CanDoNews: COVID-19 update

7th August 2020

Today's #CanDoNews focuses on the positive feedback Bristol City Council have received from residents who have received support from volunteers during lockdown.

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#CanDoStories: are you ok?

6th August 2020

In today's Can Do Stories, we focus on the city's 'Are You OK?' campaign.

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Can Do News: timebank launch

5th August 2020

In today's Can Do News, we feature the launch of the Can Do Timebank.

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Can Do News: become a champion

10th July 2020

In today's Can Do News, we feature the arrival of badges and the Can Do Champion intiative.

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#CanDoFriday: thanks

12th June 2020

Today's #CanDoFriday post is a short thank you message from Susan Parry at Off The Record.

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#CanDoFriday: Michele

29th May 2020

Today's #CanDoFriday post is an interview with volunteer Michele who shares more about what she has discovered in getting involved with the City's covid-19 response.

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Can Do Community: the care forum

27th May 2020

In our next Can Do Community post, we hear about how The Care Forum are seeking to support the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector across the city.

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Can Do Community - off the record

22nd May 2020

In our next Can Do Community post, we hear about Off The Record's Nature Works campaign and how you can get involved in supporting young people with their mental health.

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Can Do Community: co-produce care

13th May 2020

In our first Can Do Community post, we hear how Co-Produce Care CIC have utilised Can Do to make a difference in the social care sector.

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#CanDoFriday: Julia Williams

15th May 2020

In our first #CanDoFriday post, we hear from Julia Williams - a Community Development Practitioner for Bristol City Council - about how residents in South Bristol have come together to support those in need.

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New logo, new look!

A new logo for Can Do Bristol has been designed by Eight agency and will now start to be used in promotional material. We would like to thank community partners who have inputted from initial concepts to the final design.

We hope you agree it expresses the positive and various elements of Can Do as a digital platform supporting community action and connectivity in Bristol.

The strapline "Give, Live, Love Bristol" is also new. It was one of the suggestions given after we used the "ask for ideas" function to get members thoughts on how to express Can Do Bristol in a few catchy words. We posed a question and got some great suggestions which members then voted on. "Give, Live, Love Bristol" scored highest and was adopted.

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Can Do Bristol gets volunteers reading

4th October 2019

Can Do Bristol is already demonstrating its ability to help Bristolians make a positive impact.

The platform recently helped Bristol City Council crowdsource 250 volunteers from around the city to become volunteer readers in 50 primary schools across Bristol. The ability to link people with such an opportunity has ensured that a number of children have had early reading intervention.

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We've reached 1,000 members

29th September 2019

Can Do Bristol – a website designed to support social action across Bristol – has reached a major milestone. Our community of like-minded individuals, organisations and businesses has exceeded 1,000 members for the first time.

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New news

Read our new news

Major website updates!

26th June 2019

Today we've launched some major updates to the Can Do Bristol website. It's a complete revamp and we are working towards an official re-launch later this summer. We've made massive improvements behind the scenes too.

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Announcing the start of Bristol Community Festival

Hear from Councillor Williams on why social action matters, what's going on as part of the festival and how to join the movement!

Announcing the start of Bristol Community Festival