Bristol’s Bearpit is to undergo long-awaited regeneration

Bristol’s Bearpit unsurprisingly featured on The Bristol Post’s recent list of the city’s crime and violence hotspots and was described by Bristol 247 as an “island of chaos”.

However, the Bearpit is finally set to shake off its unenviable reputation as a no-mans-land of rowdy and anti-social behaviour.

For some years residents of the surrounding areas pushed for the repeatedly delayed £1 million council investment suggested to make the area more pedestrian-friendly, but the eventual changes had little effect on the area’s anti-social and threatening atmosphere. However, change is afoot.

Traders who have set up shop there over the last few years as an attempt at inspiring regeneration have merged to form a collective named Bearpit Bristol CIC, which is striving to establish the Bearpit as a welcoming hotspot for sustainable trading, events and markets, aiming to introduce Bristol’s rich cultural and culinary expertise to the neglected area and inspire the surrounding communities.

A unique trading environment is already in place with the establishment of Bearritos, Bearpit Social and Bear Fruit.

Bearpit Bristol is set for further growth in 2017 with the initiation of a new Operations Manager to move things forward and introduce more kinds of enterprise and activity.

There’s talk of an early morning yoga slot and summer BBQ and DJ fixtures. Their eponymous Humans of the Bearpit project takes its inspiration from storytelling photography movement Humans of New York and is engaging the community creatively, telling the stories of those who live and work in the area.