Initiative successes

The West of England Initiative has devised and developed a wide range of different projects.

The Matthew
The 500th anniversary of John Cabot's voyage of discovery to Newfoundland in 1497 was marked by the building and launching of a replica of his ship, the Matthew. This was the guest of honour at an International Festival of the Sea which attracted 350,000 visitors.

The Matthew crossed the Atlantic to repeat Cabot's achievement in 1997 to be greeted by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.

Building a Better Bristol
In 1993 we launched a campaign to acknowledge individuals and organisations who had made a significant contribution to the city. Prizes were awarded to:

The Soil Association, for its work in sustainability.

Don Cameron for making Bristol the ballooning capital of the world. His factory produces conventional and unusual shaped hot air balloons.

Aardman Animation, the creative geniuses now a world renowned production house of Oscar winning animation.

Doors Open Day
We inspired the owners of some of Bristols most interesting buildings to throw their doors open and allow rare behind the scenes access to the public.

Now thousands of people flock every year on the second Saturday in September to what has become an important date in the Civic Calendar.

Common Purpose
The Initiative was pleased to encourage the launch in Bristol in 1991 of an American scheme to promote community leadership. Decision makers from a range of backgrounds still take part in an educational programme of workshops, seminars and visits which improve their knowledge and appreciation of the society within which they operate.

Housing Homeless People - the Initiative  set up an action group to support homeless people and introduced a scheme to provide food vouchers to needy people living on the street.

Hartcliffe Leisure - a club was set up to provide after school activities for young people in South Bristol. The young people benefited from the opportunities and working parents were able to continue in their employment during school holidays.

Education Unlimited - an innovative and ambitious project to help provide disengaged young people with an alternative route back into mainstream society.