Ashton Gate Chairman Martin Griffiths lays out vaccination plans at West of England Initiative meeting

Author
James Durie
Chief Executive - Bristol Chamber & Initiative | Business West
19th January 2021

More than 175 members and invited guests joined the January 2021 West of England Initiative meeting, which took place via Zoom.

President of the West of England Initiative & Bristol Chamber, Richard Bonner, opened the meeting by briefing members on two positive developments at Business West as we begin a new year.

Business West is now carbon neutral and has set a target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030. It has also appointed three new Non-Executive Directors (Ade Adebayo, Martin Shelford and Poku Osei) to help lead the organisation on its journey to B Corp accreditation.

Chief Executive of Bristol Chamber & Initiative James Durie welcomed new members Bailey of Bristol and Severnnet before outlining key activities that the Initiative is engaging on in coming months.

The decision on a potential Free Port for Bristol, the outcome of the Redcliffe & Temple BID ballot bid, Clean Air Zone plans advancing and various local elections in May – all key activities that the Initiative team is working on with partners from across the city.

On the subject of elections, Initiative Manager Victoria Matthews encouraged members to input their views to help shape the Initiative’s business manifesto, which is currently in development and will include key asks from business to the Bristol Mayoral candidates and those in the running for the West of England Mayor as Chair of WECA.

Sally Hogg from the Public Health Team at Bristol City Council provided a valuable update on the coronavirus situation in Bristol and the South West region. Sally said that there were 2,200 new cases in Bristol over the last 7 days but stressed that the 489 cases per 100,000 of the population was still below the average for England, which was 670 per 100,000. Sally also mentioned that both the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine roll out is being deployed and ramping up across the city.

Staying on the subject of COVID-19, Chris Head, Director of West of England Civil Society Partnership (WECSP), spoke passionately about the role of volunteers in the mass vaccination effort across the region. The WECSP are playing a key role in mobilising volunteers for the testing and vaccination programmes, said Chris, coming to the aid of the NHS and Public Health in providing volunteers and identifying community spaces that can be used for testing and administering the vaccine. A number of local businesses were getting on board to provide volunteers, and Chris urged members to reach out if they’d like to get involved.

One of the main national COVID-19 vaccination centres is located in Bristol at Ashton Gate Stadium, and we were delighted to be joined by its Chairman Martin Griffiths just days after it had opened. Martin began by reflecting on the pandemic, which wiped out much of the Stadium’s revenue in early March. Martin said that in the first six weeks the business was in ‘chaos’ as it planned its response to COVID-19, before deciding to offer the Stadium as much as possible for the benefit of the local community.

Since spring last year, the stadium has been used by Fareshare SW to distribute food to disadvantaged communities as part of project launched by Michelin-starred chef Josh Eggleton and Wapping Wharf- based restaurant Box-E. 2 million meals have been distributed as part of this initiative, with the project moving to a vacant united owned by Bristol Sport in the vicinity of stadium after elite sport resumed in the summer. 

A COVID-19 testing van has been stationed in the stadium car park since the beginning of the pandemic said Martin and explained that the mass vaccination centre at Ashton Gate (one of only 10 across the country) would remain open until the end of June.

Given the fantastic season the Bristol Bears are having in the Gallagher Premiership, Martin said that the stadium may need to be used for a brief period to host a play-off game, but reiterated the Stadium’s commitment to using all of its assets and facilities to lend a hand to supporting efforts to defeat coronavirus.

Martin finished his engaging presentation by outlining plans for the exciting Sports Village development around Ashton Gate and the Longmore Village housing development – investments worth a combined £250m for South Bristol.

Leader of North Somerset Council Cllr Don Davies gave members an insight into the set up at North Somerset and invited businesses to contribute to their upcoming local plan.

Cllr Davies also spoke at length about placemaking, employment land, retail transformation and housing after COVID-19 as key aspects of the plan, before turning attention to the visitor economy, suggesting that an overarching West of England tourism offer needs to be developed for the region.

Simon Earles from Bristol Airport responded in agreement, pointing to the fact 2019 had been a record year for inbound tourism to the region.

WECA’s Head of Business and Skills Stephen Bashford spoke briefly about COVID-19 WECA business support available before the speakers took questions offline and over 40 members took the opportunity to network, carry on the conversations and catch up with colleagues following the festive break.

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