Here’s our Bristol Pride 2023 photo album where we made a lot of noise with The Grit Awards.
The awards were originally developed for Bristol Harbour Festival by our Early Doors homelessness prevention project, in collaboration with Bristol-based artist Rachael Clerke to shine a light on Bristol’s housing crisis. We spent the day sharing information and talking with people about their experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity – including living on the street, rogue landlords, sofa surfing, outrageous rent hikes, and the scarcity of affordable accommodation. We celebrated the #grit and strength of LGBTQ+ Bristolians (who are disproportionately impacted by these issues), and their allies, in surviving housing emergencies. Although it was great fun and often moving to acknowledge this part of people’s experience, let’s not forget these situations are happening every single day across Bristol and beyond. That’s why our mission is to create a city empowered to solve homelessness. (Huge thanks to Rachael Clerke who developed this interactive community event.)