Hillfields Community Garden

Hello and welcome to Hillfields Park Community Centre’s fundraising page!

After being closed for over a year, Hillfields Park Community Centre is almost ready to welcome the public once again—but we need your help to get over one final hurdle.

On Monday 3rd February, Hillfields Community Garden received the keys to the building—formerly known as Hillfields Youth Centre (or the Hub)—from Bristol City Council. Our mission was simple: bring this valuable space back to life for the community.

Unfortunately, just two weeks into our efforts, the boiler broke. This issue has blocked us from reopening ever since. Without hot water, we can’t meet the essential health and safety standards for public use.

As the building is Council-owned, we were initially quoted a staggering £35,000 for a replacement boiler—well beyond our means. We've since explored alternative options and are now aiming to install an energy-efficient electric hot water system that aligns with our sustainability goals and can run on our renewable energy tariff.

We’re asking for your support to raise £5,000 to help make this happen.

 Thanks to some generous early donations, we’ve already raised £500—but we still have a long way to go.

In the meantime, we’ve made great progress elsewhere in the building:

• The kitchen is nearly fully refurbished with new cupboards, sinks, oven, and dishwasher.
• The art room has been refreshed with a new coat of paint and storage.
• Three meeting rooms are ready to use.
• The sports hall and equipment are good to go.
  
  

We're also welcoming support from local businesses—whether through donations or volunteering. In return, we’d proudly feature your logo on our Community Thank You Board, and can arrange corporate volunteering days to get involved.

Every donation, big or small, brings us one step closer to reopening and serving the Hillfields community again.

History of Hillfields Community Garden

The charity was established five years ago by local residents who wanted to create a space in our local park for our children to connect with nature and the local community. This quickly expanded into a cooking and growing group on Saturdays, a Wild Womens peer support group and a wellbeing group.

In 2023 we then began a Climate and Nature project which started us talking to residents about local issues around housing/heating, food/costs, waste/fly tipping, transport/buses, nature/green spaces and the local economy/opportunities. This begun our work looking at wider issues in Hillfields. As our groups grew we adapted as an organisation taking on one of our Co-Founders as our full time Chief Exec, with the other Co-Founder being the Chair of Trustees. 

Sadly, in early 2024 the charity running the “Hub” (HFaCT) in Hillfields closed and in doing so closed the doors to the Community Centre. We have been working diligently in the background to reopen the centre and help it to once again ‘serve’ our community. 

Be in the know and find out the latest activities happening locally here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LSgtLShYfwm2jnB5vr5Iwe

Please support us today—let’s get Hillfields Park Community Centre back in action!

With thanks,

The Hillfields Community Garden Team