The Bristol micro-settlement where all voices can be heard

Bristol University is expanding to the historically poor Barton Hill, where it hopes its mini-campus will reach non-traditional students and inspire others to consider entrepreneurship, Hazel Sheffield reports

The micro-settlement will include 11 compact live-and-study spaces (Parallel Architecture/Bristol University)

Lydia Samuel has noticed that many entrepreneurs in the Barton Hill area of Bristol are linked by one common theme. “People [in Barton Hill] want to run businesses to help other people,” Samuel says. She is an entrepreneurship facilitator for ACH, a social enterprise resettling refugees through labour markets and social integration in Bristol. “They see a need, whether it be childcare or learning to drive.”

Since she was appointed last September, Samuel has worked with a woman who wanted to become a driving instructor and a man who restores games machines. One group set up a Somali kitchen, others want to be hairdressers and some are getting accredited to do childminding, to address a local shortage of childcare.

Barton Hill might be one of the poorer areas of Bristol. But those who work there know it is rich with enterprises solving the real-life problems of its dense and diverse working-class communities.