We recently helped Places for People welcome the circus to town!

The UK’s leading large-scale contemporary circus company made St Paul’s in Bristol their home for three weeks in Spring 2023.

In that time, nearly 10,000 Bristolians revelled in the enchanting production.

Cardiff’s NoFit State Circus’ critically acclaimed production, SABOTAGE, received glowing reviews from the city’s press and with more than 2,000 tickets given to local groups, schools and other community organisations, it was an event with the local community at its centre.

A registered charity, NoFitState Circus has supported various projects across the UK to promote inclusivity and collaboration within communities.

We’ve been supporting Places for People’s plans for Dove Lane for 18 months now.

During that time, we’ve engaged local communities and other stakeholders to reach more than 60,000 people, articulating the positive social impact the plans will bring and achieving a range of positive media coverage.

Plans for new, high-quality homes at Dove Lane were approved by councillors last year.

Places for People is working with Bristol City Council to agree on details and hopes to begin work on-site before the end of 2023. In the meantime, they are finding ways to make the site available for the local community’s benefit. Maximising the ‘meanwhile use’ of the site for the community’s benefit.

We’ve continued to support the project to keep people updated and maintain the relationship with the local community and city.

This is the second time a circus has been hosted here, with Revel Puck welcomed to the city last year. But it doesn’t stop at circuses… After supporting the St Paul’s Carnival last year, Places for People is also making the site available for the carnival this summer.

Yuved Bheenick, Development Director at Places for People, said:

“NoFit State has put on something incredible here. Their show is spectacular and the efforts they’ve made to work with the local community have been first-class.

“We are working hard behind the scenes to get building these homes that Bristol needs as soon as possible. In the meantime, we’re proud to be working with NoFit State, St Paul’s Carnival and potentially others to use this site.”

After Bristol, NoFit State will tour SABOTAGE across mainland Europe.

For more information on NoFit State please visit www.nofitstate.org and for information on Places for People’s proposals for Dove Lane, please visit www.dovelanebristol.co.uk