How a small Bristol neighbourhood watch became the voice for a whole community

When the trust was set up in 1999, Horfield had a different landscape to that of today, as community development worker Maria Damsell recalls.

She said: "It was before the regeneration and residents had concerns about the estate and whether it was in decline.

"There were plans to build new homes but people worried whether they would materialise and that there was a lack of facilities for new people coming into the area."

With those concerns in mind a small group of residents formed a group which quickly became the Upper Horfield Community Trust (UHCT).

They managed to get two semi-detached council homes, due for demolition, which they transformed into a community centre and after securing money from lottery and council funding they eventually moved into new premises behind Eden Grove Methodist Church in 2004.

Ms Damsell, joined the organisation as a volunteer in 2001 and took on the role of development worker almost six years ago.

"The trust has always been community led", she said. "We put out a consultation asking people what they wanted to see in the area. A lot of it revolved around children, youth work, safety and activities and that is what we provide.

"Since 2001 we have run a 32-place out of school club, we've done youth work, we hold adult learning courses, social events, gardening clubs, annual festivals, arts and crafts, Tai Chi and other opportunities for people in the community to get to know each other.

"Currently our main projects involve a community shop, cafe and an eBay business for people to recycle their unwanted items.

"We also work in partnership with lots of groups like the Bristol Community Housing Foundation and volunteers working on the community garden held support the cafe and shop."

A day-to-day team of about 25 volunteers and a team of trustees work to keep the organisation going.

They will also soon be joined by a number of young people working as part of the government-run future jobs fund.

To celebrate the decade of UHCT in the community a special event will be held on Saturday, November 7.

There will be food, a live fire show, music and stalls as well as a lantern procession leaving ABC Park, Emmerson Square, at 5.45pm. The event will run at the Eden Grove community centre from 6-8pm.

Ms Damsell added: "We're really excited about the celebrations, its a great environment to work.

"We are just trying to make Horfield a bit of a better place. There is lots of positive about the area and the trust shows that working together can make things better."

The UHCT are also running a trip to Bruges from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 November. For more information contact Maria on 0117 9690011 or email maria@uhct.co.uk.