The Southville Centre

In 1991 a group of local residents approached Bristol City Council to discuss the future of a former school situated on Beauley Road, which was lying empty and redundant. They wanted to ensure the site was kept for community use that benefited local people.

After lengthy negotiations the Council agreed that the residents, once constituted into an association, could take on the 999 year lease of the site for the sum of £1.

Initially known as the Southville Community Development Association, the organisation became a registered charity to enable applications for grant funding, and a company limited by guarantee allowing income generation through commercial services.

After being converted from a school into a community centre, the building that has been the home of the charity ever since, became known as the Southville Centre. The most recent stage in the history of the charity began on the acquisition of a plot of land in Bedminster and after consultation our membership voted to change the name of the organisation to BS3 Community to reflect our wider area of operation beyond the original parish of Southville.