Bristol Noise 2013

The May Day Bank Holiday weekend saw volunteers from Bristol’s churches putting faith in action, making a difference to communities around the city by showing God’s love in practical ways.
 
Now in its 12^th year, The Noise team said, ‘We believe that prayer and action go hand in hand, so in the run up to the Noise weekend we took on another ‘100 Days of Prayer’!  It was great to have an opportunity to pray together for the city of Bristol, for specific communities and projects, and for The Noise weekend itself.  It was massively encouraging to know so many people were covering all this, and all of us, in prayer. Thanks!  Please remember to keep on praying, the people we have met and their needs do not go away once The Noise weekend is over.
 
Over the weekend 850 people volunteered giving an estimated 7,000 hours of time with more than 600 people taking part on the Saturday; 180 people were involved in Noise Family Teams, and around 250 people volunteered as part of a Noise Youth Group Team!
 
Noise volunteers worked on over 100 different Community Transformation Projects.  These varied massively, and included litter picking on the Yellow Brick Road in Shirehampton, creating a gravel path in Netham Park in Barton Hill, a lot of work in homes and gardens in Horfield, Lockleaze and Manor Farm, some big painting and bramble cutting jobs in community centres in Southmead, helping construct a veg patch at Sea Mills Primary school, some work at Lawrence Weston Community Farm – and a couple of jobs painting inside a centre for the disabled in Knowle, and work at a Children’s Centre in Easton!
 
One of the people coordinating local projects said, ‘I have heard from a few people saying that they were very encouraged by what work had gone on to help those in need more often, and it was great to see one family being able to sit out in their garden and use the trampoline after so long not being able to do so.’
 
While some volunteers were working on the practical projects, others were setting up and hosting the six Family Fun Afternoons and Community BBQ that took place over the three days.  The weather was fabulous! This meant that each Fun Afternoon saw hundreds of people coming to enjoy all the free activities on offer, from the face painting to the talent show, the craft zone to the café area. 
 
On the Sunday, The Noise also hosted four different events for Senior Citizens, a three course dinner in Horfield and Southmead, and cream teas in Sea Mills and Barton Hill.  Around 200 senior citizens enjoyed these events, meeting new people, eating good food, and being entertained.
 
Three Football Coaching and Tournament sessions for 100 very keen football players were organised over the weekend by teams of volunteers and led by World Sports Ministries. 
 
To see photos and video clips from The Noise 2013, then visit www.thenoise.org.uk, or have a look at www.facebook.com/bristolnoise.