Coffee with Anne and Sue: 25 years of memories!

We joined Anne Joslin and Sue Kelly for a cuppa while they were looking through our photo archive, picking out pictures to use as part our upcoming celebration event.

“This is when we broke the sod” says Sue, “after all the planning and seeing things on paper it was really happening”.

Anne and Sue are regular faces around Wellspring Settlement, and have been involved with the organisation in one way or another for decades. At the moment they’re casting their minds back over 25 years to when a community group born from the then Barton Hill Settlement formed to put together a bid for a Community at Heart grant.

“We knew the doctors’ surgery had to move” says Anne, “That was the starting point really. And from that we started discussing what we actually wanted in the area. Not just a GP surgery, but something more around holistic health. Sue, you were already looking at the Urban Park weren’t you, with Sandra and Margaret?”

“That’s right” Sue replies, “Lots of people at the time just didn’t want to leave Barton Hill. They were born and bred here and they wanted to be here. And then in the 90s we had the influx of the Somali population and that completely changed the areas as well. But we knew that no matter what people’s background was, they would benefit from having all these health services on their doorstep.”

“And so we joined up and all went for this idea of complete healthy living. People from here didn’t want to go out of the area for appointments so we wanted somewhere consultants would come to, where people could get physiotherapy or complementary therapies, go to the dentist, everything really.”

“Lots of people said that nobody in the area would want things like complementary therapies,” Anne continues, “but we pushed and we pushed. We knew people would use things like that if the price was right for them. We were lucky that we had David Martin on board, he was all for therapies and really supported the vision.”

“So we decided to put ourselves forward for the New Deal for Communities money. I was on the Board of the Settlement at the time.” says Anne, “Six of us from the Settlement gave a presentation, and it was the best bid so the money came to this area. Unfortunately the Settlement weren’t in a position to continue the development work, there were just so many strands to the project. So we opened the planning group up to the community and more and more people got involved.”

Sue picks up another photo: “Look how young we all were! It’s Mandy, she was part of the group from the start, and Reg too!”

It’s hard to imagine how you all came up with one vision for the building and what it would deliver when you were starting from a completely blank slate. How did it turn into one coherent vision?

Sue explains: “We went on lots of trips to see different organisations like Bromley by Bow, and also to Delft and Dublin. We gave talks about the ideas we’d had for the Healthy Living Centre, we got ideas for how we wanted the building to feel when people came in, what worked and what didn’t.”

“We had a really committed planning group as well. We met every Monday, without fail. And we had a say in everything, the floor, the colours, where the rooms would go, all of it. We worked really closely with the architect, and with the New Deal people. It was government money so there were certain things we had to do, some things we couldn’t do. But every decision was taken by us.”

“And we got the wider community involved as well.” says Anne, “In fact my son’s primary school class did the animal tiles on the reception floor, and now he’s getting married in a few weeks! It really says a lot about this area that so many people got involved.”

It must have been great when the building work actually started, especially as you’re both so local. Were you coming past every day to check on the progress?

“Absolutely, we were there all the time!” Sue laughs, “All the builders knew us after a while. We’d ask if we could come on to the site and see and they were fine with that. And we weren’t shy! If we didn’t think something was right we’d say so and they’d change it. I’d ask if I could hammer a nail in and they’d show me how, so I’ve built part of this building as well!”

Tell me about the opening, that must have been a pretty special event!

“Well I’d taken a step back from the group at that point,” says Anne, “I do remember the day though, and being really, really proud.”

“It was great,” says Sue, “we had all these big important people turn up, trying to push to the front of the photos and take credit. But we wouldn’t let them! We’d done all the work, we’d been there since the beginning, we deserved the credit, not them! I’m glad we were so strong on it because we’d achieved this, and I doubt very much any of them would have come up with the same sort of Healthy Living Centre! So much of it came from the community, they really pushed for their vision.”

“Once the building had opened I started using the services more and more”, add Anne, “After I’d left the Settlement Board I ended up being on the Board for the Healthy Living Centre, and now I’m on the Board for Wellspring Settlement!”

Sue continues “The opening was great after so much planning and work, but seeing people actually using the building, using the services on offer, that was really special.”

I asked what the two of them hope to see from Wellspring Settlement in the future.

“I’d love to see the Social Prescribing project continue to develop,” says Anne “There are so may different interpretations of what Social Prescribing is, I’d love to see it develop in a way that makes it right for this area. I’d like to see more physical activities happening again, and for there to be a volunteer co-ordinator. There are lots of people in the area who would love the chance to build skills and give something back through volunteering.”

I’d like to see it busier,” says Sue. “There used to be loads of small activities going on, our Knit and Natter group, community lunches, bingo. The way things are funded has changed and I know it’s harder to run things like that now, but I think people would love to see those kinds of activities.”

Anne adds. “Working more with other local organisations would be good to see, like Trinity Arts and In Bristol Studios. Our Art Room and Dance Studio are such great resources and there must be a way to work with other organisations to use them more.”

“There’s so much potential now the Healthy Living Centre and Settlement are one organisation, providing services not just around health and wellbeing, but advice, family and youth, and community work too. That can only be a good thing for Barton Hill. It’s nice to think that the idea for the Healthy Living Centre originally came from Barton Hill Settlement, it became an organisation in its own right, and now the two have merged to form Wellspring Settlement. It’s all come full circle!”

I leave Sue and Anne to their pile of photos and press clippings. There’s a lot to wade through and even more memories to pin down. The passion for the local area and the organisation is so evident. They’ll both be attending our anniversary event on November 20^th, and are keen to pass the passion on to the next generation of workers, volunteers, organisers and trustees. Come along to find out how you can get support and get involved with Wellspring Settlement!