‘If I could change one thing in Bristol it would be to tackle holiday hunger’

Community of Purpose is a not-for-profit social enterprise founded in 2016 by Amy and Joe Kington who partner with businesses to improve the lives of children.

Community of Purpose aims to engage hard to reach groups, enhance community cohesion and improve social mobility through outreach programmes such as the Young Heroes Award and Bristol Together Championships.

What’s the one thing that inspires you to get up in the morning?

Our alarm clocks aren’t the only thing that wakes us up in the morning. We wake up with a purpose! We transform the lives and futures of young people through businesses who act as a force for good.

There’s a lot to do in order to make Bristol better for young people and we’re really lucky that we get to work with lots of incredible businesses who act as a force for good.

If you could pick one thing to change about Bristol what would it be? 

Most people look back and remember their school holidays as some of the best times of their lives. Going on trips and days out, times with their friends and family, free of school work and responsibility, maybe attending a holiday camp or activities week. What isn’t to like? Unfortunately for many young people growing up in Bristol today, this is not their experience.

Underlying poverty and community issues have been exacerbated by the economic crisis and the change to universal credit. This has left many families unable to afford access to these opportunities, and in many cases has even undermined their ability to access basic needs such as food and getting three meals a day.

Children at one of Community of Purpose’s many holiday days out – Photo: Dougie Allward 

So, rather than looking forward to the school holidays, the holidays have become for many a stressful time, when families who already struggle find it even harder to provide for their children and young people.

We work with some incredible businesses who help us to take thousands of young people on free school meals to destinations and enrichment activities during the 50 days of the school holidays per year.  So, if I could change one thing in Bristol it would be to tackle holiday hunger as we’re nowhere near to eradicating the issue.

What does a Better Bristol mean to you?

We’re committed to enriching the lives of individuals and communities, empowering people to take collective action and generate solutions to real-life problems. We’d love more people to join our community to help create social uplift within communities by tackling inequality and improving social mobility for young people.

Kids take climbing lessons as part of the Break Free programme – Photo: Dougie Allward 

By working together we can directly contribute to positive projects that make our city a better and fairer place. So please take a moment to imagine a world, with you, yes you! Your talents, your time, your money, your actions, your connections, joined with communities most in need, all rising as one to unleash everyone’s potential.

That’s 364,000 Bristolians unleashing their capacity to make Bristol better for young people.  Powered by you. Working together to be a force for good to create a Better Bristol.

Main photo: Dougie Allward 

Read more: We are keen to develop new initiatives to help improve financial resilience across Bristol  

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