The People Making a Difference for Climate and Kin

Making a Difference is an ongoing project by photographer Mark Simmons.

It documents the people and grassroots projects in Bristol enacting cultural changes that mark a radical shift from the mindset of current decision makers.

Photos show campaigns against an oppressive old system in collapse, alongside an emerging ecosystem of ecologically and socially responsible initiatives creating new systems from the ground up.

Making a Difference: Mark working on the land as part of the Bridge Farm Growers Group. Photo: Antony Lyons

On his inspiration for the project, Mark said: “This is a very challenging time to be alive but also one full of hope for new possibilities when we realise our power and agency, and come together to make good things happen.

“Through adversity we will, from necessity, organise to create new communities of mutual self-interest and regeneration.

“It’s happening, no need to be pessimistic – time to get involved!”

Mark has been documenting social change for 30 years. Now is the time to showcase stories of hope and positivity, he says:

“Most of us now realise that nature is facing unsustainable pressure from the increasing demands of unlimited economic growth and an old story of separation, competition and exploitation.

“However, there are new stories unfolding.”

Human Nature: Mark, collaborating with artist Deasy Bamford, took a group of artists into the woods to play, imagining themselves as part of nature and emerging from the natural world. “Nature and land is not for the privileged, we all need access to it to feel alive and a part of something bigger than us. Our immersive/photography project brought people who don’t always feel accepted in rural areas to kindle a relationship with the vibrancy of nature and feel at home!” said Deasy.

Making a Difference features people living and working in new ways in relationship to land and community, reflecting a move towards a regenerative culture taking place in Bristol and further afield.

Mark believes positive, solutions-focused storytelling is vital as an antidote to feelings of despair and isolation caused by relentlessly negative news coverage.

“Often provoking paralysing fear, the media can exacerbate problems and hinder the emergence of creative, localised solutions that our multiple social and ecological crises require,” says Mark.

“My hope is to inform and inspire those currently unaware of these heartening projects, highlighting that people and communities are becoming active and making a difference.

“It’s a more optimistic picture that is emerging and reveals a pragmatic, caring and adaptive side of humanity.”

Tree Wedding: Save Baltic Wharf Trees and Bristol Tree Forum, Bristol Harbourside, 2021

A protest with love and positivity at its core, a ‘wedding ceremony’ between around 70 ‘brides’ and their corresponding trees. Organiser Siobhan Kierans said the event called to attention the importance of oxygenating trees as “our partners for life”, while campaigner Suzan Hackett added: “To get married to a tree is a privilege. It’s not just a sentimental gesture, it is highly symbolic.”

74 mature trees were threatened by a planning application for new housing. The Environment Agency halted plans following the campaign and exploration of flood risks in the area.

Bristol Seed Swap, Trinity centre, February 2023

Bristol Seed Swap is a true community event, grown from small beginnings in a front room to filling the Trinity Centre with more than 800 visitors. Each year, more people bring seeds they’ve saved to add to the tables, in a display of gardening and people power. It contributes to preservation of the pool of genetic diversity of plants, protecting the biodiversity that ensures food security and mitigates climate change.

The next Bristol Seed Swap takes place on Sunday, February 11 2024 at the Trinity Centre. To volunteer, email brisseedswapvols@gmail.com

Mike Feingold in his allotment at Royate Hill, 2023

“Mike is somewhat of a local legend,” says Mark. “He is the permaculture wizard.”

Mike Feingold teaches communities how to work the land in harmony with nature. He set up and ran the Glastonbury Festival permaculture gardens for over 20 years before retiring last year. He welcomes students to his thriving Eastville allotment to learn about a diverse array of crops and plants, and runs a community apple pressing event each year.

Mike also works to save good food destined for the bins and redistributes it to people struggling with food poverty.

Save Soil action, M32 Bristol, 2022

“Restoring soil health is crucial to reverse climate change and avoid the devastation that soil extinction will bring if unchecked,” said Sadhguru, the Indian spiritual leader who launched the #SaveSoil campaign with a 30,000 km motorcycle ride across 27 countries to promote policy changes worldwide.

The degraded nature of soils threatens global food systems and life on earth for humans, plants and wildlife. Bristol campaigners were inspired to hand-paint a mural and distribute 350 posters across the city to raise awareness. Sadhguru says: “Don’t get depressed, get a plan!”

Laura Corfield with portrait of Sarah Pugh and Shift Bristol students, October 2023

Sarah Pugh, who sadly passed last year, was instrumental in embedding knowledge of nature-friendly gardening and lifestyle principles in the city and beyond. She was a founder member of the Bristol Permaculture Group and set up Transition Bristol, the first city in the Transition Network for sustainable futures.

Together, Sarah and Laura set up Shift Bristol in 2010 to deliver immersive sustainability and resilience training. Laura is creative director at Shift as well as co-founding Transition Keynsham and Frack Free Somerset.

Plastic waste – Bristol Voices on Climate Change (BVCC) project, 2012

The UK produces more plastic waste per person than almost any other country, a considerable amount of which is is sent abroad, often to countries that aren’t equipped to handle it.

This image represents one household’s weekly plastic waste, when you include the packaging used in production, warehousing and transport. BVCC explored lived experiences of lower carbon lifestyles.

Lawrence Weston community turbine,  July 2023

A community group in Lawrence Weston, one of Bristol’s more deprived areas, has built the tallest wind turbine in England. The achievement is elevated in the context of lacking central government funding for locally-owned wind power generation. The turbine, which has a maximum capacity of 4.2MW, will sell energy to the grid and generate enough power for 3,000 homes – coincidentally, the size of the local community.

Government research shows community-owned energy delivers 12 to 13 times more social and community benefits than equivalent commercial installations. The profits from the Lawrence Weston scheme will in part be used to help families on the estate struggling with energy bills as prices increase.

These photos were shown as part of Shift Bristol’s alternative careers fair, ‘Proper Job’. The Making a Difference series will be exhibited at the second Bristol Commons event on November 18. Find out more and book tickets at www.circomedia.com/community-power-land-justice-systemic-change

Mark sees this project as a work in progress and is open to collaboration ideas. Get in touch at info@marksimmonsphotography.co.uk

All photos copyright Mark Simmons.

This piece of independent journalism is supported by The Extra Mile and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership.

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