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Bedminster is Best

Supporting our community is important to us at Minuteman Press Bristol, and we are very proud of our location in Bedminster. It was fantastic news when one of our directors, Lucie Wise, was recently elected as a director of the Bedminster Town Team.

The limited company formed last May (2012) as a result of the ‘Portas Pilots’ – whereby various neglected UK high streets were awarded grants via Mary Portas’ government initiative.

Lucie said: “The directorship is an honour and responsibility for me and Minuteman Press Bristol. I am very excited to be on board. We spend the best part of the day here in Bedminster and feel that we are local in the same way that people who live here are.

“Together with the other directors, I will be able to know what improvements are planned, express my opinion on them, and make sure that our end of Bedminster is represented and gets a fair share in the Business Improvement District”.

The main goals of the Town Team are to improve the economic health of the high street, and encourage locals to engage in more activities in the area.

Lucie says one of the first areas she will look at is improving conditions for Bedminster cyclists: “I would like more cycling furniture to be installed (eg bike locking rails on the streets), more greenery introduced and to reduce littering on the streets. That is my starting point but there are many other issues”.

Having been based in Bedminster since 2006, Lucie says she really loves the area’s character: “It may look little scruffy on the edges, but it’s a very friendly place with people who care”.

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We’ve Got Bed Bugs!

We love working in Bristol and supporting the Bedminster community, where our studio is located. So when we heard about the Bedminster Bugs initiative, we didn’t hesitate to sign up to decorate our building with a beautiful beastie. This explains why we currently have a bright yellow Bed bug lurking on the front of our print centre frontage, and we’ve been tickled by the surprised expressions on people’s faces when they head down to Bedminster to tick off all 83 of the bugs on the trail (we’re number one, by the way!).

Jointly organised by the Upfest Gallery on North Street, and the Bedminster Town Team, we caught up with Upfest arts director Steve Hayles to find out more. He said: “The bugs project was funded by the Bedminster Town Team from the money they got through the Mary Portas scheme to rejuvenate some of Britain’s high streets.

“The bug trail has been going very well. Families and children have really enjoyed them. We’ve had people come bug spotting from all over the country, including some elderly ladies from London. I think we’ve handed out about 7,000 bug trail maps, which is a pretty good indication of how popular it’s been!”

BUG FACT: The Minuteman Press Bristol’s bug was painted by local illustrator Dom Williams, a member of the Cretin Collective.