In the month that marked the 50th Anniversary of the first UK Pride march, and the heatwave that left Bristol feeling tropical, we provided our members with a selection of inspiring events.
For this month’s monthly meeting, we headed over to Left Handed Giant Brewery and Taproom in St Philips where we heard from Bruce Gray about the pain and failures behind his successes. We left with his mantra ringing in our ears ‘Be bold, be brave and back yourself’.
We are actively trying to improve the inclusivity of our event offering, and seeing as this month also saw the city of Bristol celebrating Pride, our Drag and Draw event couldn’t have been better timed.
Our members tapped into their artistic skills and took part in a life drawing class with a drag twist. Under the watchful eye of multidisciplinary artist Sarah-Jane Mccarthy we met Bristolian royalty Astro Zenica and Paykubi for an evening of discovery. We thank the great team at Arnolfini for hosting this event (despite not displaying our artwork!).
This month also marked the 75th anniversary of the twinning of Bristol and Hannover. Some of our Council of Management met the official delegation from Hannover and showed them some our favourite eateries and sights along the harbour. They saw the 190 litre barrel of gin that had been sailed over on a Second World War training vessel, from Hannover, to mark the occasion. Proceeds from the sale of the gin will go towards the German War Graves Commission and the Invictus Games.
(Here’s our President and Vice President enjoying an ice cream to combat the glorious weather)
This month’s sporting activity – SPIKEBALL. Needless to say, once the rules were understood, it was a real hit with our Members!
The BJC investment forum met on Tuesday 26 July for the first time since October 2021. We discussed some of the events in the last two years that have impacted the economy and looked forward to what might have an ongoing impact. Some predictions and new shares were purchased, and we’re looking forward to meeting again towards the end of the year to see if our predictions were right. Many thanks to BJC members Joe Coghlan and Jamie’s Kirkpatrick for organising, and Bishop Fleming for hosting.
This month the BJC Book Club went ‘on tour’ with a trip to the Everyman Cinema to see Where the Crawdads Sing which has been one of the group’s most highly rated and enjoyed books since they started the club! Everyone enjoyed the film with the comfy sofas and table service definitely contributing to the experience. However, as is often the case with adaptations, it certainly did not compare to the book. Lacking in the same level of depth as the novel, the film had quite a different focus which involved less detail on Kya’s difficult childhood and troublesome journey to adulthood; instead choosing to focus more around the present-day murder trial. Despite that, it was still a great watch and would recommend – just make sure to not miss out on reading the book (ideally first!).
We rounded off the month with a Tour of Thatchers Cider, organised by our Business and Enterprise Chair Connor Jones. We were invited to experience a tour of the factory where we learnt all about the different types of apples used to make cider, the process of canning and bottling, the fact that they also press blackcurrants for Ribena in their off-season, and ending with a tasting of some of their ciders.
Could we have arranged a more ‘West Country’ appropriate event?!
Thanks to Phil Smith for being an extremely knowledgeable and welcoming host.
