Monthly Roundup: June 2022

In the month that Glastonbury made its return and Elton John performed in Bristol, we kept ourselves incredibly busy with more awesome events.

Our monthly meeting was hosted by local legend Marti Burgess, Partner at Bevan Brittan LLP and with a whole host of accolades including, most recently, ‘Outstanding Contribution to Bristol’ at the Bristol Live Business Awards 2021 under her belt, we were left in awe. Speaking about her varying roles and positions across the city it was clear that she has a passion for Bristol and ensuring that it reflects the breadth and balance of culture within it.

The sun was shining for the BJC’s bi-monthly bookclub which allowed for a lovely al-fresco gathering on King Street. The book up for discussion this month was A Line to Kill by Anthony Horrowitz (think Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War!). A classic murder-mystery & ‘whodunnit’ style novel but with an interesting twist in that the author had actually written himself into the fictional storyline – this gave it quite a unique perspective! We were all in agreement that the murderer came as quite a surprise, probably due to the various red-herrings we were served throughout the storyline. Our verdict is that the book was enjoyable; quite an easy read but with enough suspense to keep us all interested! We toyed between scores but landed on a 3/5 review.

If you’re interested in joining, please get in touch with Amy Moody.

Our Members also enjoyed an exclusive evening tour of the Wills Memorial Building. This included the Great Hall, the Library and a visit to the top of the famous tower. The breathtaking view at 65 meters above the street below was complete with hot air balloons flying over the city. The party was also lucky enough to be standing right next to the tower’s nine and a half tonne bell ‘Great George’ when it chimed for 20:00. 

We thank University of Bristol and are pleased to help contribute to the fundraising efforts for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal. 

This month also saw our competitive side come out as the BJC Flamingos took to the river and participated in the annual Bristol Dragon Boat Racing.

You can read all about how we got on here! And if you follow us on Instagram, check out our reel – it’s almost like you were there!

Our fighting spirit continued on, and while some of us were off enjoying Glasto, our Chair of Sport Christian Dando rallied a group of our members to facilitate the, now annual, BJC Boules tournament (no, we weren’t in the South of France, but the Durdham Downs suited us just fine!)

The honours went to BJC members from the elegantly named ‘Team 1’, consisting of Dan St Quintin, Heather Rees and Liz Potter. Congratulations for a commanding set of victories over the other four teams.

Thankfully the weather held on for a fun night supplemented by a good helping of refreshments and conversation. Keep an eye out for more sporting activities in the coming weeks.

We rounded off the month with a New Members Welcome evening, where we were able to chat and get to know some of the fresh faces. It was great to hear about what prompted them to join and become part of the network.

My partner has been a member for quite a while, so I’ve been to a few past events as a guest, but I had no idea about the variety or number of events that BJC has!

Anonymous Member

They’re not wrong – as this article has demonstrated. Stay tuned for the next monthly round up.