Community Impact

Bristol Books are a CIC (Community Interest Company) and are bound by our commitment to serving the community of Bristol as opposed to the limited company structure. This means that we are driven by our community impact rather than purely by profit.

Our mission is to enrich the culture of Bristol. We celebrate and shine a light on the history of the city, we enable the process of storytelling and bring to life untold stories. We champion working with and nurturing a diverse range of creative talent across the city and beyond, including authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers and are continually growing our network of contacts.

In recognition of our community impact in 2022 we were awarded the winner of the Bristol Life Civic Award for our contribution to the city’s culture and heritage. We were also shortlisted for a community impact award in the 2024 South West Business of the Year Awards.

Our stakeholders

Our stakeholders are publishers, authors, the media, community & history groups, schools, independent retailers across the Bristol area and Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives - where one of our directors is a volunteer researcher, archivist and Member of the Friends' Committee.

Our four directors meet on a regular bi-monthly basis, where key decisions are agreed by all stakeholders involved. After formal and ad-hoc consultation with stakeholders, we review project ideas on a regular basis and discuss which stories should be pursued. Individuals and community groups contact us from time to time and complete a form so we can consider their proposal. If a project doesn't fit our objectives, we make alternative suggestions to help the enquirer.

Consultation with retailers has shaped our relationships with sales outlets and how we make our books available to independent traders, gift shops and the wider community.

Some examples of our community involvement in 2024/25

In the year to July 31, 2025, we designed, produced and published seven books for the Bristol community:

  • We worked with Lyndon Roberts to produce 'Robin Prytherch - A Life with Buzzards' which was supported by 50 stakeholders including Bristol Ornithological Club.

  • Other books included a Bristol Walks book on behalf of Bristol Ideas, a local Days Out Guidebook, a Clevedon poetry walks book on behalf of Clevedon Litfest, a book for the Bristol-based installation artist, Luke Jerram, our first childrens story book, 'Is That Doris' produced for the learning team at Bristol Culture & Creative Industries and a history book for the Bristol & District Cricket Association.

  • We also reprinted 'A Bucketful of Patience', typeset two volumes of research on behalf of Bristol Record Society and produced a special edition of our Louise Brown biography for a conference in Mexico.

  • In December 2024 we co-produced 'Bristol 100 years in music and film' to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bristol Archives. The concert performed by Bristol Youth Orchestra at Bristol Beacon was a major civic event and attracted an audience of 1,000 people. We also produced the event branding, flyers and a souvenir programme.