The History of Bristol Noise

CATCHING THE VISION

Back in August 2000, a group of young Christians from Bristol went up to Manchester to an event run by the churches there, called Message 2000. This ambitious city-wide youth mission saw around 10,000 young Christians give up part of their summer holidays to volunteer on social, environmental and crime reduction projects across Manchester, with the aim of sharing God’s love and gospel message through these projects. The project was hailed as a massive success by the police and many others, and it was here that the group from Bristol caught the vision of showing God’s love in practical ways, putting social action and sharing the gospel hand in hand - and so the vision of Bristol Noise began.

In 2001, the first version of ‘The Noise’ event took place, in Lockleaze with 30 volunteers, and also in Barton Hill with 100 volunteers. The teams of volunteers, which were mostly young people, took part in community projects to bless the local area. In 2002 two more Noise events took place, this time in Hartcliffe and Lockleaze.

‘THE NOISE’ GETS LOUDER

In the following years, ‘The Noise’ grew to different parts of Bristol. Bristol Noise offered an open hand to the city, inviting churches to get involved and facilitate local projects. Hosted by local churches and carried out by volunteers, ‘The Noise’ annual event included free outdoor family fun afternoons, senior citizen events and practical community projects.

In 2008, a small team of Christians, with a vision to do more to increase community engagement and social action across the country, formed HOPE Together, which acted as a catalyst in bringing churches together to transform communities. Bristol’s response to this was a vision to double the size of ‘The Noise’, aiming for 400 volunteers and to expand further across the city.

From 2008-2018, ‘The Noise’ continued to grow. Each year the number of volunteers, communities and churches involved increased, with activities soon spreading into East and South Bristol too. The growth of ‘The Noise’ was at grassroots level, waiting to be invited into a neighbourhood by the local churches and community. Churches journeyed with us to support their communities, enabling ‘The Noise’ activities to grow into new areas. The vision for Bristol Noise is to build God’s kingdom, not an empire, so working with local churches and communities has always been important.

HOPE BRISTOL 2018

In 2018, Bristol Noise partnered with Soul Survivor to put on HOPE Bristol. This 5-day event was focused on inspiring and releasing young people to get involved in their communities, and helped to recapture the original vision of ‘The Noise’ in young people. Young people from across the UK were invited to join in, and in total 1400 volunteers of all ages participated, including those from 93 different Bristol churches. Volunteers hosted 170 community projects, 25 events for kids, youth and senior citizens and 15 community fun afternoons, reaching into 25 neighbourhoods across Bristol.

‘THE NOISE’ IN RECENT YEARS

In 2019, ‘The Noise’ returned, and saw just under 1000 volunteers of all ages come together to put on a range of events and projects across the city.

Experience of ‘The Noise’ in Bristol has also inspired people in other parts of the UK to start their own version. The Bristol Noise team has given support to these other areas, in particular The Noise in Devizes and The Noise Lincoln.

Over the years, the activities of Bristol Noise have provided opportunities to connect with the council, charities, organisations and schools, allowing us to become a bridge between them and the church. Another connection enabled by Bristol Noise has been between larger, well-resourced churches and smaller, under-resourced churches. We want to see Bristol churches all working together.

NOISE 365

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, ‘The Noise’, along with many other events, had to be cancelled. However, this enabled Bristol Noise to focus on another aspect of our vision: to see churches get involved in their communities 365 days a year. ‘The Noise’ annual event was hoped to be a springboard for churches and individuals, to inspire them to continue volunteering and getting involved in their communities throughout the year. Noise 365 was born out of this vision, and has had space to grow in the past year. Read more about Noise 365 here.

Our vision was captured over 20 years ago and still remains the same, while Bristol Noise has grown and evolved to better achieve that vision.