Here's what Molly had to say about her time at Trinity:

"I was expelled from my college course at Circomedia when I was 16 because of my poor participation, which was mainly due to my crippling anxiety and non-existent confidence.

I found out about Trinity's courses for young people online and signed up for some free classes and workshops as part of the 2007 Bristol Sound Project led by Nick Young. I took part in a mixing class with Souljah Clique, a scratching class with Dutty Girl, amazing singing workshops with the fantastically talented Kizzy Morrell from Studio 7, theatre sessions with director Dave Lovatt and a graffiti workshop with Bristol street-artist Silent Hobo.

I then went on to re-do the college course at Circomedia I was expelled from and received a triple distinction.

After one year of their professional course I went on to study at a well known circus school in Montpellier, France, where I had wanted to go for years. I've been working with a circus in France and now plan on coming back to Bristol to continue training and hopefully spend some time volunteering at the place which helped me gain my confidence.

The Trinity Centre is a truly unique organisation filled with talented people driven to encourage young aspiring creatives and support those who need it. My time there was special and even as a lost moody teenager I didn't feel judged or belittled - totally the opposite. I can't recommend their courses enough."

Each year Trinity works with 60 young people from challenging circumstances across our learning programme and activities. We work with young people who have fallen out of education, helping them to can gain confidence, develop skills and find routes back into education or employment.

If you would like to support our work with young people, visit our Just Giving page or text TYTP99 £[the amount you want to donate] to 70070 to donate to the Trinity Youth Training Project today.

The most notable achievement for 2014 was the completion of a two-year capital project, which included repairs to our South Aisle lead roof alongside significant redevelopment of our upstairs hall space and grounds.

Contractors gcp Chartered Architects and CW Duke worked tirelessly and within strict budget and deadline to complete the scheme of works, which included a new reception area, heating system, partition wall, sprung wooden floor, lighting and drapes - to enable us to provide a more flexible space for the variety of uses of the centre.

The plan to redevelop the Trinity Centre has been an ambition for decades and this former converted church has long been a focal point for the cultural and community activities in East Bristol. Thanks to support from funders including Big Lottery Fund and Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust, these long-held aspirations have now become a reality. With a second large hall space in the upstairs of the Centre, we are able to provide access to high-end facilities at affordable rates for a range of activities including dance, performance, meetings, conferences, weddings and more.

Over 200 Friends of Trinity turned out for our official opening of the new 'Fyfe Hall', named in memory of former board member Nicholas Fyfe, who passed away in 2007. The event gave people in the community and users of the Centre the opportunity to see all the improvements made to the building and the audience were entertained by Bristol Reggae Orchestra who gave an outstanding performance as the first musicians to perform in the newly renovated space. This was folloed by the public relaunch event with a performance from Adrian Utley of Portishead.

Throughout the year, the Trinity Centre was used by over 40,000 people, across 222 activities and events. This includes:

• 7674 participants in community events, across 12214 unique visits
• 730 people participating in projects such as our Community Garden, Arts West Side and Vice & Virtue
• 41 young people involved regularly across our youth music training programme
• 53 volunteers supporting across all activities
• provided 4 paid intern-ships for young people aged 18-24 through the Creative Employment Programme.

Our Trinity Community Initiative (TCI) provided 1,180 hrs of free or subsidised space hire at The Trinity Centre for grass-roots groups and community projects (inc theatre and dance rehearsals), meetings and events and approx 125 hrs at Arts West Side – our satellite venue on Old Market High Street.

In line with the Bristol Green Capital 2015, we will be focusing on making Trinity more sustainable, both environmentally, through taking steps to make Trinity a greener venue and financially, through building our reserves. Our activity plans for 2015 include exploring new ways of bringing communities together, such as a series of live community-debates, taking more artistic control over our live-programming and providing more learning opportunities for young people. We're looking forward to doing more for our communities in 2015!

Key Achievements

• TCA was awarded the VISIBLE accreditation certificate by Community Matters in recognition of our service to the community.

• Successfully completed our roof repair project with funding support from English Heritage, Pilgrim Trust and Biffa Award

• Delivered a training programme for 16-18 year olds in activities including Music, Photography and Graffiti, in partnership with the City of Bristol College

• Secured a new contract to deliver youth training provision in partnership with Weston College for 2014

• Delivered a Youth Music project with open music sessions for young people aged 13-21

• Delivered a community garden project, including a Women and Children's drop-in on Wednesdays as well as free gardening sessions on Thursdays with groups of vulnerable adults from Rethink and Second Step

• Completed works to our outdoor community kitchen and installed a new children's play area thanks to funding from Veolia Environmental Trust, promoting natural interactive play

• Completed our Arts Council funded Bridges Project, which culminated in a citywide site-specific performance The Ithaca Axis, featuring both professional actors and community ensemble

• Held our annual free garden party and fireworks parties attracting audiences from across the community

• Delivered the Digital Activism project for young people aged 18-25 to develop experience in the creative industries in partnership with Knowle West Media Centre and Ujima Radio

• Delivered a new youth Tank Theatre project with support from Ernest Cook Trust for young people aged 15-26 to take part in weekly acting workshops leading up to a final performance M.C.Beth at the Trinity Centre at the end of August

• Secured Awards for All funding for the Activate West Side Project at Arts West Side and have appointed a new Volunteer Coordinator for the project at the end of the year

• Secured Heritage Lottery funding for a new 18mth long project, Vice & Virtue about the history of Old Market High Street, 2013-2015

• Delivered a capital improvement project to the Centre, funded by Big Lottery Fund and Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust, to renovate the upstairs hall space and grounds

• Participating in the new Creative Employment Programme, providing paid internships for young people aged 18-24 within Trinity

• Supported numerous groups with free/subsidised hall space. See Annual Report for details.

What a great year!

2012 finished with the news that we had been awarded £500k from BIG Lottery – this will enable us to open up the first floor and to generally improve access to the building. Congratulations to all involved with our successful bid.

During the year there have been successes on all fronts.

2012 was our first as a charity, enabling us to apply for funding from a variety of trusts who we would not have been able to approach previously.

Following extensive negotiations, Bristol City Council has granted us a 35 year lease on the main Trinity building, a tremendous vote of confidence in our ongoing ability to maintain and look after this wonderful building.

We have also received significant financial and technical support from English Heritage in the planning of essential roof repairs – due to commence in Spring 2013. Whilst these will be largely unseen they will nevertheless contribute to the general air of progress and stability at Trinity.

Trinity’s outpost in West Street – Arts West Side - opened in the Spring and has gradually built up both custom and a challenging and enjoyable programme of events and activities.

Community Matters have assessed our policies and procedures – by means of the VISIBLE accreditation approach – and have been very pleased with our approach, although there is always room for improvement!

It’s a privilege and great fun to be the Chair at Trinity. Trinity’s continued success is a tribute to Emma and all the staff, volunteers and fellow Trustees who have jointly contributed so much during the year. We are very grateful too for the ongoing support from Bristol City Council, English Heritage, Arts Council, and BIG Lottery.

With so much change anticipated in 2013, we look forward to reporting on even more progress and success in the coming year. See our Annual Report for more information.

I am delighted to report that Trinity is in good shape and is ready to build on its many strengths in the coming year. This very positive position is of course due to the hard work of Emma and all our staff, of all our invaluable volunteers and our Directors. Thanks to all of you and, especially, to our outgoing chair Geoff Day, who stepped down partway through 2011.

During 2011 a number of additional Directors were recruited in order to strengthen the governance of the organisation. The enlarged Board is busy settling in and has recently held two “away days” in order to assess how best to operate in order to serve Trinity.

One long awaited success has been gaining charitable status for Trinity. This is important because it will enable us to access a wider range of potential funds and to achieve greater financial stability. As part of this initiative we have set up a trading company to operate our non charitable activities, with all surpluses gifted to the charity.

For the first time we have been awarded a grant from the Arts Council - £65,000 for the Bridges Project - an important recognition of the high quality work being delivered at Trinity. The Bridges project will provide a programme of accessible arts workshops using spoken word, creative writing, performing and visual arts, to draw out personal stories of local people and to use the arts to build bridges between communities and celebrate the rich cultural diversity of inner-city Bristol.

We are working very closely with English Heritage as part of ongoing repairs to the roof, assisted by project management skills from Bristol City Council. The Council have also committed to a 35 year lease through their Community Asset Transfer Policy. We are very grateful for the assistance of all our partners.

Our newest venture in West Street is nearly ready to be launched, with building works almost complete and enthusiastic volunteers exploring how best to use all the new facilities.

This is a very exciting time to be involved with Trinity. I’m delighted to be able to report positive progress on so many fronts. I look forward to even more progress in 2012 and in subsequent years.

Check out our Annual Report for more information.

I hope that all members will agree that Trinity has had a very successful 2010. This Annual Report gives details of the activities that have been taking place at the Trinity Centre over the last year. Our thanks go to our committed staff, volunteers and members who supported in the delivery of these services. The Directors feel that 2010 provided a period of stability after the past challenges experienced by Trinity. We do not think that we have got everything right yet, but we hope the members will agree that we are moving in the right direction.

At last year's AGM we adopted new articles, which now enable us to carry out our work with a clearer understanding of our position and legality. There were some concerns expressed in certain areas and following a period of further consultation we will be presenting a refined version of the articles for approval at the 2010 AGM. We believe this will address the issues raised and ensure our constitution is a true reflection of our shared mission and values. We have been working with the Cooperative Assistance Network, CommunityMatters and the Business Development team from the Communitybuilders Fund, who have all helped us in 2010 with the ongoing development of the organisation.

We have been working with Bristol City Council in the negotiation of a longer lease for the Trinity Centre, to secure the future of this building for the community. Bristol City Council have now implemented a Community Asset Transfer Policy, which will help to advance this process and we are hopeful to achieve a positive outcome in 2011. We have also applied for Charitable status and are receiving support in order to ensure this application will be successfully concluded in the near future.

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the members to thank the Board of Directors and our Company Secretary Simon Hewes and the team at Bond Pearce – all of whom have given a huge amount of time voluntarily, and have received no payment for their services, either directly or in the way of expenses.

Throughout the year we have been working to identify how best we can widen participation through our membership. We have held several consultation sessions and are keen to work with local people and Centre users to assure the needs of our communities are reflected and influence the future development of Trinity.

We have received considerable grant support from a variety of funders to deliver projects, training and improve the building. Future applications are in hand, which will hopefully yield further development. The directors and staff feel that we are now in a strong position to move forward and further develop and improve the scope and range of activities taking place at Trinity.

Check out our Annual Report for more information.

2009 was truly a year of transition for Trinity.

Anyone familiar with team training might have heard of Bruce Tuckman's four stage “forming, storming, norming, performing” development model. With this in mind, it is fair to say that the organisation experienced its share of storming throughout the year.

Though it was difficult and sometimes painful, the team maintained their focus. In spite of the trials faced, we were able to deliver a range of events and activities and continue to sustain and develop the Trinity Centre as a community hub.

We welcomed a new board bringing with them a range of business skills, community knowledge and expertise, which will be particularly important as we grow and expand.

In addition, we welcomed Centre Administrators Rhiannon Jones and Karina Castro, Outreach Worker Edson Burton, Research Assistant Annie Berrie and five young people who will be taking on part-time roles as part of the Future Jobs Fund.

We were also inundated with many dedicated, hard working and highly skilled volunteers, who have helped us increase our capacity to deliver our services.

With minimal resources, we have continued to make improvements and renovations to the facilities. We would like to give a special thanks to all our volunteers from Leyhill HMP who have worked with us throughout the year, helping us with a range of facilities jobs, including redecorating the main hall space and building an additional training room upstairs.

We were also supported by volunteer teams from KPMG and Deloitte, who visited us in the summer and helped us overhaul our garden as well as several other large jobs that could not have tackled without their help.

We would like to thank TLT Solicitors and Graham Partridge at Avon & Bristol Law Centre, who have given us their support and advice throughout the year. Our successes could not have been possible without the ongoing support given to us by the Simon Hewes and the team at Bond Pearce, so a big thank you to them for all their efforts in the face of some huge challenges. Thanks also to the ongoing support from Transparency Life Coaching, who have helped us with management and communication coaching.

There is, now more than ever, such strong commitment and unity amongst the team and clarity of vision that we are set to hit the ground running in 2010. Thanks to all who persevered through all that was thrown at us to keep Trinity thriving.

Check out our Annual Report for more information.

2008 has been a year of rapid growth and development.

In one year we have played host to 49 live music events and facilitated 134 community sessions, from retro markets and jobs fairs to parties and forums. We have also run over 200 workshops and training sessions, either as part of our training program or through our various projects such as the Bristol Sound Project, our First Light Movies project and Project Respect.

We have seen our staff numbers grow from one full time member to three key posts. Activities Coordinator Emma Harvey continues excel in her role to achieving success for the Centre and the communities we service. Project Coordinator, Nick Young, has ensured successful delivery of our Heritage Lottery Young Roots grant, creating a project that was both engaging and ground-breaking. The newest member of our team, Training Coordinator Katie Pearce, will see us developing and improving upon the success of our 2008 training program, offering a wider range of courses to a broader social demographic.

We have several new directors, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and experience. We have also seen an encouraging increase in voluntary participation at Trinity, increasing the efficiency and capacity of our admin team.

The most notable development this year has been Bristol City Council awarding us the status of Key Arts Provider within the city. This recognition of our achievements within arts and the community shows how far we have come since re-opening the Centre four years ago.

Another major success of the year has been the development of our IT facilities. We have made great progress in providing Free and Open Source Software alternatives to those using our facilities - improving the likelihood of continued use of these accessible tools outside of the Centre. We now have a fully networked IT suite running from our own Linux distribution, which will be of great benefit to the communities we service. We have also continued to develop and improve our website and have secured a second grant through the Quartet Foundation to add some more interactive features.

Finally 2008 has been a year of developing the building. We have a completed Recording Studio, part funded by our Bristol Objective 2 grant, and have secured an English Heritage grant to carry out a full conditions survey of the building in 2009. We have also renovated and improved our hall spaces, stage and the exterior of the building - much of which has been achieved on a minimal budget with huge voluntary participation.

A massive thank you to all those who have put their blood, sweat and tears into making all these great things happen.

Check out our Annual Report for more information.

I must start by thanking all the people, organisations and partners who have ensured the success we are now seeing. Every year I am amazed by the altruistic input Trinity seems to attract. Without our partners, and the organisations who use our resources, this success would be not be possible - so I formally give thanks to you all on Trinity’s behalf.

This year Trinity has seen rapid growth within our management team, and development of the infrastructure of the building and our facilities. This is due to the continued intensive investment of time and energy made by all who have Trinity’s success at heart. The success of Trinity Community Arts, in my opinion, is now firmly fixed as a stable reality. We can now boast that we are truly self-supporting, and that any investment made in us will be solely used to directly benefit the community.

For example, we have seen the completion of the first year of training here, one of our finest achievements so far, leading to the close partnership we now have with City of Bristol College. Trinity has now made the necessary first steps to becoming an accredited learning centre, and we look forward to a bright future with more courses planned and a wider remit. In particular we are continuing to address the inability of main stream education to target those young people who have disengaged from society, or who are at risk of doing so - those most in need of a sense of direction.

Another milestone that we have passed this year is the start of the long-awaited first floor improvements funded by Objective 2, Bristol City Council Equalities team, Yansec and ourselves. These improvements make the first floor more accessible to the public and will provide high-quality sound-proofed studios for the local community.

In July we saw the arrival of Emma Harvey, our new Activities Coordinator and Administrator. She immediately adapted to the position and has now become the central focus and the most valuable asset to the organisation. Emma sees no boundaries to her job title, and has successfully taken on fundraising, website design, publicity, and recruitment - far exceeding our expectations. It also gives me great pleasure to welcome Jennie Jones as new Chair of the organisation. I believe that we would not find a more talented and enthusiastic person and I am now very excited about the future with such a solid team. Watch this space.

Let’s not forget the events which are such an important part of Trinity’s heritage. Muse Music (now Meme Music) has continued to raise the game in this area with highlights for 2007 including The Good the Bad and the Queen and Willy Mason.

We have now entered a more professional and high-profile arena, which mirrors the progress we have been making as an organisation. Many thanks to Simon Bell and Teresa Vandre of Meme Music for the effort they have made in maintaining and improving our partnership.

Finally, the year 2007 ended on a very positive note, as the successful management of Objective 2 funding now opens the door to significant funding from Heritage Lottery, English Heritage and the Arts Council. Our short lease previously excluded us from access to major funding from these bodies, but in 2008 we will draw up a new service level agreement with Bristol City Council. This should provide a lease long enough to persuade these bodies to invest substantially in the fabric of the building, and in other worthy projects to enhance the resources available to deprived local communities.

We all firmly believe that Trinity can and will develop into a renowned centre of excellence for the South West, and become one of the finest jewels in Bristol’s crown.

Check out our Annual Report for more information.