Latest news with #BristolBusBoycott
BBC News
03-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Bristol Walk Fest is back with 400 walks planned for May
An annual festival celebrating walking and its health benefits has Walk Fest is holding more than 400 walks throughout the month of May, run by more than 70 of the walks are free, and most are themed – with topics including everything from the Blitz to the Bristol Bus Boycott, fossils along the river Frome and Victorian Lloyd, the festival's director, said: "With a choice of free walks every single day of the month, you're bound to find something to pique your interest." There are also options for those with specific accessibility needs. Among the history-themed walks are routes titled 'Blackbeard to Banksy' and '1831 Bristol Riots: A City in Flames'.Those more interested in nature than history can join groups exploring Steart Marshes nature reserve, and the Failand bluebell trail. The festival also includes walking versions of rugby, football, cricket and tennis, and Nordic walking, which involves the use of poles to move the upper body. The festival began with a panel discussion on the benefits of walking for wellbeing and mental who took part included Bristol Rovers player Taylor Moore, Claire Allen, who helped raise £25,000 for homelessness charities by walking 5,000 miles around Britain and Orla Hennessy, founder of Girls Who Walk Bristol.
BBC News
31-01-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Dr Paul Stephenson: Hundreds remember civil rights campaigner
Hundreds of people have gathered at Bristol Cathedral to remember one of the UK's leading civil rights campaigners. The achievements of Dr Paul Stephenson OBE, who died in November, were marked during a special service attended by about 400 actions of Dr Stephenson, who led the Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963 and undertook a one-man sit in at a Bristol pub that refused to serve him, helped pave the way for the first Race Relations Act in 1965. Actor David Harewood, who attended the service, said: "It feels like it's my duty to come down and pay respect to someone who was probably one of the first people to stand up with such incredible consequences." At the memorial, The Berkeley Singers, directed by Marie Lee, sang O Radiant Dawn, to get the event under Lord Lieutenant Peaches Golding OBE was among those who attended. Paul Boateng, a member of the House of Lords, told those gathered: "a mighty tree has fallen"."None of us would be here if Paul hadn't refused to give up his seat when they told him to, if he hadn't faced the humiliation of arrest, the finger printing, the day in court, none of us would be here," he said. Harewood added: "He really stood up to bigotry, racism and his fight still today has a lasting legacy."Also paying tribute at the service, Lord Simon Woolley said: "We know about Rosa Parks, we need to know about Paul Stephenson."He added Marvin Rees' election as the first black mayor in Bristol was "due to the work" Dr Stephenson achieved. He also called for a statue of Dr Stephenson to be Trevor Phillips, writer and former politician, also spoke at the memorial."This man was a warrior, but he never entered the arena with rage or fear in his eyes," he said. Earlier this week, Radio Bristol met three people who knew Dr Stephenson personally at The Bay Horse pub in central Bristol. It was here the campaigner attracted national attention when he was arrested after refusing to leave without being served - an event that is now marked by a plaque on its wall. Lilleith Morrison, who co-wrote Dr Stephenson's autobiography Memoirs of a Black Englishman, described him as "our Martin Luther King". Ms Morrison said: "Everyone's got equal rights now, theoretically at least, and it all came about because of what happened in the bus boycott and in this pub. "This pub now represents a way of keeping that story alive, and people can come in and read about it and acknowledge what Paul did. "It's a sort of line of communication from the past to now." She added Dr Stephenson "loved telling" a joke about being the only person to be granted Freedom of the City of Bristol who had spent a night in jail. Dr Stephenson, the son of an African father and mixed race British mother, moved to Bristol in boycott of the Bristol Omnibus Company he organised overturned a ban on people from ethnic minorities working on buses in the city, while his pub sit-in also gained nationwide attention. He left the city in the early 1970s for London, but on his return in 1992 helped set up the Bristol Black Archives Partnership, which protects and promotes the history of African-Caribbean people in the city. He was made an OBE in 2009 for his services to equal opportunities and to community relations - a moment filmmaker Rob Mitchell described as "no doubt one of the proudest moments of his life". "He would have been finally accepted by England itself, his country of birth, the country he loved very dearly, and that was his ultimate form of acceptance I think," Mr Mitchell added.
BBC News
31-01-2025
- General
- BBC News
Dr Paul Stephenson: Civil rights leader's life in pictures
Bristol will remember the life and achievements of one of the UK's leading civil rights campaigners during a cathedral service Paul Stephenson, who led the Bristol Bus Boycott and helped pave the way for the Race Relations Act in the 1960s, died in November aged 87. From humble beginnings in the East of England, Dr Stephenson became known nationwide through his campaigns, and forged relationships with some of the most famous figures of the 20th Century. Ahead of a service marking his extraordinary life's work at Bristol Cathedral on Friday, his daughter Fumi Stephenson has shared a selection of family photos telling his story. During World War Two, Dr Stephenson was evacuated to Essex, where he was taken in by foster mother Ma Fisk. She became "a beloved guardian", Ms Stephenson told the BBC, who her father spoke about with "great affection". Ms Stephenson said education "became both a battleground and a beacon of hope" for her father, adding that he was "determined" to disprove people who underestimated him because of his race. "He often spoke about teachers who discouraged him from aspiring beyond manual labour, yet he refused to accept their limitations," she said. "Looking back, I see how my father's childhood shaped him into the leader he became. His story is one of resilience, courage, and a relentless pursuit of justice." Dr Stephenson and his wife Joyce married within a year of meeting, a connection their daughter attributed to a "shared vision for life". They remained together until Mrs Stephenson's death in 2019, a "partnership" - Ms Stephenson said - was "not just of romance, but of purpose". Dr Stephenson was one of the leading figures of the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, a sixty-day campaign which began after a young black man was refused an interview for a job on the city's buses because of his race. The ensuing protest attracted nationwide attention and was instrumental in paving the way for the country's first Race Relations Act in 1965. The picture above from a BBC interview with Dr Stephenson just after the campaign's victory, in which he said he was "very pleased indeed" that the Bristol Omnibus Company had dropped its discriminatory hiring policy. While he would return to Bristol decades later, Dr Stephenson left the city in the 1960s - first for Coventry and later London. While away he became involved with a number of community initiatives, including setting up a school music award with acclaimed jazz singer and actress Cleo picture above shows Dr Stephenson and Mrs Stephenson (second and third left) with Ms Laine (second right) and her late husband, fellow jazz musician and composer John Dankworth (third right), who were described by Ms Stephenson as fellow "influential figures in the fight for racial equality". While in London, Dr Stephenson also forged a relationship with one of the most famous figures of the 20th Century, boxer Muhammad Ali."Their story began in dramatic fashion," Ms Stephenson said. "As Ali was preparing to board his flight back to America, my father ran after him, calling out to him as Muhammad Ali rather than his former name, Cassius Clay. "That moment caught Ali's attention, and from there, they began a conversation that would lead to both a personal and professional relationship." This chance meeting eventually led the pair to co-found the Muhammad Ali Sports Development Association (MASDA) in Brixton, which was set up to create opportunities for young black people. Dr Stephenson's wide network also included a decades-long friendship with the Labour politician and former cabinet minister Tony Benn, who supported many of his Mr Benn as a "grandfatherly figure", Ms Stephenson said: "Even as he grew older and his health declined, Tony continued to board the train from London to Bristol, determined to attend as many of my father's events as he could. "His presence was a reminder that solidarity requires action, not just words. He didn't just support my father's causes from a distance - he showed up, time and time again." In 2009, Dr Stephenson was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II, an honour his daughter described as being of "immense pride" for their entire family. "That day was not just about an award - it was about the decades of perseverance, sacrifice, and change that my father had fought for," she said. Back in Bristol, Dr Stephenson remained close friends with Tony and Lalel Bullimore, who founded the iconic Bamboo Club in St Pauls - described by Ms Stephenson as "one of the first multi-racial music venues of its time". Mr Bullimore went on to gain worldwide fame in the 1990s when he survived for four days in the upturned hull of his boat, which capsized during a solo round-the-word race. "The connection between my father, Paul, and Tony Bullimore was immediate and undeniable," Ms Stephenson said. "They became close friends, sharing not only a love of music but also a vision for a world where people from all walks of life could come together."Their friendship lives on in me, and I carry the memories of those days with great pride and gratitude."
