When discussing Bristol City Leap, it’s tempting to focus solely on the projects delivered and the carbon emissions reduced. However, this groundbreaking initiative is more than just those metrics. With Social Value at its core, it is also about empowering people, enhancing their opportunities, developing skills, and shaping brighter futures.

That’s why Bristol City Leap recently partnered with boomsatsuma, a Bristol-based education provider for the creative industries, to support 29 student filmmakers to produce six short films spotlighting organisations funded through the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund.

The result? A powerful set of case-study films that tell real stories of community-led climate action, and a meaningful professional experience that helped emerging creatives build confidence, develop industry skills, and learn what it means to deliver work for a real client.

This collaboration is a great example of how Bristol City Leap is working to support people’s career ambitions as part of our wider social value commitments: investing in local talent, creating pathways into good green jobs, and using our platform to amplify the organisations shaping Bristol’s low-carbon future.

A partnership built on shared values

Bristol City Leap is committed to delivering clean, affordable energy at scale, but we’re equally focused on ensuring the benefits are felt locally. That means supporting communities, strengthening local organisations, and helping Bristol residents access opportunities.

Working with boomsatsuma was an ideal fit. The partnership combined: 

  • Real community impact: showcasing the positive outcomes of the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund 
  • Real professional development: giving students a live brief and a client-facing production experience 
  • Real storytelling: capturing Bristol’s climate transition through the people making it happen 

Students were commissioned to create films that explore why each organisation applied for funding and the difference the funding has made, whether that’s planning low-carbon upgrades for historic buildings, improving energy efficiency in community hubs, or building confidence and skills through inclusive workshops. 

What students gained: a live brief, a real client, and practical experience 

Each group worked with a funded organisation as their subject, researching, developing a concept, planning and filming on location, and delivering an edit that met the needs of a professional client. 

For students, this type of opportunity is invaluable. It brings classroom learning into the real world, helping them practice and develop: 

  • Client communication and creative collaboration 
  • Production planning and time management 
  • Interviewing and documentary storytelling 
  • Filming on location and working with contributors 
  • Editing to a brief and delivering to a deadline 

Just as importantly, it gave students something many early-career creatives need: a portfolio piece with real-world credibility and the experience of working on a project with a clear purpose and public value. 

“This project has been a brilliant example of what happens when education and industry come together with a shared purpose,” said Head of Post Production, Mark Adams.  “Students were able to work professionally, creatively and collaboratively while telling stories that really matter.”

The films

The students created six community stories powered by the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund. Each film offered a window into Bristol’s community energy movement, from heritage sites and cultural venues to local farms, pools and scout huts. Together, they demonstrated the breadth of the Fund and the range of organisations leading change.

58th Scout Group

The 58th Scout Group is based in one of Bristol’s most deprived areas. Their Scout Hut is more than a building, it’s a vital space where young people learn skills for life, supported by dedicated volunteers.

The Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund support is enabling a comprehensive feasibility study into solar energy, heating solutions, and retrofitting options for the Hut. The film shines a light on the power of local spaces and the value of enabling sustainability in places where it can have a lasting ripple effect through young people and communities.

This film was created by:
Hannah Lange – Production Manager and Editor
Fred Johnson – Camera Operator
Tolly Haydon-Turner – External
Leon Bush – Sound Operator

 

Friends of Jubilee Pool

Jubilee Pool has served Bristol for generations as a place of health, joy and connection. But energy costs are rising, and the pool’s ageing gas boilers are becoming a risk, with only three of four currently operational.

With funding, the Trustees are exploring the potential for Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) through an ASHP and mechanical feasibility design report, as part of a wider heat decarbonisation plan. This film tells a story many community facilities will recognise: the hard reality of outdated infrastructure, and the determined, practical steps communities are taking to secure a cleaner, more resilient future.

This film was created by:
Holly Bielby – Production Manager/shoot coordinator
Archie Day – 1st AD/Boom Mic Operator
Ethan Gordon-Nippress – Director
Aisha Benamar – DOP/Camera Operator
Ella Carroll – Editor

 

One Green Kitchen

One Green Kitchen C.I.C. is a grassroots organisation using food as a tool for sustainability, wellbeing and empowerment, creating inclusive, welcoming spaces where communities can learn and share.

Bristol City Leap’s funding supported One Green Kitchen to deliver five workshops in St Paul’s and Fishponds, in collaboration with the Bangladeshi community, focusing on New Energy Projects, Home Energy Improvements, and Solar Panels & Alternative Energy Solutions. The programme also includes selecting ten women for a home improvement initiative, offering practical skills and tailored energy discussions.

Now that those sessions have been completed, this film highlights how climate action can be community-led, culturally relevant, and rooted in everyday life, and how women from underrepresented backgrounds are helping shape a fairer energy future.

This film was created by:
Kieran Cashell – Director/Editor
Oscar Ball – Producer/Editor
Mae Agnew – Director of Photography
Evie Brunton – Editor
Charlie Bell – Boom Operator

 

SS Great Britain Trust 

The SS Great Britain Trust cares for one of the UK’s most iconic ships and a much-loved Bristol heritage destination. Managing energy in historic sites can be complex, especially where systems must balance conservation, visitor experience, and operational needs. 

With the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund support, the Trust is collaborating with external experts to analyse data from its building management system, building a clearer understanding of heat and energy flows across the site. This analysis will support optimisation of the existing gas-fired heating system and ensure any future replacement is correctly sized and tailored. The film captures this thoughtful approach: blending heritage stewardship with modern energy expertise to make informed, future-ready decisions. 

This film was created by:
Nichole Sims – Project Manager
Jess Sherwood – Director
Lorenzo Thomas – Editor/Sound
Oskar Leighton – Sound
Sky Shaw – Camera Operator

 

St Paul’s Church

St Paul’s Church is a spectacular Georgian building, often described as a “wedding cake” church, now home to Circomedia, a school for contemporary circus and physical theatre. It’s a place where creativity thrives beneath historic plasterwork, stained glass and towering stone columns. But it’s also a building with a challenge: reliance on two outdated gas boilers, with any upgrade requiring careful consideration due to its protected status.

With support from the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund, the organisation is beginning an important next chapter, including a thermographic survey, an appraisal for refurbishing or replacing the heating system, and project management time to help move the project forward. This film explores what it takes to bring clean energy into historic spaces, and how climate action can protect the past while powering the future.

This film was created by:
Issy Dennis – Director
Madison Eden-Barrett – Producer
Poppy Dunning – Editor
Noah Gallagher – Camera Operator
Nhean Wheeler – Sound Recordist

 

St Werburghs City Farm

For over four decades, St Werburghs City Farm has been a cherished urban space where people, animals and nature connect. But indoors, the farm’s office, café and community buildings face real comfort and efficiency challenges, from single-glazed windows to poor insulation and outdated heating.

With support from the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund, the Farm is launching a major retrofit programme: replacing the office with a zero/low carbon structure and deep retrofitting the café and community building. To progress with RIBA planning, they’ll undertake ten feasibility studies/surveys and run two community retrofit and energy sessions to ensure local voices help shape the project. The film captures a familiar Bristol story: values-led community infrastructure evolving to meet the climate challenge head-on.


This film was created by:
Ami Sampson – Project Manager, Colour Grader
Sam Weeks – Director, Cinematographer
Lucien Midgley – Interviewer, Editor
Javien White – Producer, Sound
Liam Taylor – Editor 

Why this matters: social value in action 

This partnership brought Bristol City Leap’s social value commitments to life clearly and practically: 

  • Supporting career ambitions by giving emerging creatives real experience, real responsibility, and a real-world portfolio outcome 
  • Keeping investment local by working with a Bristol-based education provider and Bristol community organisations 
  • Amplifying community-led climate action by showcasing how the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund supports organisations with ambition and need 
  • Connecting skills and sustainability by demonstrating that Bristol’s transition to low carbon is also about skills, opportunity and inclusion 

Put simply: these films don’t just promote projects, they build capability, confidence and momentum across the city. 

The six films will be shared across Bristol City Leap channels as a series of case studies for the Community Energy Fund. Each one is a reminder that Bristol’s energy transition is already happening in churches, kitchens, heritage sites, scout huts, pools and farms led by people who care deeply about their communities. 

Bristol City Leap want to extend its heartfelt gratitude to boomsatsuma, particularly to the students, who have truly exceeded expectations. Their work not only showcased exceptional quality but also demonstrated remarkable professionalism, along with an impressive ability to tackle challenges and provide innovative solutions. Thank you for your outstanding contributions! 

To find out more about the Bristol City Leap Community Energy Fund, click here: https://www.bristolcityleap.co.uk/community/community-energy-fund/ 

Learn more about boomsatsuma, click here: https://www.boomsatsuma.com/