Building brighter futures: Celebrating the opening of our Bristol office

On Friday we held the official opening of our new office in Pennywell Road with clients, staff, Board members, volunteers, partners and commissioners joining us to mark the occasion.  

We moved from Brunswick Square – our home for 30 years – in April and were excited to welcome everyone into our new space.  

During the afternoon, there was the opportunity for guests to have a tour of the offices, attend a taster session with Bristol Wellbeing College and add a message to our hope tree.  

From L – R: Second Step Chief Executive Aileen Edwards, Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Paul Goggin,
Kerry McCarthy MP (Bristol East), Chairman of the Board (Second Step) Kelvin Blake

One of our special guests and former client Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Paul Goggin, who we supported 20 years ago as a tenant at our Toll House Court project, made a short speech. He explained how Second Step was one of the organisations who helped him when he was homeless and had nowhere else to go. 

“Although we – clients – can be a bit rubbish at the time, twenty years later we’ll want to find you to say thank you for all the help you gave, as I have done today. What you do is so important and helps us all to look to a brighter future.” 

Local MP Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) said she was delighted to welcome Second Step into her constituency. She said:   

“The work Second Step does with communities, here in Bristol and more widely, is so important. With the pressure on statutory services, it’s vital that there’s a healthy network of support ready to step in. I admire the work Second Step does, through its partnership working with other voluntary and community organisations, in providing an essential mental health safety net for many thousands of people”. 

Aileen Edwards, our Chief Executive, said: