FACE provides a range of engaging activities for young people in South Gloucestershire and parts of Bristol, through weekly youth clubs and groups, outreach sessions and trips.
FACE is an active part of the South Glos Youth Work Partnership and the Lead provider for youth work in Lot 1 (west) of South Gloucestershire Council; covering Patchway, Filton, Stoke Gifford, Charlton & Cribbs, Bradley Stoke, Thornbury, and rural villages alongside the M5/A38 corridor.
We work in partnership with other youth organisations to provide this work, overseen by South Gloucestershire Council; including Krunch South West, Bradley Stoke Town Council, JIGSAW Thornbury, and lots of town and parish councils who generously support youth work in their areas.
We also run a range of youth provisions in Frampton Cotterell, Coalpit Heath, Westerleigh, Winterbourne and surrounding areas, funded by the town and parish councils.
We are part of the Lot 2 (East) South Glos. youth work area contracted through Learning Partnership West, to deliver a detached youth work session in Frampton Cotterell, and Lot 3 (South) South Glos. youth work area contracted through Creative Youth Network, to deliver an evening youth group for disabled and neurodivergent young people.
As part of the South Gloucestershire Short Breaks for Disabled Children Offer, we deliver a monthly social club for disabled or neurodivergent 8-13 year olds in Filton, as a stepping stone into other youth work provisions as they grow in confidence and resilience.
We are also part of the Bristol Short Breaks for Disabled Children Offer; delivering 4 evening youth groups for neurodivergent young people, with two weekly term-time groups in Southmead and two in Easton.
We also offer youth volunteering & accreditation schemes, and packages of small group work and activities in and outside of schools.
Please see our calendar for the full picture of our provision, and to find out where and when our activities are happening across South Gloucestershire and Bristol.
To attend our youth club sessions, young people will need to register via the following link: Register Here
At our Filton base, FACE provides community learning, health and wellbeing sessions for adults.
This includes:
Tai Chi & Qi Gong
Movement meditation, promoting energy flow & healing. Mondays, Only £3
Low-Impact Fitness
A great workout, but kind on the joints! Thursday afternoons, Only £3
Coffee Mornings
Bi-weekly catch-up with others over a cuppa & sweet treat. Tuesdays & Fridays, Pop something in our donation bowl!
Tech & Talk!
Get to know your tech better (mobile phones, laptops, tablets, etc) in a supportive environment. Thursday mornings, Only £3
Creative Writing
Share your own stories, poems, and more with others in a small group environment. Friday afternoons, Pop something in our donation bowl!
All of our community sessions are drop-in friendly, no quarterly/monthly fees – just pay what you can, when you come!
If you are thinking about dropping into any of our movement classes for the first time, please ensure you arrive at least 10 minutes before the session starts, to inform the instructor of any physical health issues or injuries they might need to know about.
If you would like more information about joining any of our community activities, feel free to get in touch with us – we’re happy to chat!
“Q: What do you value about coffee morning?”
“A: We come for the company, chit chat and friendship, and coffee of course! This is our social life for the week.”
FACE runs a range of activities, tailored for people with specific needs. Please see our calendar for the full picture of our provision, and to find out where and when our activities are happening across Bristol & South Gloucestershire.
Diagnosis is not necessary for all our groups – please contact us to find out more.
The Hangout and Epic Wednesdays are weekly youth clubs, funded by South Gloucestershire Council’s Youth Activities Offer, both targeted at disabled or neurodivergent 13-25 year olds.
Out-of-School Clubs are weekly youth groups at Adventure Playgrounds in Bristol for neurodivergent young people from Bristol aged 8-12 and 13-18 – referral for these groups, contracted as part of Wecil’s Out & About Service, are through the Bristol Council’s FLORA service.
Social Club is a monthly group in Filton for children from South Glos aged 8-13 with social or learning disabilities. This is a stepping-stone activity to support children who would like to try out a youth club for the first time.
Illuminators is a group in Filton for disabled or neurodivergent adults aged 20+ (with no upper age limit) to grow independence, social skills, employability skills and to broaden life chances and experiences.
All our groups value promoting independence and resilience amongst our members, so after an initial visit and any settling required, participants come without their parents or carers. 1-2-1 support and supervision, and personal care, are not provided by FACE however, therefore some people may need to bring a support worker with them if they need 1-2-1 support or supervision or personal care. Please discuss this with our team. All support workers should be introduced to the charity before attending and must wear ID or a visitor’s lanyard whilst with us. Please contact your Local Authority for advice on finding a 1-2-1 support worker.
Bristol Autism Project provides holiday activities for autistic children & young people (aged 4-18), and their families and carers in Bristol.
These activities run on Mondays – Fridays during the school holidays, excluding bank holidays.
Bristol Autism Project forms part of Bristol City Council’s Short Breaks for Disabled Children service.
Membership is £3.25 per month or £39 per year. (waived if unable to pay)
If children do not have a diagnosis of autism, they may still be eligible to access the Bristol Autism Project if they have Social & Communication Interaction Needs (SCIN) similar to autism.
To access this service, families must meet either of the following criteria:
Families are able to self-refer to Bristol Autism Project. To make a referral, please use our registration form.
What sorts of things do we get up to in the holidays?
We provide various activities, with accessibility and sensory needs in mind. We offer many sessions where we have exclusive access to venues and are able to tailor the activities to suit any group, e.g. adjusting lighting and noise levels.
Activities vary according to the location and availability during each booking period. We try our absolute best to spread the bookings as well as we can across different parts of the city!
Please note, some activities are targeted at different age groups (e.g. under or over 11 years, teen-only sessions).
How does it work?
Activities have limited spaces, and we may not be able to meet all of your requests. We try to be as fair as possible to all our members when confirming spaces.
Please note, we only accept bookings from individuals registered with Bristol Autism Project who use the booking forms provided. If you require hard copies of forms from the office, please get in touch!
If you would like more information, you can speak to Bristol Autism Project via the following:
Email: bap@facecharity.org.uk
Phone: 07384 210749 or FACE office 0117 9691938
FACE also manages a closed Facebook group for this service. Once you’re a registered member of Bristol Autism Project, you will be able to join!
FACE runs an inclusive Duke of Edinburgh’s awards for young people aged 14yrs+ who may not be able to access the award elsewhere (e.g. not attending school or have sensory or SEND needs). The DofE group currently meets fortnightly on Monday evenings.
About the award
DofE awards are an amazing opportunity for young people to make friends, learn skills, develop independence, and grow in confidence.
DofE awards are a useful tool on CVs, as they can prove to employers that a young person has determination, motivation and willingness to see something through to the end!
DofE awards are made up of 4 parts: Volunteering, Skills, Physical & Expedition. Young people aged 14-23 can enter the award at Bronze, Silver or Gold.
Doing the award with FACE
Enrolment Costs
We are always up for welcoming new members to join our DofE awards groups! If you are interested in finding out more, come and see us or get in touch.
We are really pleased to work in partnership with local schools to provide quality youth support work within educational settings. This includes one-off workshops, mentoring programmes, youth group programmes, awards, tailored support, lunch-time and after-school activities.
Past Achievements
2024-25 we provide weekly outreach into Winterbourne Academy and Patchway Community College.
2023-24 we worked with Adoption West and Cathedral School to provide a youth group for adopted young people. We also provided a targeted Girls’ group work project for 6 weeks in Patchway Community School for young women at risk of exploitation, followed by a specific targeted Boys’ group looking at toxic masculinity.
In 2022-23 we provided 4 targeted Knife crime workshops in Orchard School.
In 2018-19 we supported 3 local schools as part of the Broken Weeks project, targeting young people with attendance issues. We ran a term-long project with groups of students called You Matter, which explored young people’s relationship to education and its value, along with providing some fun off-site activities.
We have previously provided Young Carers’ support at Orchard School in Bristol.
Over a two-year period, we worked with a special school providing Relationships & Sex Education.
In 2015, FACE provided Anti-Bullying workshops during Anti-Bullying Week across 4 schools (a total of 300+ students). This included making a video – which we are happy to share on request!
How can we work with you?
Please get in touch if you want to find out more!
Find answers here to frequently asked questions about our services and how FACE can help.
The way to join any of our groups or events depends on the activity. Some of our activities have referral forms linked online, which you can go ahead and use. Either way, we recommend getting in touch for a chat first, especially if you want to find out more about what we provide.
Of course! We welcome drop-ins to our Filton centre during office hours, if you would like to meet our charity beforehand and find out some more information about any activity you’re interested in. You may also want to visit your chosen group at its time and location prior to joining.
As our groups are dotted around the map, it’s always a good idea to have a chat with us beforehand to let us know you’re thinking of coming. You can stay for as long or as little as you like for your visit! It is also okay to bring someone along with you.
Our projects are supported by fundraising, and some of that comes in the form of donations from people who attend our groups & activities. We don’t ask for more than £3 donation per activity. If money is a barrier to you attending at the moment, please talk to us, and we’ll see what we can do to support you.
Some of our activities are provided free of cost. It’s always best to check on our online calendar, or get in touch with us, if you want more information about costs.
We welcome you to get in touch – whether you’re thinking about a career change, looking to get into the world of work, or wish to find out more information about our vacancies.
Working in the youth & community sector can be highly rewarding and meaningful life experience. If you’re new to any of this, volunteering with FACE can be a wonderful way to gain experience in the sector. Many of our volunteers later go on to be employed with FACE.
Click here to check out the vacancies we currently have available across Bristol & South Gloucestershire.
"FACE is at the heart of Filton life, a champion for everyone - young and old. Their work with young people in particular is as inspiring as it is vital and the team works tirelessly to make life better for all who come through their doors."
We have current vacancies for:
– Full-time Youth Development Worker (35 hours p/w) developing youth work in Patchway
– A Part-time Youth Development Worker (12 hours p/w) developing SEND youth work
– Assistant Youth Support Workers (6-15hr p/w) for after-school and evening youth clubs and projects across South Gloucestershire
– Detached and Outreach Youth Support Workers (6-12hr p/w) for after-school and evening youth work
– A Targeted Youth Work Manager (15hr /week), managing our targeted youth work with disabled or trauma-experienced young people
– An Operations & Facilities Officer (15 hr/week), ensuring our youth centre buildings are safe and compliant, and our charity operations run smoothly
We have various weekly evening youth work sessions available, across 12 locations in South Gloucestershire, but we need staff who can do at least 2 evenings!
Our Youth Work includes ‘junior’ age groups (8-12), ‘seniors’ (13-19) and also working with young people with SEND / ASC (varied ages 8-12 / 11-17 / 13-25)
Contact Sarah at sarah@facecharity.org.uk or leave your details with the office at 0117 9691938 for an application pack.
Come and get involved with FACE!
We need volunteers for activities across Bristol during school holidays to support our Bristol Autism Project sessions for autistic children and their families!
We are also looking for volunteers to support our evening youth groups for young people in Filton, Patchway, Southmead, Easton, Kingswood, and Frampton Cotterell.
We will need more help with our Coffee mornings. On Tuesday and Friday mornings 10am-12pm we host coffee mornings and would love a team of volunteers who would enjoy making drinks and chatting with the members!
We need fundraising volunteers who would be willing to spend time helping with fundraising events and applications! This may suit someone with computer access volunteering from home and could be any hours to suit!
We are also looking for volunteers with photography and videography skills to help us display the impact of our work better through imagery!
All of these posts would involve completing an application form, interview, DBS disclosure, and reference process.
We also need volunteers who have a couple of hours a week to spare, who love the outdoors who would be willing to help maintain the outside of our properties for us! We want to grow wildflowers so these may need a little attention as they grow. We have some raised beds which need some attention and we hope to grow vegetables to use in our programme – the volunteer would be able to take some of the produce home! There is also the need for constant weeding and pruning around our centres to help keep the buildings looking smart!
We are also in need of new trustees, which is a voluntary role.
In order to have a balanced board we would ideally have applicants with skills in areas such as Human Resources, Health and Safety, Charity Development, Fundraising, or Marketing. Applications are not however limited to these areas.
We are also looking for a Treasurer as our current Treasurer stepped down at the end of the last financial year. This vital role supports the trustees and leadership team in maintaining financial oversight of the charity. We have a paid Finance Officer, but the treasurer is a vital oversight for our financial processes and preparation of forecasts, budget, and annual accounts.
Since August 2022, we have also been looking for a new Chair of the Trustee Board as our longstanding Chair stepped down in 2022, and our interim chair (who does a great job!) would like to pass on the baton! We are looking for a dynamic and proactive leader to take our charity to the next level! If you think you’d be the right candidate, please get in touch for a conversation with us!
If interested in becoming a trustee, please contact: info@facecharity.org.uk to find out more or email to chair@facecharity.org.uk
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