Our History

1. We are community organization formed by the members of the Chinese community in the Bristol and nearby areas. Its primary objectives are to advocate for the welfare of the Chinese community. It has a Management Committee elected by the members each two years at a General Meeting.

2. The Association was formed in 1975, but we only decided to register as a charity in 1996 as the majority of our management committee members believed a registered charity would bring more benefits to our Association, such as funding from other charitable organisations, tax benefits etc.

3. In 1998, the Association was successful in registering as a charity (Charity No 1068751). Some members felt uneasy about our newly acquired status because there were rules and regulations of the Charities Commission which we had to abide by.

4. Unlike many associations, we own our premises. The first property at 1-2 King Square Bristol was bought in 1981. The funds were raised from donations by the members and with a mortgage from Barclays Bank. For many years we ran the mother language class for Chinese children on the premises on Sundays. In the early 1990's the elderly lunch club was also formed and has been running successfully since.

5. In 1999, we witnessed the historic visit to the U.K by the Chinese President Mr. Jiang Zemin. This was also the year that the committee made the decision to "leap forward" and relocate to a more suitable premises. Unsurprisingly, the decision to relocate provoked much uneasiness within the committee. Not only was it a huge task, but we had also been in King Square for 20 years, since 1981. It was our 'home'. However, there were a lot of potential problems and liabilities that faced us, such as the huge maintenance cost in maintaining a Grade II listed building, the potential fire hazard of the out dated wirings and the frequent flooding caused by the old roof. The liabilities were endless. After much debate common sense prevailed and the committee voted in favour of relocation. But it was not an easy job to find a suitable alternative venue due to the rising property market in that period.

6. In 2000, we decided to put our premises on the market by tender. In the same year we were honoured to have the Chinese Ambassador Zhenggang Ma attend our Chinese New Year celebration at the Thistle Hotel.

7. In 2003, we were also honoured to have Mr Ma's successor Xinpei Ja join us at the Chinese New Year celebration.

8. On 9 February 2001, we finally moved to our new premises on Lower Ashley Road, St Agnes Bristol. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, kindly sent us a message of congratulations. The elderly lunch group now meets every Tuesday and Thursday on the premises. The members have a nicer place to meet, chat, listen to radio broadcasts from Hong Kong and play games of ma-jong. There is still much work to be done to refurbish the large premises to use to its fullest extent.

9. Not only we work for the welfare of the local community, from time to time the Association takes part in appeals of good cause, in particular in raising funds for disasters relief work. In 1998 we raised £12,685 for the flood victims in eastern China. In 2005 we took part in the appeal for the victims of the tsunami of 26 December 2004 in south Asia. This year we have organized an appeal for the earth quake victims in Sichuan China.

10. We are now enjoying the fruits of the efforts of the early founding members. We must not forget these members who contributed a lot of time and effort in forming and operating the Association and in particular in acquiring premises. Sadly some of the founding members passed away in the recent years. We would like to give our tribute to Ping Tim Cheung, Sui Kee Ho and Wai Man Wong (first chairman).
Aims and Objects
The Association is established to provide facilities for the promotion of the well being of the people of Chinese origin and their family members in the Bristol and South West area and, in particular, for solving the difficulties caused by language, social and cultural barriers and for the social integration of the people in the Chinese community.