• Swindon & Wiltshire Events
• Wednesday March 5 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Bristol businesses urged to get on board with Big Bristol Bus Boycott Business Breakfast

Bristol’s business community is being called upon to take part in a landmark event that will celebrate the city’s civil rights history while exploring the role of businesses in driving meaningful social change.

The Big Bristol Bus Boycott Business Breakfast will bring together industry leaders, civic voices and community advocates as part of the final year of Bristol Bus Boycott 360 – a three-year initiative that has used public storytelling, art and education to promote racial and social equity.

The event is supported by Redcliffe & Temple Business Improvement District (BID), which is committed to fostering an inclusive and socially responsible business community in Bristol.

The BID’s backing reflects a shared ambition to ensure businesses play an active role in shaping a fairer, more inclusive future.

The event will directly support the next phase of Bristol Bus Boycott 360, including a historic bid to bring Martin Luther King III to Bristol this winter, marking the 60th anniversary of the Race Relations Act.

This final year of the initiative represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for businesses to engage with Bristol’s civil rights legacy while actively shaping the future of racial and social justice.

Steve Bluff, director of Redcliffe & Temple BID, said: “The Bristol Bus Boycott was a pivotal moment in our city’s history and its legacy continues to shape conversations around inclusion and equality today.

“As a business community, we have a responsibility to learn from the past and take action to create a more inclusive future. We’re proud to support the Big Bristol Bus Boycott Business Breakfast and encourage businesses across the city to get involved in this important initiative.”

The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 arose from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ Black or Asian bus crews.

A boycott of the company’s buses by Bristolians lasted for four months until the company backed down and overturned their discriminative colour bar policy. The first non-white conductor was hired in November 1963.

And the protest is considered to be a catalyst for the Race Relations Act 1965, which made “racial discrimination unlawful in public places”.

Since launching in 2022, Bristol Bus Boycott 360 has delivered a powerful range of initiatives that have amplified the city’s role in civil rights history.

In 2023, a wrapped First Bus featuring the voices of boycott pioneers was taken to Parliament, where Keir Starmer publicly pledged to introduce a new Race Equality Act – a commitment now expected to come into force in 2026.

The initiative has also driven major public storytelling projects, including murals, plaques, exhibitions and the Anthem for Change music project, which brought together young artists and boycott elders in a creative tribute to activism.

This year, Bristol Bus Boycott 360 will launch a national Designs4Change competition in April, inviting creatives across the country to submit artwork inspired by the boycott.

Winning designs will be displayed across bus stops, train stations and shopping malls nationwide, with the winners announced on Thursday, August 28, the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech.

From major exhibitions, national design competitions, talks and film screenings the final year of the Bristol Bus Boycott 360 promises to be its biggest yet.

The final event of the year will take place on Tuesday, November 11 at Wills Memorial Building, marking 60 years since the Race Relations Act and remembering the activists – such as Paul Stephenson – who helped bring about lasting change.

Businesses are central to shaping Bristol – not just economically, but socially,” said Julz Davis, disruptor-in-chief of Curiosity Un(Ltd) and founder of Bristol Bus Boycott 360.

“The Big Bristol Bus Boycott Business Breakfast is a chance for business leaders to connect, engage and take transformative and positive action to build a city that truly reflects the values of inclusion and equality.”

The event takes place on Friday, March 21 at VWV Harbourside.