{"id":936791,"date":"2026-05-04T09:17:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T09:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/936791\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T09:17:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T09:17:25","slug":"the-serious-story-behind-bristol-birdman-shenanigans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/936791\/","title":{"rendered":"The serious story behind Bristol Birdman shenanigans"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Last year\u2019s event was incredible, it exceeded all of our expectations”Bristol Birdman takes flight <\/p>\n

It brought 10,000 people to the Harbourside to watch one of Bristol\u2019s wackiest events of 2025<\/a>, but the Bristol Birdman has a more serious side<\/a> than just people in funny costumes failing to fly across the water.<\/p>\n

The Birdman – which Bristol Live revealed back in January would be returning<\/a> to the Harbourside again this year – is something of a double win for unsung and crucial work to support young people in some of the most deprived areas of the city.<\/p>\n

For not only is the event organised by the young people themselves, but it\u2019s also a major fundraiser for the Bristol-based youth work charity that supports and mentors<\/a> them year-round.<\/p>\n

The event is organised by the leaders and young people at Grassroot Communities, which is based in South Bristol but supports young people all over the city.<\/p>\n

This week they issued their final call for business sponsors and teams to enter the Bristol Birdman, with the opportunity for a team-building exercise that could end with plunging into the warm waters of the Floating Harbour dressed as a pumpkin or a piece of toast.<\/p>\n

Behind the event is an organisation that has done everything from the most vital street-based evening youth work, to running boxing clubs<\/a>, to running a year long programme to tackle the issue of NEETs – young people not in education, employment and training – by mentoring and supporting them to be ready for a new future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During 2025, Grassroot Communities delivered a whopping 260 sessions, and engaged more than 5,000 young people throughout the course of the year.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: How young people’s lives were turned around by unique Bristol youth work project<\/a><\/p>\n

For founder Ben Carpenter, the Bristol Birdman might have started out as a mad idea he had decades ago, but it has become a vital way to support young people, both in terms of them helping to run the event itself, but also the backing for the charity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe projects Grassroot Communities run include mentoring, internships, youth leadership training and mental health support,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery single one of the participants in 2025\u2019s version of the GAP Programme said they had improved their job readiness, and it\u2019s calculated that the programme has a social return on investment ratio of \u00a31.46 for every \u00a31 spent,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll profits from the event will go to Grassroot Communities, a Bristol not for profit organisation supporting young people from underserved communities through transformational youth and community work, mentoring, education, employment pathways, and leadership opportunities,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The first graduates of a innovative programme for young people that was trialled from September last year in Bristol are talking about how it has changed their lives.
\nThe Grassroots Activators Programme takes young people between 16 and 30 from deprived or challenging backgrounds and sets them on a new path to careers or university(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

\u201cBristol is a city of ideas, humour, and community \u2013 and the Birdman event is the perfect way to celebrate all of that, while raising money for a vital youth and community work.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year\u2019s event was incredible, it exceeded all of our expectations, and we can\u2019t wait to see what the teams come up with this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be pulling out all the stops and have a longer schedule with more flying teams and other special water-based entertainment too. If you\u2019re a business looking for a fun and purpose-led event for your staff to take part in, it doesn\u2019t get much better than The Bristol Birdman,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking part in the event is a huge opportunity for businesses to put their brand at the heart of a landmark Bristol event, while helping to support local youth and community work delivered by Grassroot Communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s stand-out entrants were the Bakehouse Factory – a prop company that created an incredible \u2018Birdman\u2019 entry of a piece of toast that popped out of a toaster. They are back for more this year and will be the team to beat.<\/p>\n

Young people taking part in the Grassroots Activators Programme in Bristol<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were thrilled to have been part of the first ever Bristol Birdman,\u201d said the Bakehouse Factory\u2019s boss Kate Statham. \u201cWhen we found out about the amazing work Grassroot Communities do, it was the \u2018yeast\u2019 we could do,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The prospect of having people and contraptions plunging into the Floating Harbour might well have caused some initial palpitations at the Harbourmaster\u2019s Office, but everything went well and harbourmaster Eric Dougall is looking forward to this year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/p>\n

First ever Birdman event gets underway at Bristol’s Floating Harbour (June 15, 2025)(Image: Paul Gillis\/Reach Plc)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not experienced such a well-attended, fun, family event at this end of the harbour for thirty years, it was amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To find out more about entering a team or sponsoring this year\u2019s event, which takes place on Sunday, June 14 from a specially-constructed Birdman ramp near Baltic Wharf, visit the website here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Last year\u2019s event was incredible, it exceeded all of our expectations”Bristol Birdman takes flight It brought 10,000 people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,10648,748,2266,393,920,4884,800,10002,16,15,68594],"class_list":{"0":"post-936791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-live","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-events","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-harbourside","16":"tag-south-bristol","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-western-harbour"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116515559800677079","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}