People / My Bristol Favourites
My Bristol Favourites: Emma Simpson
Emma Simpson is the team manager at CCS Adoption and The Centre For Adoption Support & Education, working with adoptive families and supporting them to care for children who have been in the care system and suffered abuse and trauma.
She is passionate about being a social worker, and for anybody who has been watching the Bristol-set drama series Kiri on Channel 4, she wants to stress that she doesn’t bring her pets to work, or have a hip flask that she sips for breakfast.
Here are Emma’s top-five Bristol favourites:
is needed now More than ever
TrikaYoga
“Once a week, just for an hour, I get I to be a little Zen at TrikaYoga on North Street. My working days are always busy and my two-year-old at home ensures there is little time to stop when she wants me to be playing in the mud or reading The Gruffalo for the sixth time that day! So this time gives me some physical and mental space to relax and unwind.”
Leigh Woods
“I’ve enjoyed exploring Leigh Woods so many times over the last 13 years that I’ve lived in Bristol. I have fond memories of accidentally joining a mountain biking club ride, which took three hours. I could hardly walk for a few days after! A more sedate walk with a friend who was eight and a half months pregnant, but due to getting lost (again) I thought I was going to be assisting the birth if we didn’t find our way out soon. Or more recently, exploring the nooks and crannies of trees and little hideouts with my daughter.”
The Centre For Adoption Support & Education
“I’m biased of course as I work here, but The Centre is such a joyful and amazing space. Adoptive families, 30 energetic toddlers a week, a bunch of inquisitive teenagers, some stressed out parents, and many more come here to meet and share their adoption journeys, help each other or just have fun. It’s not from everyone’s desk that you can hear teenagers have band practice or toddlers sing their fifth verse of Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
The Watershed
“I love the Watershed, both for its cafe and for its cinema. I’ve certainly seen a range of films there, the good, the bad and the bizarre! And it’s where we are holding our yearly LGBT adopter recruitment event in March.”
Riff Raff Choir
“For many years I was part of the Riff Raff Choir, which was an opportunity to sing my heart out, with my very mediocre singing voice, and somewhere that helped me make a great bunch of friends when I first moved to Bristol. Six of us have gone on to form a book club where in reality we make merry, encourage each other’s dreams, careers and ambitions and occasionally even read a book.”
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