How a community traumatised by murder is learning to heal

20 November 2025, The Tablet

A tribute to teenagers Mason Rist and Max Dixon at a Bristol City football match

ALAMY/PA, BRADLEY COLLYER

A deprived area of south Bristol was shattered by the double murder of two young boys last year. As local parishes, schools and Christian communities respond, a picture is emerging of the community’s pervasive anxiety, but also its underlying strength

To Bristolians, the areas of Knowle West and Hartcliffe in the south of the city are notorious for deprivation, generations of unemployment, and civic neglect. In the centre of Knowle West stands a once-handsome 1930s shopping parade, now featuring a tattoo parlour called “Wild West” and a number of charitable advice centres. But change is coming. A multi-million-pound regeneration scheme is under way, and the area is full of the varied sounds of building work.

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