Kate Smith

Rising with the city: our exhibition about the Bristol Guild

Our MShed exhibition about the Guild of the Brave Poor Things shows how disabled people advocated for themselves and survived in a changing society from the late Victorian period the 1980s.

The Guild in a time of flags and war

Man in Scout dress and boys with crutches with a union jack in a garden

How did the imperial and World wars which Britain was engaged in affect the Guild and how it presented itself?

Irritated apprentices: empowering people, up to a point

Exhibition shot, with the rejected suggestion that the Guild should rename itself 'masters of fate'

How Guild members got stuck for so long with a name that many did not like.

Watch the film: Brave, Poor (and invisible): The gatekeepers of past and future cities

older guild members in front of a hedge in a garden

History and storytelling met robotics in our symposium – watch the film to explore utopias and dystopias for deaf and disabled people.

Please may I go to the country?

An article on holiday cottages from early 20th century

How poverty, disability and lack of access to nature were all linked for some Guild members – and the language used to appeal for country holidays.

Visited our MShed exhibition? please let us know what you thought

A line of children with crutches, the epitaph reads I thought to myself how nice it is for me to live in a world like this.

Could you spare five minutes to fill in a short survey on our exhibition about the Guild of the Brave Poor Things?

Brave, Poor – and Livestreamed

image of young disabled boys outside the School of the Brave Poor things in scout uniform

Save the link: we will be livestreaming our event looking to the past and future of disabled people from this page on 20th October as part of the Festival of the Future City.