Roy Hackett wall to undergo repairs next month

The mural fell from the side of a property on Byron Street, St Pauls

Work to re-render a wall once home to a mural of civil rights hero Roy Hackett will start next month, preparing the way for the tribute to be re-instated.

The mural on Byron Street in St Pauls, Bristol fell down in August 2021.

Dependent on the success of a fundraiser, Xanne Carey from Emmaus Bristol, who rent the building, hopes it can be recreated by Spring 2022.

Ms Carey said "it's even more important" since since Mr Hackett's death on 3 August.

Social Enterprise Manager, Ms Carey said: "We're gutted that Roy has passed and we couldn't get the mural back up before that."

Roy Hackett, the civil rights campaigner died last week aged 93

"We need to have that visual representation of him," she added.

Bristol City Council, which owns the building, has pledged to fund the wall repairs and says the work will start on 1 September and should be completed by the end of October.

Ms Carey said whilst it had taken a long time to appoint a contractor, they were incredibly grateful to the council for footing the bill.

The mural was part of the Seven Saints of St Pauls project, honouring people who shaped Bristol's black community on prominent walls around St Pauls

However, efforts to paint the mural are dependent on a fundraiser set up last year by the its creator, Michele Curtis.

More than £2000 has been raised so far of the £10,000 target.

Xanne Carey from Emmaus Bristol who rent the building said: "We're gutted that Roy has passed and we couldn't get the mural back up before that"

Mr Hackett was one of the organisers of the 1963 Bristol bus boycott, a successful campaign to overturn a ban by Bristol Omnibus Company on employing black and Asian drivers and conductors.

The mural was part of the Seven Saints of St Pauls project, painted on prominent walls around the St Pauls area of the city to honour people who had helped shape Bristol's black community.

Mr Hackett was also one of the founders of St Pauls Carnival.