Bristol Community Sauna was created to make heat-and-cold bathing accessible and inclusive. A place where anyone in the mood for a sauna has access and can feel welcome, comfortable and safe.
Meeting genuine community need in a sustainable way is important to us. That is why we are a Community Interest Company (CIC), reinvesting all revenue back into developing and maintaining our local sauna space. We run the site in a way that is environmentally sustainable too, using an all-electric sauna and managing resources carefully.
We are proud of our growing sauna community whether you are an enthusiast or a newbie, we welcome you to get involved.
Bristol Community Sauna began in June 2023 with a single Instagram post – “SAUNA?” – inviting the community to imagine what the overgrown former council car park behind St Anne’s House could become.
We met on …. with members of the community who volunteered their time to start clearing the space for the sauna infrastructure.
Bristol Community Sauna began in June 2023 with a single Instagram post – “SAUNA?” – inviting the community to imagine what the overgrown former council car park behind St Anne’s House could become.
We registered as a CIC in January and opened to the public in June 2024 with a locally built, wheelchair-accessible sauna made to our own specifications.
We introduced our much loved second sauna, Bluebell, expanding the site and increasing our capacity.
We ran a co-design workshop in May and June of 2025, gathering thoughts from those who attend the sauna, staff and St Annes House Tenants on what is working well and what could improve.
For more information, read the full report!
We welcomed our tenth thousand user and first centurion were featured in XX and XX book and on XX and XX show.
In 2026 we put your recommendations into action with our The Expansion Plan Crowdfunder Campaign!
After running the co-design workshop in 2025, we identified five key areas you thought we could improve upon in 2026.
For more information about the findings of the workshop, please read the full report.
We are planning the next stage of Bristol Community Sauna, shaped by our recent community consultation.
If you’d like to follow the journey and be part of what comes next, sign up to hear more.