Items of interest from
around the town
- notified to TFI for wider publicity among its contacts
Welcome to this TFI update email which seeks to publicise matters which have a wider impact than an individual Church or Charity, or where there is an invitation that is clearly wider than the church itself and open to a broader community.
Please pass this update on to others in your networks who should be aware of its contents.
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Activities to be aware of:
1. A Centenary Celebration invitation
Nansen Road Baptist Church is celebrating its centenary this year and has issued a general invitation to a special service at 6.30pm on 26th July to anyone who would like to celebrate this milestone with them. This will be pre-ceded by special prayer times, a community fun day with Tough Talk and a morning event again with Tough Talk. Do consider whether you can come and celebrate God’s work in this part of town over some many years and seek Him for what He has in the future.
2. Growing Hope update – from Graham Alcock (Chair of Trustees for Growing Hope Ipswich). Please read this key communication from Graham to understand what are the plans for providing free therapy for children and young people with additional needs in partnership with local churches, and how you can help to make this a reality.
3. Kick Academy linked to Lindbergh Road Community Church in the South East of Ipswich is still going strong, well attended by young people and seeing young people attend church for the first time which is exciting. Please see original poster for details of how to engage with this outreach activity.
4. Faith In Recovery Ipswich – a new project providing a space for anyone who has a faith, or is open to a faith, in Jesus and struggles with an addiction. The group meets 6-7pm on Wednesdays at The Key, 15, St Margaret’s Street, Ipswich, IP4 2BB.
If anyone wants anymore details or to chat further then please see contact details on this flyer or via this link.
5. Footsteps Walking With You – a Christian based mental health counselling charity which works with young people (and has won 2 High Sherriff awards) would love the opportunity to tell church congregations about their work. Contact Jo Ashton (CEO and Lead Counsellor) if you could help with this.
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Requests for support:
1. Cool Spaces - with the current heat waves could your church or charity potentially offer a 'cool space' for a few hours to help vulnerable people to have a place of rest. Suffolk Resilience Forum is looking to map these opportunities for easier visibility so please do contact me (via secretary@togetherforipswich.uk) and I will pass your details on.
2. Triangle Church has a day to day presence in its community through its charity shop "Living Water" in Dickens Road. This is in need of more volunteers and also customers! Please see details of what is required in this Living Waters volunteer appeal information sheet. Thanks to Rev Lawrence Carey for highlighting this need.
3. Support for Sizewell Hall – for 50 years this property has been used to change lives for Christ and the trustees have been given the opportunity to buy the Hall from its owners. Please see this communication with more information on how you could help to make this possible.
4. Fair Trade Shop - After 36 years, the Fair Trade Shop in Ipswich is facing closure. It was started by Christians and sold goods originally out of a small hall at Christ Church, Tacket Street. Then we found a shop in Orwell Place before moving to ideal premises in Upper Brook Street 10 years ago.
The combination of decreasing footfall in the town, combined with a huge increase in rates, and a few emergencies (e.g. flooding from the store above), have meant that we have no option but to vacate the store.
Is there anyone who knows of premises (ethical shop, church, church hall?) with spare capacity that we would be welcome to share, or even storage space so we can still sell at outside events and to other groups as we are invited? Contact me (via secretary@togetherforipswich.uk) and I will pass your information on.
The Fairtrade movement aims to encourage a just way of trading, which puts uppermost the wellbeing of farmers and producers in low income countries, as well as the wellbeing of the land. Since Fairtrade started it has become more mainstream and lots of goods are available in normal supermarkets, but independent ethical craftspeople will definitely miss out if we close.
The shop in Upper Brook Street is the only one in Suffolk , and is almost the only justification for calling Ipswich a Fairtrade Town.
5. Can you help with an opportunity to engage with the community and deliver awareness information about heart failure? In partnership between the local NHS Integrated Care Board and ITFC Foundation we are looking to do some awareness and prevention work around heart failure. We would love to attend any events, lunch clubs or coffee mornings you have coming up where we can engage with the community and deliver some information around what heart failure is, the signs and symptoms to look out for and what we can do to prevent it.
For more information or to get involved please email Molly Roberts.
6. Home Fire Safety Visit awareness
The Prevention Team at Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) seek to work with partners/agencies/volunteers to ensure they are aware of the free Home Fire Safety Visits we provide to residents of Suffolk and how to refer onto us. We are also very willing to speak at groups/events re: Home Fire Safety.
A Home Fire Safety Visit (HFSV) considers and offers advice regarding:
Detectors and Assistive Technology
Fire Safety in the Home
Clutter and Hoarding
Safer Heating and Electrical Safety
Medicines and Medical Devices
Carbon Monoxide
Smoking related fires
We want to ensure we are reaching out to all faiths and communities in Suffolk with a particular emphasis on reaching the most vulnerable in Suffolk, hence this contact with members of the church community in Ipswich.
Please do email Sarah Campbell (Partnerships and Delivery Manager) for more information.
7. Wall of Prayer - You may be well aware of this but in England there is a plan to build an 'Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer', which relies heavily on people submitting answers they have experienced (given the encouragement of Psalm 66:16 which says, "Come and hear… and I will declare what He has done"). Do consider what you could submit to add another brick into this wall.
8. Sailing Opportunity! - The Morning Star Trust is a Christian sailing charity (www.mst.org.uk). They seek to encourage the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of young people and adult groups through active involvement in our yacht sailing voyages. Our Christian faith underpins all we do and all our skippers are Christians.
They are keen to support existing Christian work in Ipswich. They have met with a number of local organisations e.g. Talitha Koum and churches and now have a 5 week programme which is in process. Please be in prayer for guidance and the impact of this work along with contact with other relevant local leaders who recognise the value of this ministry. Do contact Adam Davis (via adam.davis@mst.org.uk) soon for more information on prayer requests and how to get involved.
9. English language classes and more
As does OASIS, the organisation Realise Futures provide English language courses which are free to most adults 19+ who are residents in Suffolk dependent on their income. It is a Community Interest Company with 3 departments - Employment, RF Works and Learning, Coaching and Advice. Courses cover key areas such as Health & Wellbeing, Work Skills, Digital Skills, Learning in Families, and English, Maths, and ESOL. They are from Entry Level to Level 2, including both accredited and non-accredited provision.
See www.realisefutures.org for more information or contact melanie.hercus@realisefutures.org directly who leads the Learning, Coaching and Advice department.
10. Creativity Input to the City of Culture bid
Ipswich's journey to become UK City of Culture 2029 is gathering momentum as the bid moves into its second phase, with a new team now in place to lead the work. Amy Vaughan has been appointed bid director, joined by four local creative producers drawn from the town's own creative community - Marcus Harris-Noble, Kath Cockshaw, Kirsty Tallent and Hannah Houghton. Together they will help shape an inspiring vision for Ipswich's cultural future, building on the ideas, energy and creativity already shared by communities across the town.
Residents, artists, organisations and young people are being invited to play an even bigger role in co-creating the bid with the local producers. This phase, to prepare our full submission in time for the August deadline, is about turning ideas into action and showcasing the wealth of talent that defines our town. From grassroots creativity to major cultural moments, Ipswich is ready to tell its story with pride.
This is our opportunity to put Ipswich on the national stage and create a lasting cultural legacy for generations to come.
To find out more and get involved, visit ipswich2029.com
11. Be part of the decisions on use of Pride in Place funding
Pride in Place is a UK Government scheme providing up to £20 million to selected neighbourhoods to improve local areas. It gives communities the power to decide priorities and invest in what matters most, while building strong, long-term partnerships. We are proud that in Ipswich, two neighbourhoods have been selected to benefit from this investment: Whitehouse and Stoke Park/Chantry.
Neighbourhood Boards, made up mainly of local residents and people who work in the area, will lead this work. They will engage with the community, decide how funding is spent, and focus on creating lasting change. This includes helping communities take ownership of local assets, attract further funding and investment, and deliver a strong local legacy. The board does not run services day to day – its role is to guide decisions, provide oversight and represent the community.
If the Pride in Place programme is something that interests you, or you'd like to be part of the team shaping the £20 million investment in Whitehouse or Stoke Park, do get in touch. We are currently recruiting members for the Neighbourhood Boards and applications close on 9 July. More information can be found here: https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/communities-and-health/join-pride-place-neighbourhood-board
You don’t need to be an expert or have formal qualifications. We welcome applications from people who:
Live or work in the neighbourhood, or have strong links to it
Care about their local area and want to see it thrive
Are willing to listen to different views and work with others
Can bring local knowledge, enthusiasm or lived experience
If you have any questions or would like to chat further, please contact Laura Cooledge, Pride in Place Programme Manager via email at laura.cooledge@ipswich.gov.uk.
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Blessings on behalf of the TFI team.
Jonathan Barnes
(TFI Secretary and Acting Chair)
Together For Ipswichwww.togetherforipswich.uk
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