'Forever 18': Family's appeal to honour son Joel Sousa

The family of Joel Sousa, who died on the Orwell Bridge on 16 October, has remembered him as "a gentle, quiet and respectful young man" as they appeal for help to give him the farewell he deserves.

Ronald Hawkins: The pilot who escaped the Nazis twice and stole a canoe to get home

Shot down over France, captured twice and forced to flee across occupied Europe, Ipswich pilot Ronald Hawkins survived one of the most extraordinary escapes of the Second World War. He returned home a decorated hero, but his determination to fly again would ultimately cost him his life.

Bowls, birthdays and brilliance: Ipswich's Dougie rolls into his 100th year

Dougie Williamson has hit his century – but for the Ipswich & District Indoor Bowls Club member, turning 100 has certainly not meant packing away his bowls.

Ipswich library set for first major revamp in 40 years

Ipswich County Library is in line for its first major refurbishment in 40 years, with a café, a digital learning hub in a revamp costing nearly £900,000

Suffolk SEND overspend forecast at £109m despite write-off

Suffolk County Council is forecasting a £109.3m overspend on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) this year – even as the government prepares to wipe out most of its historic SEND deficit.

Citizens Advice Ipswich highlights free tools to manage money

As Citizens Advice Ipswich raises awareness of money support during Talk Money Week, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is encouraging organisations to signpost free help.

3,770 Ipswich homes outside £100 energy payment

Analysis of official council tax figures shows 3,770 properties in Ipswich are in bands E to H, putting them outside the government’s one-off £100 energy payment announced in last week’s Budget.

Community staff nurses set to be saved after consultation

Suffolk County Council has revised its plans for children's health services to retain community staff nurses, after the proposal to axe the role became the biggest concern raised in a major public consultation. But Ipswich MP Jack Abbott remains "incredibly concerned" that cuts are still coming.

Council insists housing repairs budget safe under £54.8m deal

Ipswich Borough Council says a new four-year contractor framework worth up to £54.8m will not lead to cuts in housing repairs or planned improvements, after Ipswich.co.uk asked about spending commitments, outstanding repairs and the condition of nearly 8,000 council homes.

George Thomas Manning: The soldier who waited 111 years to come home

An Ipswich father of two, killed in the trenches in 1915, is finally to receive a military funeral after his remains were identified through DNA. But behind the remarkable discovery lies the story of a family that suffered more than its share of heartbreak.

How Victorian developers nearly built over Christchurch Park – and the £28,300 rescue that saved it

Christchurch Park is one of Ipswich's most treasured places, but in the 1890s, as the estate was being sold off for housing, the Tudor mansion faced an uncertain future. Read about Daniel Defoe, 200 ships in harbour at once, and a referendum where folk from Ipswich voted against saving the site.

A tall order: The day a giraffe came to Ipswich by train

In 1909, Ipswich Museum acquired a giraffe standing nearly 17 feet tall. There was just one small problem. The railway bridges weren't high enough. What followed was a feat of Edwardian ingenuity, an inspector who wisely refused to become a jockey, and a rather secretive team of glaziers.

'Get out and meet people': Care home advice for students

Residents at an Ipswich care home have passed on their life lessons to Suffolk New College students, urging them to join a club, play sport, and get out and meet people.

All roads lead to one Suffolk council...unless county leader finds another

Suffolk's two-tier system is almost certainly finished, and a single county-wide authority is the likeliest replacement. But the county council's leader is not ready to accept that the choice is limited to the two business cases already sitting on ministers' desks.

Suffolk's police commissioner rejects 'mega force'

Suffolk's police and crime commissioner has thrown his weight behind a merger with Norfolk, warning he would go "over my dead body" to stop Suffolk being swallowed into a larger eastern region alongside Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Ipswich Poundland store at risk as chain nears collapse

The Poundland store in Ipswich's Sailmakers centre could be at risk after the discount retailer's US owner moved towards appointing administrators, threatening thousands of jobs nationwide.

The double Olympic gold medalist who never was

He wrote some of Britain’s best-loved songs, entertained troops during the Second World War and died in Ipswich. Decades later came the extraordinary discovery that he had secretly won two Olympic gold medals – except he had not.

Fire chief warns more funding needed to avoid Dunwich repeat

Suffolk's chief fire officer has told a Parliamentary committee that extra funding is needed to prevent another wildfire like the one that tore through Dunwich Heath in July.

Ipswich mum swaps wealth management for garden design

Lucy Howard spent the early hours in her vegetable patch with “the robins and the sunrise” while struggling with postnatal depression. Now she has swapped wealth management for her own garden design business.

Bikers raise £5,191 for Ipswich Hospital cancer care

Motorcyclists, volunteers, supporters and local businesses came together for the Richard Collins Charitable Ride, raising more than £5,000 to support patients receiving cancer treatment at Ipswich Hospital.

Suffolk families split over how to divide gifted money

Nearly half of adults across Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk believe money given by parents or grandparents should be judged on a case-by-case basis if family circumstances change, according to new research.

What the 2026 Budget means for Ipswich

A £100 energy payment, a bigger break on business rates and another rise in the minimum wage – John Healey's first Budget reaches into almost every household and high street business in Ipswich. Here is who gains, who pays, and what people in the town make of it.

Anti-social drinking powers set for three-year extension

Ipswich Borough Council is set to decide whether to keep its powers to tackle anti-social drinking in public for another three years, after 60 of 61 consultation respondents backed the move.

Discount retailer and supermarket to fill Carr Street shops

Two Carr Street shops have been let to new tenants, with national discount retailer Bargain World opening its first Suffolk store and an "independent supermarket" taking over the former Betfred unit.