Four Suffolk champions receive the county's highest honour

The medals, described as the highest honour the county can bestow, were presented during the Suffolk Day celebrations in Bury St Edmunds on Sunday, 21 June. This year's recipients represented an unusually broad range of contributions — from civic leadership and poetry to broadcasting and community cohesion.

Liz Harsant: two decades of service to Ipswich

For many of our readers, the most familiar name on the list will be Liz Harsant, who served as a councillor on Ipswich Borough Council for more than two decades, including six and a half years as its leader.

Harsant, who moved to Suffolk at the age of 15 and has lived in the county ever since, came to elected office after a career in legal practice as a residential and commercial conveyancer. She has described her time working with clients through moments of uncertainty and anxiety as formative — an experience that grounded her approach to public life in empathy and practical support.

Her tenure as IBC leader coincided with one of the most distressing periods in the town's recent history: the murders of five young women in Ipswich in 2006. Harsant became a reassuring public figure during those difficult weeks, helping the community to navigate shock and grief. In the aftermath, she helped establish the Somebody's Daughter Memorial Fund to support women affected by exploitation and addiction, and became one of the first trustees of Talitha Koum, the Ipswich-based charity providing supported housing and long-term recovery for women facing addiction and complex challenges.

Those experiences, she notes, profoundly reshaped her understanding of sex work and exploitation, leading her to see the women involved "not as stereotypes but as vulnerable individuals deserving compassion, dignity and support."

Harsant went on to serve as Chair of Suffolk County Council from 2024 to 2025, a role she has described as one of the greatest privileges of her years in public service. She continues to serve as a Director of Greener Ipswich CIC and coordinates a small charity assisting those in need.

Michael Laskey: a poet who built a festival

Michael Laskey is one of Suffolk's most celebrated poets, and the medal recognises both his own work and his role in nurturing the county's wider literary culture.

Laskey helped to establish long-running poetry workshops and writing groups before playing a central part in founding the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, where he served as director for a decade. He has continued to champion local poets while pursuing his own writing career, and in 2025 was awarded the King's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Libby Purves OBE: a voice for Suffolk on the national stage

Broadcaster, journalist, theatre critic and columnist Libby Purves OBE has championed Suffolk's people, culture and heritage throughout a distinguished national career.

Purves has played an important role in supporting East Anglian theatre, including the work of Ipswich companies such as the Red Rose Chain and the New Wolsey. Her advocacy has helped bring national attention to cultural institutions that might otherwise have struggled for visibility beyond the region.

Dr Soni Sushil: building bridges in Ipswich

Dr Soni Sushil has drawn on his professional expertise and personal conviction to strengthen community cohesion across Ipswich and Suffolk. He helped to found the Ipswich and Suffolk Indian Association, SIFRE, and the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality — organisations that have supported minority communities, fostered cultural pride and encouraged dialogue between different groups.

The ceremony

The medals were presented by the Lord Lieutenant, Mark Pendlington, during a ceremony at The Athenaeum on Angel Hill on Sunday, 21 June. The event formed part of a full day of Suffolk Day activities in Bury St Edmunds, including a farmers and craft market in the Abbey Gardens and a celebration concert at St Edmundsbury Cathedral featuring headline acts including Rick Wakeman and DanceEast.

Hannah Bloom, chief executive of Suffolk Community Foundation, which coordinates the Suffolk Medal, said: "We are proud to once again play a leading role in the Suffolk Day celebrations by arranging the Suffolk Medal ceremony. It is especially pleasing to see such a wide and diverse range of individuals receive the medal in recognition of the positive difference they have made to our county.

"The purpose of the Suffolk Medal is to recognise, reward and champion the exceptional contributions of individuals who have made a fundamental and lasting difference to the county of Suffolk and its people. It is the highest honour the county can make to an individual."

Nominations for next year's medal are open. For more information, visit thesuffolkmedal.org.

The bottom line

From guiding Ipswich through its darkest days to building a poetry festival that put Suffolk on the national cultural map, this year's four recipients reflect the quiet, determined work that holds communities together. The Suffolk Medal exists to ensure that work does not go unrecognised — and on Sunday, it did not.

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