Introducing 1473, a new publication defining the culture of young Ipswich

Ipswich.co.uk has a new sister publication. It is called 1473, it lives at 1473.co.uk, and if you are over 30 it's not for you.

It's nothing personal, but 1473 is a media brand created exclusively by and for young people in and around Ipswich. It will spotlight, champion and empower our town's young professionals, creatives, change makers, athletes, academics, writers, politicians and influencers, and give them somewhere to talk about their own town in their own words.

It soft-launched at the beginning of the summer and has been quietly publishing since. Today it launches in full, and it does so with Suffolk New College – one of the first organisations to back Ipswich.co.uk when we started out in 2024 – as its founding partner.

A number the town already knows

The name needs no explanation to anyone who has ever given out an Ipswich phone number. 01473 is the town's area code, and for a publication about belonging to a place, a number every resident already carries around seemed a good place to start.

It has a second meaning, too. 1473 is believed to be the year Thomas Wolsey was born – the butcher's son from Ipswich who rose to become Lord Chancellor of England and one of the most powerful men of his age. A town that produced Wolsey has never been short of young ambition – but it has occasionally been short of places to put it.

By young Ipswich, for young Ipswich

1473 is edited by Nicola Sebastian, 23, who grew up in Chantry and joined Ipswich.co.uk as a reporter after completing her journalism degree at the University of East London.

Her early pieces for 1473 sets the tone: the profile of 17-year-old drummer Darell Chipuru, who arrived from Zimbabwe knowing nobody and is now performing at Snape Maltings; the conversation with rapper Ayo, "still waving the flag for Ipswich" after appearances at Latitude and Ipswich Music Day; report on two youth campaigns tackling litter and period poverty; interviews with up-and-coming boxer Issiah Hamilton-Allen and our town's youngest politicians and councillors.

Around her is a growing roster of young writers who have already shown what the brand is about:

• Komala Cook went looking for a good night out in Ipswich and asked 18 to 22-year-olds why they take the train to Norwich and Colchester instead.
• Millie Sharpley wrote about living with ME/CFS since the age of 12, and the hundreds of thousands of people the illness keeps hidden from view.
• Harriet Dunlop sat down with Megan, a 26-year-old from Suffolk diagnosed with breast cancer in July after being turned away by her GP the year before.
• Şevin Yıldırım spent a day on Norwich Road getting to know the Romanian community, and came back with Diablo – a Suffolk New College mechanics graduate who wants to be a police officer while his dad wants him to fix the washing machine.
• Layla Bukhari wrote about being asked, again and again, where Jordan is.
• Millie Simon made the case for scrapbooking and birdwatching as a generation's antidote to "debt, destruction and despair".

None of it reads like a local newspaper. And that's the point.

The college that backed us first

Suffolk New College came on board as a partner in 2024, before most people in the town had heard of Ipswich.co.uk. Since then we have gone on to quickly become the town's publication of record, covering the stories that others won't, championing the town in a way that others don't, and reaching more than two thirds of Ipswich every month.

Today's announcement takes that relationship into a new phase. The college becomes the headline sponsor of 1473 while continuing its partnership with Ipswich.co.uk, helping to fund our reporting on the town.

Mary Gleave, Deputy CEO of Suffolk New College, said: "Suffolk New College is proud to launch this exciting partnership with 1473. Both Suffolk New College and Ipswich.co.uk are passionate about championing Suffolk and creating opportunities for people and businesses to thrive. By combining our strengths and networks, we can enhance support for learners and employers, strengthen community engagement, and help drive the economic success of our region. We look forward to building a long and impactful partnership that delivers real benefits across Suffolk.

For a college whose students are precisely the audience 1473 is built for, the fit is an obvious one.

Deputy CEO Mary Gleave added: "Sponsoring a youth-led media brand lets us amplify the student voice, showcase young people's perspectives, and celebrate their achievements through content created by young people, for young people. It also helps address local skills needs: raising awareness of career opportunities, apprenticeships and key employment sectors, while giving students valuable experience in media, digital and communication skills.

"Most importantly, it helps retain young talent in Ipswich, highlighting the opportunities, employers and success stories available locally, and encouraging young people to build their futures in the town rather than looking elsewhere."

Built on young voices

1473 did not appear from nowhere. Ipswich.co.uk has spent much of the past two years working out how to give the town's young people a voice, and this new publication is the direct result.

We were also the first media company in the country to sign the Power of Youth Charter. We've attended multiple workshops and events, and told the stories of some of our town's most inspiring young people.

Youth Voice Matters, our youth-focused journalism programme run in partnership with Ipswich Community Media, helped young people from Ipswich learn to tell their own stories. It also taught us something: that the appetite was there, the talent was there, but the platform was not. It is the programme that inspired 1473 and made the need for it plain.

This summer alone, Ipswich.co.uk took on ten work experience placements, all of whom worked across both Ipswich.co.uk and 1473. Many have since become regular contributors to 1473.

The Suffolk New College partnership builds on all of that work and, crucially, funds a lot more of it.

The bottom line

Ipswich has a habit of not noticing what it has until it has gone. 1473 exists to notice earlier – to give the town's young people a platform that is theirs and theirs alone, and to ensure that the future of Ipswich is being shaped by those who are set to inherit it.

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