Long Reads
From housebound and dismissed to Westminster: The campaigner who wouldn't give up
After years of being ignored, one autistic campaigner from Ipswich has finally forced Westminster to listen.
Long Reads
Why local news must stop ignoring its youngest readers, and what we're doing about it
Local journalism has traditionally struggled to engage young people. If we want to shape a town worth staying in, we need to start listening to the people who will inherit it.
Long Reads
New data exposes dental health inequality in Ipswich
Just miles apart, children in different parts of Ipswich face different odds when it comes to dental health – and new data reveals a divide between neighbouring communities that mirrors a nationwide pattern of inequality.
Long Reads
Ipswich firms face cyber threat as Windows 10 support ends
The email looks routine enough. A supplier invoice, perhaps, or a customer query. But for businesses still running Windows 10 after Tuesday, 14 October, that single click could be the moment everything changes – and not in a good way.
Long Reads
Blankets for Ipswich: Knitting together a community
In Ipswich, friends Azita Ahmadi and Amy Falla are rallying knitters and crocheters to make blankets for Lighthouse Women's Aid and Suffolk Refugee Support. What began as a practical idea has become something more: bringing people together through the simple act of making something meaningful.
Long Reads
Chapter one: Ipswich's debut book festival promises something for everyone
When four book-loving business owners decided Ipswich deserved its own book festival, they didn't hold back, creating a three-day celebration with 43 events across 14 venues that launches this Friday.
Long Reads
Can Ipswich cash in on the AI gold rush?
Ipswich has always had a knack for being quietly ahead of its time. In 1902, using the spirit of those relentlessly inventive and industrious Victorians, Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies built the world's first commercially available petrol-powered lawnmower. Cutting-hedge technology, you could say.
Long Reads
At this Ipswich café, careers begin with conversation
Chloe used to stay in bed all day with no energy. Now she trains new staff and works four days a week at an Ipswich café where people thrive.
Long Reads
Thirteen years of Daring, Jazzy and Versatile: The indie boutique defying the odds
In 2012, Mandy Errington spotted something missing on Ipswich's high street – a boutique that offered truly individual, inspiring fashion. Rather than wait for someone else to fill the gap, she decided to do it herself, launching DJV Boutique.
Long Reads
Flying against the odds: The accidental landlords who risked it all to save their pub
Sarah Battistetti works eighteen-hour days with no time off, has faced online abuse and personal attacks, and admits the pressure nearly destroyed her marriage. But in just over a year, she and husband Giulio turned "one of Ipswich's most troubled pubs" back into a thriving family venue.
Long Reads
Full circle: The talented Ipswich artist exhibiting alongside the masters she studied
The moment Lily Hammond chose art over academia, she set herself on a path that would see her work lighting up the town centre and hanging alongside some of the biggest names in art at Christchurch Mansion. We share her journey.
Long Reads
Discover the Dove Street art studio making people powerful
If you’re crafty or creative, or have a young person in your life who is, you’ll be delighted to discover that a new community arts studio has opened right in the centre of town.