Long Reads
Ipswich family's mission to save young lives after losing George, 22
George Lavery had no symptoms, no warning and no known heart condition. His family are on a mission to make sure other young people get the chance he never had.
Long Reads
N°8 Beautique: From the basketball court to the treatment table
Ilona Kocheva's childhood dream was to become a PE teacher specialising in basketball. Thirteen years on, the former player has opened her own massage studio on Ipswich High Street, drawing on a sporting background that shapes every treatment she offers.
Long Reads
'Soon there will be rats running the building': Pipers Court two months on
When Ipswich.co.uk first visited Pipers Court in April, we found black mould, broken tiles, blood-stained lights and "cleaning in progress" signs lining the dirtiest corridors. Two months later, with fly-infested bin liners stacking up inside, frustrated residents tell us little has improved.
Long Reads
Suffolk is taking the Government to court over LGR, but can it win its £500k taxpayer-funded battle?
Suffolk County Council has filed a judicial review claim against the Secretary of State over local government reorganisation. The legal arguments are now known, but the threshold is high, and even a successful outcome may not deliver what the council is seeking. We explain all.
Long Reads
Will Ipswich sink or swim?
Ipswich enters the summer of 2026 with an empty lido it cannot yet fund, an ageing main pool it plans to demolish, and a £38m replacement that its own council will not exist long enough to build. We ask: where will Ipswich swim?
Long Reads
Suffolk's first women's health support hub to open in Ipswich
This month, Women's Health Hope — the Ipswich charity founded by Monica Thomas — announces the launch of Suffolk's first Women's Health Support Hub. A milestone that follows years of campaigning and one woman's determination to turn her own health journey into something that helps others.
Long Reads
Unanswered questions surround Suffolk's LGR legal challenge ahead of extraordinary cabinet meeting
The council appears to be pursuing a judicial review of the Government's local government reorganisation plans, but with a legal deadline that falls before its cabinet meeting on 29 June, residents and councillors still don't know if a claim has been filed, on what grounds, or at what cost.
Long Reads
We've written to council chief exec Helen Pluck – here's why
Ipswich has seven weeks to submit the most consequential piece of work this town has produced in years. We think the council has made an unnecessary decision that risks undermining one of its most important assets, so we have said so directly to its CEO, Helen Pluck, in an open letter.
Long Reads
Inside Ipswich council chief's seven-week push for City of Culture
Seven weeks. Four shortlist places. One shot. Here is the inside scoop on Ipswich's City of Culture 2029 bid, and the people and decisions that will define it.
Long Reads
Why Ipswich needs independent news, and why it needs you
This week, independent news outlets across the UK are making the case for their survival. Here is ours. Please give it a read.
Long Reads
Planning Ipswich's future in the shadow of local government reorganisation
Ipswich Borough Council is legally required to begin writing a new blueprint for the town's future development, but the authority doing the writing may not exist by the time it's finished. It's one of the more peculiar and consequential paradoxes thrown up by local government reorganisation.
Long Reads
'They could have killed him, and the police didn't care': Mum of epileptic teen beaten and repeatedly kicked in the head by gang of students speaks out
When a 15-year-old boy with severe epilepsy was beaten by a large group of his peers in an Ipswich park, his mother expected the police to act. What followed, she says, has left her son feeling more unsafe than ever.