Ipswich Community Media has been awarded £10,000 in Government funding through the Common Ground Award.
This is an amazing organisation that is changing people's lives, using music, media, the creative arts and education to challenge inequality and empower communities.
This is really welcome news: nearly 60 much needed specialist school places are being created in Ipswich.
The Bridge School, which currently educates nearly 200 children and young people in our town, has had 57 new places approved by the Government.
We need a system that is proactive, joined up and properly resourced, and that is exactly what these reforms begin to deliver.
It’s about making sure no child is left waiting while their needs go unmet.
The new service is designed to provide children with early support and fast access to professionals like speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and educational psychologists.
This £5.1 million investment from our Government is a vital step towards changing that.
The new ‘Experts at Hand’ service will mean quicker access to specialist support, earlier intervention, and a system that works with families rather than against them.
Families face totally unacceptable wait times to get their children the right support.
Too often, by the time help finally arrives, families are already at breaking point and this has been the case in Ipswich and Suffolk for years with countless children failed.
The £5.1 million investment to provide families in Ipswich and Suffolk with earlier support and faster access to SEND services is a hugely welcome announcement from our Government.
Not just because of the level of funding - which is significant - but because of where it is focused.
Chronic illnesses like endometriosis are receiving long overdue focus in our Government’s Women’s Health Strategy.
Women are waiting years for diagnosis and there are no specialist services in Suffolk. They need faster access to better treatment and care.
I will keep fighting to ensure our brilliant schools and colleges in Ipswich are given the funding they need to educate our town’s next generation to the highest possible standards.
I back the Prime Minister’s bold target to get two-thirds of young people to be taking a gold standard apprenticeship or heading to university by the age of 25.
As shown by this announcement, this ambition is backed up by investment.
The College will be given the flexibility to decide how the funding is spent so it can be directed where it's needed most.
I’m passionate about ensuring every young person in Ipswich can access education, training and skills to go on and succeed in the job they want to do.
£𝟏.𝟐 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐤 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬
I’m delighted to have worked with our Labour Government to secure vital investment for Suffolk New College.
It means faster diagnoses, shorter waits, and less need to travel, making a real difference to patients across Ipswich.
This is what Labour’s plan for the NHS is delivering: real investment, modern facilities, and an NHS that works around patients’ lives again.
You can read more here 👇
This centre will transform how people access care locally, with more MRI, CT and ultrasound capacity, as well as vital services like audiology and sleep studies available right here in the community.
£𝟏𝟑 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐩𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐡’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞
Our Government's £13 million investment in Ipswich’s new diagnostic centre is a massive boost for our town and a clear step forward in getting our NHS back on its feet.
I will continue working to bring investment into Ipswich so that arts and culture is something everyone can access, right on their doorstep.
This investment also strengthens Ipswich’s ambition to become UK City of Culture by demonstrating that we are already producing the infrastructure, accessibility and confidence needed to compete at a national level.
Vital funding will also allow Ipswich County Library to become a more modern, accessible and inclusive space that supports learning, opportunity and digital inclusion for everyone in our town.
The New Wolsey Theatre will benefit from vital upgrades that secure its long-term future, improve sustainability and ensure it remains a thriving cultural home for audiences and artists alike.
I'm delighted £1 million has been secured for culture in Ipswich.
Our Government's 'Arts Everywhere' invests in places that bring our communities together.
Our libraries and theatres are the heart of our town. This funding will ensure they're not only protected, but transformed for the future too.
Holi, the Festival of Colour, came to Ipswich this afternoon.
Hundreds and hundreds of people had such a wonderful time in a sunny Alexandra Park.
Thank you to the Ipswich & Suffolk Indian Association and Ipswich Borough Council for hosting such an amazing event, once again.
This is really welcome news.
@eastenglandamb.bsky.social has achieved its fastest average response time for serious emergencies, reaching patients more quickly than at any other time in the past five years.
A huge thank you to the hard-working ambulance team across our region.
I was delighted to secure £20 million for Stoke Park and south-west Ipswich through our Labour Government's Pride in Place programme.
This is a game-changer, not just because of the amount of money involved, but because it will be local people who decides how it is invested.
NEW: Labour is tackling the cost-of-living crisis for leaseholders in Ipswich.
Every year homeowners pay £600 million in ground rent.
Labour’s Commonhold and Leasehold Bill:
• Caps ground rents at £250
• Reduces these to a peppercorn over time
• Ends the scandal of forfeiture
This is fantastic news for Ipswich. Our town's new Youth Hub will help our young people get into work, gain new skills and access the support they need to build their future.
There are real opportunities here in Ipswich, and this Youth Hub will help connect even more young people to them.
My piece for Parliament Politics Magazine about an emerging scandal in our country.
Endometriosis is a chronic illness which causes many women debilitating pain, agony and trauma, yet access to the specialist services needed to diagnose and treat it properly are out of reach.
Our Ipswich Labour team was out in sunny Rushmere this weekend!
Labour is investing in Ipswich:
- £40m in Pride in Place funding
- £1.5m for 30 community projects
- Regent and Ipswich Museum refurbs
- Enhancing spaces like Arras Square
- Bringing buildings back into use
- Money for a new youth hub
A culture has been allowed to develop where women living in pain is seen as acceptable, as something normal to be expected. That should never have happened.
We cannot let the next generation of women with endometriosis be failed too.
That's why I raised this critical issue in Parliament.
Single-use vapes have been outlawed and there'll be powers for local councils to prevent new shops from opening.
1000s of illegal vapes have been seized after a number of police operations in Ipswich. Step by step, we're tackling this problem and protecting children from future harm and addiction.
