The Ipswich Umbrella Trust, a voluntary organisation with a wide brief around the needs of homeless and marginalised in Ipswich has its offices in the Community Resource Centre in Black Horse Lane. The Centre is a day centre open Monday to Friday offering a low cost cafe, advice on a multitude of issues with particular skills in benefits and housing problems, use of PCs and many other support services.
Although the Trust (I am a trustee) has been very successful of late in raising funds, the Chairman Roger Fern held an excellent event at the Bombay Nite Restaurant in Felixstowe last Monday night, apart from fantastic food it was a fun evening with different little challenges including a rather difficult quiz! With over 60 guests the Trust managed to raise over £1,000.00 Fantastic and well done to all.

It was the official opening of the Suffolk New College Sports Centre last Thursday which saw Paralympic hopeful Zoe Newson the young Power lifter uncover the plaque after a question and answer session with Suffolk New College Fellow and BBC Radio Suffolk presenter,Terry Baxter.

We enjoyed an excellent buffet lunch prepared by the students and we then had the opportunity to look around the facilities, and observe activities carried out by students taking:

•Business, Leisure and Information Technology (BLIT) courses
•Creative Arts and Media (CAM) courses
•Education, Care, Learning forIndependenceand Public Services (ECLIPS) courses
A Sports Relief 5-a-side Football Tournament with students from across the College took place on the pitches, together with a Bleep Test demonstration which involved Uniformed Public Service students.

The Principal of the College, Dave Muller is proud of the Sports Centre, and that the College is supporting Zoe through the Suffolk SportsAid Foundation Destination Gold Initiative: Dave said:

“The Suffolk New College Sports Centre is an outstanding example of a private-public partnership; it’s created new jobs and provides high quality facilities for the College and the general public. Zoe is an inspirational character. At only 18 years old she is ranked first in the world at junior level and fourth in the world overall having secured a number of first place finishes throughout 2010.”

Zoe will find out next month whether she will be part of the 2012 Paralymic team. What a lovely girl all I can say is good luck she certainly deserves it.

Last week some of the Friends of Holywells Park and staff that work in the Park met at the Bishop’s Hill entrance to proudly fly the Green Flag and to admire the brand new notice board. It was a happy occasion and you can see from the photo how pleased we all are with our green flag status.

Some of you living in and around the Waterfront will remember that an application was made for a Pharmacy in Duke Street which was refused but went to Appeal. We have very recently heard from the NHS Appeals Committee that they have upheld the Appeal and directed that consent is given by the PCT. This is clearly great news and the work of pulling it together and getting open is underway. It is hoped that the Pharmacy will be just along from Tesco’s and it is really hoped it will be of huge benefit to the local community and a rewarding enterprise.

Negotiations with the agents regarding the unit are taking place and there are of course a few regulatory formalities to also undertake, including converting the preliminary consent to full (should essentially be a formality) and registering the pharmacy, once it is fitted out.

It is hoped to offer the full range of additional services that pharmacies provide, including smoking cessation, weight management and sexual health services. The aim is to provide a centre for health, engaging with others and also to provide facilities for other health professionals to provide services to patients out of hours.

It is anticipated that it will be about four to six months to negotiate the lease, get fitted out etc and open, but the aim is to get cracking as soon as possible. Well done to all concerned

There has been an ongoing dispute about a passage way running from Gladstone Road through to Foxhall Road. Part of the passage way is paved the other half not. It is quite remarkable that this has been an issue for some 3 to 4 years including being presented to a full Council Meeting this time last year when it was unanimously agreed that it should be made up and adopted by the Council. However one year later still nothing! So at the South East Area Committee a couple of weeks ago myself and Gavin Maclure (an ex councillor and resident of Gladstone Road) asked that some urgency be given to this matter. I am very glad to say that the following morning I received an email from the Council to say that under Section 26 of the Highways Act 1980 it will create a public footpath running north from Gladstone Road, Ipswich to Foxhall Road, Ipswich. It is still the beginning of a long process and several residents have asked that it will be kept clear of weeds and rubbish once adopted and hopefully this will be the case. I have set out the procedure so you are all aware:

Procedure note for a Public Path Creation Order under Section 26 of the Highways Act 1980

• Draft intention notice and order
• Notice needs to give 28 days notice
• Notice to be served on
o All owners and occupiers (if known)
o All relevant councils
o All adjoining owners
o Secretary of State
o Ramblers Association
o Open Spaces Society
o Byways and Bridleways Trust
o Statutory undertakers/utilities
o Auto Cycle union
o British Horse Society
• Post copy of notice AND PLAN at each end of proposed path
• Place copy of notice, plan and order on deposit
• Advertise notice only in local paper
• Order can be sealed on the same day as the notice

If no objections are received Order can be confirmed 28 days later. Any claims for compensation must be made within six months from the order coming into force.

• Draft confirmation notice
• Post copy on site
• Serve on
o All owners and occupiers
o All relevant councils
o All adjoining owners
o Secretary of State

A copy of the confirmed order should also be sent to Ordnance Survey

If no objections are received but the order is not confirmed notice should be given.

If objections are received

o If objection received from a local authority then the Secretary of State must hold a local inquiry.
o If the objection is from another source the Sec of State may hold a local inquiry, but a local hearing can be held for the objector
o Sec of State can then confirm order
o Id a statutory undertaker objects then the order is subject to ‘special parliamentary procedures’
o If the order is modified by the Sec of State then it will need to be re-advertised and a further 28 days notice given.

Very good news for the residents living at the bottom of Cavendish Street who have been asking for ages for something to be done about vehicles travelling down the Street at far too high a speed as they go over the last bump. The Council has developed a scheme to extend the traffic calming and provide an additional road hump at the bottom of Devonshire Road. They also intend to enhance the existing weight limit signage on Cavendish Street at the junction with White Elm Street which may reduce the number of lorries continuing north along Cavendish from the industrial area. I do hope it will make a difference.

I attended a rather amusing event last week “Dog Enforcement Launch”. We met in Murrayside Park and I proudly took along my Dachshund, Soldier. Actually it is very important that dog owners clean up after their animals. Local Councillors are always receiving complaints from residents that dogs have fouled outside their houses. So my plea to Ipswich Borough Council would be please can we have more doggy bins it’s no good launching this campaign and not providing the bins to assist!

I am a very proud member of the Ipswich East Rotary Club and last week we announced the new route for this year’s 35th Orwell Walk on Sunday 24th June. The Orwell Walk, which began in 1977 with just a couple of hundred walkers, is now the most successful fundraising campaign for Ipswich East Rotary Club, to date raising more than £1.3m for local charities and good causes. Last year’s walk was attended by a massive 2,000 people, all raising money for their chosen charities. Last week the donations collected by the Club from the walkers were distributed to local charities at a formal handover luncheon hosted by the Rotary club.

This year’s route has changed due to the shock closure last year of Amberfield School which had been used as the start and finish to the Walk. Therefore this year, people are asked to make their way instead to Gainsborough Sports Club where there will be ample free parking and refreshments at either end of the new 2012 route. The club is also celebrating 35 years of the Orwell Walk by recently launching a brand new website which has full details of the new route, this year’s walk Sponsor – Healthy Ambitions Suffolk and also new for 2012 the opportunity to register for the walk on line via http://www.ipswicheastrotaryclub.co.uk

Representatives from the following charities attended our lunch to collect their cheques:

Talitha Koum accepted by John Cobbold

Ipswich Umbrella Trust accepted by Chairman Roger Fern

Age UK Suffolk, accepted by Ursula Austin.

Ipswich Citizens Advice Bureau, accepted by Hugh Rowlands

Genesis Mencap accepted by Nino Serritiello

Cancer Campaign in Suffolk accepted by Karen Hare and Louise Gregory

Cruise Bereavement accepted by Adrian Williams

Christina Noble Children’s Foundation accepted by Sue Lines

Hearing Dogs for the Deaf accepted by Malcolm Taylor

Headway Ipswich & East Suffolk accepted by Allister Renton

Talking Newspapers accepted by Eileen Damant

Ipswich Support Epilepsy Group accepted by Sheila Cooper

The Woolverstone Project accepted by John Wilkinson

I attended the Maharani Restaurant on Norwich Road last night which was a fund raising event for Insaan which is a local charity working with people at grass roots level, helping and assisting the poor and needy. Their aims and ethos are underpinned by Islamic values and principles. We enjoyed a marvellous meal in excellent company and the raffle itself made £300 for the charity and part of the money we paid for the meal will also be donated to Insaan.

For more information on the charity please go to: http://www.insaanaid.com

Please note that the picture used here is copyright and is by courtesy of Paul Nixon Photography (01473 430707)

The Ipswich Winter Night Shelter, which has been running every night since 14 December, finished on Sunday 19 February. The shelter was held at seven churches across the town centre and supported by 300 volunteers from many Christian denominations, and from other faiths and none. A special service was held on 26 February to celebrate the work and to look to the future. I was unable to help with the shelter as my husband was so ill but it was a great honour to be there and to meet the many people who had helped.

The Rev’d Canon Paul Daltry, who chaired the team, said that it was wonderful to work with so many volunteers, including those of other faiths. “The Shelter has shown that we in Ipswich are waking up to acting like a community. We need to ask ‘What is God saying to the church today; what is he calling us to do next?’” The service also included a debate involving local politicians Ben Gummer our Member of Parliament, David Ellesmere, Leader of Ipswich Borough Council and County Cllr Colin Spence they debated the relationship between church contributions in this area and the work of the state agencies. In his sermon Bishop Nigel drew attention to the various statistics of the Shelter: 37 guests had been welcomed (though 66 had to be turned away through lack of space); 1000 plus meals were served; 300 people had volunteered to help; and perhaps most important, 10 people were found some form of permanent housing. “This is an extraordinary story.” The Bishop referred to Archbishop Temple’s comments after the war, when we were aiming to establish a state ‘for the welfare of all citizens’, in great contrast to the Nazi or communist philosophies prevalent at the time. We now realise that the state can’t do everything, and the church is again challenged to ask what it is here for – “our own sakes or to serve others?” Very profound if I may say so.