Last week was a fantastic week for Ipswich. It seemed there was good news every day and bodes well for the future of the town.
Big news at the start of the week was Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) announcing that the Pride In Place Impact Fund of £1.5million would be considered at the Council’s executive next week.
IBC launched an online application portal on 5th January 2026, and by the deadline of 27th February, a total of 85 applications requesting funding of over £11.6m had been submitted by community groups, charities, and other local organisations.
The applications have now been evaluated, and a report to the Council’s Executive makes recommendations for awarding grant funding. We are making sure this £1.5 million goes a long way by funding 30 community projects across Ipswich, supporting youth centres, charities, arts organisation, places of worship and more. This is all about how we restore pride and create a more vibrant, community-minded, and positive future.
The intention is that the chosen projects will go forward to a due diligence stage where their requests are evaluated, with the aim of finalising the grant amounts by the end of June. The money needs to be spent by March 2027, which will be tight for some projects.
Big news in the middle of the week was Ipswich being longlisted for the City of Culture 2029. Being selected among the top nine was a real vote of confidence in the town’s ambition to shape its future through culture. This is a fantastic moment for Ipswich and a proud one for everyone who has played a role in bringing the bid this far.
I’d like to thank Lee Walker for his enthusiastic leadership of the bid and Bryony Hope at DanceEast who did the hard work of actually writing the bid.
The bid team now have £60,000 to develop their initial bid over several months into a full application, due between May and June this year.
The final four places will then participate in the third stage of the competition, with a winner to be announced in the winter.
This is an amazing opportunity for Ipswich and a proud moment for the town, its communities and its rich and vibrant arts and culture.
Big news to finish the week was the announcement of £40million for Ipswich under the Pride in Place Programme. This a new government funding programme, aimed at putting power into the hands of local people in some of the areas with greatest need across the UK. Local people can decide how to regenerate their local area, not Westminster.
The successful areas are Stoke Park, in the South West of Ipswich and Whitehouse, in the North West.
It is designed to be community-led with Neighbourhood Boards made up of local people who must develop Pride in Place Plans together with the wider community.
Neighbourhood Boards are flexible so they can choose what to do and when. The guidance proposes a list of activities Boards may want to consider giving places the opportunity to create lasting change that outlives the programme itself.in their area, but the money can also be invested in other activity if that is what the community wants to see
In the long-term, the programme provides certainty and security of funding over ten years. It aligns strongly with IBC’s ambitions to revitalise public spaces, improve health and wellbeing, and strengthen local identity.
Funding and support for community organisations, art and culture as well as helping some of the most in-need neighbourhoods do not happen by accident. This is what you get with a Labour government, MP and council working together.