Today we chat with Bridget Tighe, Lawford Parish Clerk & with Val Guglielmi, Chairperson of Lawford Parish Council. We reflect on a fantastic 2024 and share our excitement about 2025. We chat about 

• The work done in 2024 to introduce upgrade playgrounds, add a new ZIP wire, refurbish pathways and much more
• It was a year not without challenges, we talk parking at Lawford Primary & the much debated planning application at Dale Hall
• We reflect on a brilliant D Day celebration last summer and plans for a VE Day Celebration in 2025 
• We discuss grants to The Community Bus, to Manningtree has Pride, to Acorn Village etc
• We pivot to environment and talk about the efforts the council are making to reflect the advocacy of PACE and the broader community
• The New Parish Building is nearing completion and will be a new focal point for the village in 2025
• In closing Val encourages all our community to reach out and engage, we will always help where we can and where we cant we will signpost residents to the right resource 

In todays podcast we chat with Belinda Joslin, Belinda is founder & director of a community interest company called Women in Boat Building. Belinda's has an incredible passion for boats, for boat building and above all for creating opportunities for women in the industry she loves. In this chat we cover

• Belinda's origin story, growing up in a sailing mad family in Ipswich where building and sailing boats was just "what we did"
• Belinda's experiences sailing on super yachts across the Atlantic 
• "James Bond" style boats being built in Ipswich and how she worked as a "finisher" on the yacht of the year
• The origin story for Women in Boat Building and how Women in Boat Building has and is fostering opportunities for Women in the Industry
• Belinda's participation in the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, A National Ship Building Board and cheering on The Americas Cup Teams

This was such a fun chat, Belinda's passion for her chosen field is truly infectious. For those that would like to learn  more please see

• http://www.womeninboatbuilding.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/womeninboatbuilding/
• https://www.superyachttimes.com/yachts/geist

Tom West is a serial entrepreneur & champion of our local community in the Stour Valley. Tom is the proprietor of several popular local pubs including The Red Lion in Manningtree & the Marlborough in Dedham while Tom is also the founder of an exciting start up called RentMy.com, in this episode we chat with Tom about

• What was & what might have been when it came to his highly promising sporting career in both Football & Basketball
• We chat about his move into the pub trade and how he has built a chain of hugely popular, community focused pubs
• We pivot to his new internet business, RentMy.com - which is best described as an Airbnb of everything - a platform where you can rent anything, from anyone, anywhere!
• Tom gives some insights on the local & international start up communities he is involved in and coins the fabulous term Silicone Stour
• We close with some passionate comments from Tom about the joy he takes from living in this beautiful part of the world and his passion for making the greater Manningtree area a brilliant community to live in and to do business in

In this episode we had a wonderful chat with David Webb in which we covered

• David's career highlight performing to 20 million people regularly as part of the cast of Hi-de-Hi!
• Performing for the Queen at the Royal Variety Show, rubbing shoulders with Vera Lynn, Bruce Forsyth, Roy Castle  & many more
•  His move into broadcasting and award winning documentary making including his work documenting the travels of Suffolk explorer Bartholomew Gosnold
• David's love for Ipswich Town Football Club and the joy he got from working at the club
• David's love for the local area and his passion projects producing films on Walton Backwaters, Mistley, Constable Country & more

David is incredibly fluid in conversation and incredibly passionate about embracing life, living it to the full. A real pleasure to spend time in his company. Thank you David.

• Dean's early life in Lawford, and the personal tragedy that acted as a catalyst for his wanderlust and his embrace of life thereafter 
• We travel with Dean from Spain, to Azerbaijan, from USA to China and lots more
• We hear about the sliding doors moment that lead to Dean & his wife Grace meeting and the subsequent travails with the UK Home Office
• Finally we hear about the experiences & motivation that lead to the creation of Fitness @Summers Park and how it serves the full community, including those with specific medical considerations

Today we chat with Gipe Giddings of "Yoga with Gipe". The conversation is wholly inspiring, with Gipes energy and enthusiasm for yoga &  for life, shining through. We cover

• Gipes origin story, starting life as a child refugee from Tanzania, where her father spent 11 years as a political prisoner
• Gipes early years in dance & artistic design
• Gipes route into yoga and specifically Iyengar Yoga, developing her stunning studio in Lawford and the gratification she gets from being both a teacher & a lifelong student 
• Gipe radiates a thirst for discovery, for experience, for taking joy from the little  things as well as the large things

Its an absolutely brilliant chat and we would highly recommend taking a look at Gipe's website for more https://www.yogawithgipe.co.uk/ 

We recently had a brilliant chat with Alison Baker & Jon Abbott of Manifest Theatre in Manningtree. In keeping with Manningtree's moniker as England's smallest town, its also home to a bijou theatre which seats just under 100 people, yet packs a punch in terms of the variety & quality of performances delivered. In the chat we talk about 

• the history of the theatre and how it has evolved over time
• we chat about its role in the heart of the community and how it supports everyone from toddlers to octogenarians 
• we hear about the recent sell out performance of Calendar Girls and the theatres exciting program for 2024
• we hear about the warm welcome that everyone receives at Manifest be they performers, stage creators, directors or visitors

We would highly recommend taking a look at the their website and in particular there brilliant newsletter which tells you all about 

On this episode we ae joined by Kirsty Buxton from Acorn Village which is a fabulous facility in Mistley focused on supporting adults with learning disabilities. In this chat we cover 

• The history of Acorn Village and the passion that drove its formation
• The services provided for both live in adults and for those in the community
• The scale of Acorn  Village - employing more than 170 people in our community 
• The volunteers who support the village and its residents 
• And we get some perspective on the various and novel ways that Acorn generates funds to support its activities

For more details on Acorn Village please visit the website https://www.acornvillages.com/ or drop Kirsty & Team a mail at [email protected]

In this episode we chat with Dagmar Grafton of Manningtree Credit Union which provides community based banking in our area. We learn 

• A little about Dagmar, including how she recently became a UK Citizen after 50 years of residency
• That while the Credit Union provides banking services, with all the regulatory supervision of a bank it is a community based not for profit organisation
• Credit Unions are member-owned financial co-operative, democratically controlled by its members, which offers convenient savings and low interest loans to its members.
• That Manningtree Credit Union has a physical presence every Friday morning at the Hub (just next to the Mogul Restaurant) - all are welcome between 10am & 12 Noon

Lots more information on 

• https://www.colchestercreditunion.co.uk/
• https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/community/credit-union
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union

In this brilliant chat with Valerie Pretty, Treasurer of the Manningtree Rotary,  we learn about all the fun had & social good done by the Rotarians in our community. We chat about local projects such as new seating on Cox's Hill (part funded by Lawford Parish Council Grant), the refresh of the shelter on the Walls, the Rotary's role in tackling Polio elimination and lots lots more.

Val is a force of nature, involved in so much so we took the opportunity to talk about some of the other local groups Val is actively involved with including

- Manningtree & District/Frankenberg Partnership Association
- University of the Third Age
- Stour Valley Flower Club

Note: Rotary Club is one of many local community groups that receive modest grant funding via Lawford Parish Council.