Suffolk Money

There’s confectionery, and then there’s chocolate!

For our final podcast of 2023 Colin Low took a trip to Middleton, to visit the family-run company, Tosier Chocolate, which makes a delicious range of niche products.

Having started in their business in 2016, Deanna and Jonathan Tilston have progressed from a basement to a converted dairy on the Suffolk coast, where they now run their small batch craft chocolate factory, chocolate shop, café and tasting rooms.

In this episode, Jonathan explains the royal heritage of their intriguing name and, Deanna talks us through the fascinating alchemy of the chocolate production process, from bean to bar.

With a clear passion for chocolate, Deanna and Jonathan run an open factory, which is the perfect place to share their extensive knowledge and expertise with the public. They enjoy educating people and helping them to understand not only the process of making chocolate, but also the history and origin of coco beans. Tosier is part of a transparent supply chain and Deanna explains the importance of paying farmers properly for what they do, working with them and their knowledge and skill to get top grade chocolate.

To find out more please visit https://tosier.co.uk

Claire Staddon – CEO

The focus for this week’s podcast is the charity Emmaus Suffolk, who help people who’re vulnerable, isolated in society and at risk of being homeless.

Colin went to meet the charity’s chief executive, Claire Staddon, at their community hub in Ipswich, to find out more about the support they offer. As Claire explains, it is Emmaus’ ambition to introduce Suffolk to new ways of tackling entrenched homelessness, isolation and unemployment.

Their hubs, across Ipswich and Felixstowe are a safe and welcoming space, free to attend and open to all. Visitors to the hubs are encouraged to join Emmaus Suffolk as a volunteer, and so by helping others they help themselves. These hubs offer a supportive environment and it’s Emmaus’ aim to help stabilise people’s situations and, with early intervention, they can help them avoid hitting crisis point.

Emmaus Suffolk are all about looking after the community and are ‘unapologetically joyful’ in doing so. As a local independent charity, they generate the majority of their income through their own enterprises, all the while maintaining their values around ethical employment, sustainable living and improving both the environment and the community.

Not only do they have four retail shops in and around Ipswich and Felixstowe and a community café (at The Royal Oak on Felixstowe Road), but they also offer a house clearance service.

To find out more about the great work Emmaus Suffolk do, please visit their website:

www.emmaussuffolk.org.uk

Ipswich’s only independent bookshop

Just like the bookshop Lesley Dolphin had the pleasure of visiting, in this week’s podcast we’re offering you something a little different! As Ipswich’s only independent bookshop, Dial Lane Books is so much more than your average bookshop. It opened its doors in February 2020, fulfilling the lifelong dream of its owner, Andrew Marsh, who fostered a love of books from a very early age.

Of course, the timing here unfortunately meant that Andrew’s beloved bookshop was open for just 21 days, before the first lockdown came into effect. However, he received amazing support upon opening and, ever the entrepreneur, whilst the shop itself was closed, Andrew provided a friendly book delivery service and door to door sales throughout Suffolk.

Andrew tells us how after the pandemic ended, it then took a long time for people to come back into town. Sadly, the challenges of retail in Ipswich remain difficult and Andrew is on a mission to get people to focus on the many amazing independent shops and businesses (in retail and hospitality) and to support those we have left.

Dial Lane Books really is worth a visit as Andrew’s passion for books for people of all ages (not to mention his obsession with bookmarks) means he is able to give people something they won’t find in a high street chain.

For more information please do visit www.diallanebooks.co.uk

Visiting the Great War Huts site at Hawstead

The First World War is one of the great turning points in our history, with Remembrance Sunday being a national opportunity to remember the sacrifice and service of all those that defended (and of course continue to defend) our freedoms.

For this week’s podcast, ahead of Armistice Day, Lesley Dolphin meets Taff Gillingham, who has taken remembrance one stage further with the creation of the First World War heritage project and visitor centre.

With a vast knowledge about the Great War, Taff is a Military Historian, as well as an Historical Adviser for film and television work. Both he and his dedicated team have rescued over ten First World War structures, which they are gradually re-erecting at their purpose build site at Hawstead, in Suffolk. He takes Lesley on a mini tour of the Great War Huts and also the remarkable trenches and sentry boxes, which have been built to mirror those on the western front.

This unique Great War project draws visitors and schools from far and wide. If you would like to find out more about what there is to see and do there, please visit www.greatwarhuts.org

Post-educational provision for people with disabilities or difficulties

What are the options for people with special needs, once they’ve left school? Having worked in a range of educational settings, Georgina Hanser saw first-hand a lack of provision for young people with disabilities in Suffolk. So, she used her experience to set up Fairview Farm, providing activities and programmes for people who find themselves marginalised.

In this week’s podcast, we discover more about this wonderful place, as Colin Low takes a trip to visit the Farm. Georgina explains how her small-holding (near Akenham in Ipswich) operates on a simple belief; that people with disabilities deserve more. For lots of reasons, they may be unable to work and need meaningful, aspirational days, to not only help increase their confidence and broaden their opportunities, but also to give them a sense of belonging.

Georgina takes Colin on a tour around the farm and he gets to meet the young people who have become part of the ‘Fairview family’, as well as a few of the animals as well! Whether they come two days a week or five days a week, the young people are all regulars and partake in a wide range of activities in a safe, supportive and friendly environment.

If you’d like to find out more about Fairview Farm and what they offer, please visit their website: https://www.fairviewfarm.org/

Jenna Ackerley, Managing Director / Founder

The one thing we love is a success story involving a talented entrepreneur. And in the spotlight this time is Jenna Ackerley, who started her business, Events Under Canvas, ten years ago. It’s proved a huge hit, having recently picked up an award for its impressive growth, so for this week’s episode, Colin Low went to meet Jenna and find out more about her fantastic Suffolk Business.

Events Under Canvas create magnificent outside events under beautiful giant tipis. Jenna tells Colin about the history of the business and how, with the support of her family, she founded the company whilst on maternity leave. With the target of covering 12 events in the first year, Jenna ended up taking no less that 56 bookings! She puts much of the business’s success down to having a serious can-do approach, her attitude to risk and of course, a fantastic, resourceful team of people around her.

From their humble beginnings, operating from an empty barn rented from a local mushroom company, Events Under Canvas now covers the whole of South and East of England. Around 70% of the business is high-end weddings and events, with the team doing 20 per weekend in the busy summer months. Having earned an outstanding reputation for their quality of service, they specialise in high-society events and the client list includes some very high-profile names.

Plus, if customers don’t have the space themselves for the tipis, they can even sort this, working with beautiful venues, such as Shotley Vineyard; do listen to our podcast from 2022 for more information on this: https://suffolkmoney.co.uk/2022/09/07/a-vineyard-with-a-view/)

To find out more about Jenna and her team, please visit: https://www.eventsundercanvas.co.uk/

Suffolk’s Only Railway Pier

This weeks’ podcast comes to you from the edge of the River Stour, where Colin Low is talking to Sally Chicken, Vice Chair of the Shotley Heritage Charitable Community Benefit Society Ltd.

Sally tells Colin all about Shotley’s unique 122-year-old railway pier and its fascinating history; which includes carrying mail, coal, munitions and many a sailor serving or training on the world-renowned HMS Ganges.

Having fallen into disrepair around the turn of the 21st century, the pier is now in desperate need of restoration. Fortunately, Shotley Heritage Charitable Community Benefit Society Ltd managed to purchase the pier, following a successful fund-raising campaign, to save the superstructure for future generations. So far just one fifth of it has been revamped, but the Shotley community are determined to see their pier stand proudly once again, with hopes to open it to the public in the near future.

To find out more about the 600-foot Shotley Railway Pier, please visit: https://www.shotleypier.co.uk/

All the research suggests that, when it comes to pensions, for most people, it can all be incredibly confusing. And with next week being Pension Awareness Week, we thought it timely to try to answer a few key questions.

So in this week’s Podcast Colin Low is joined by two of his colleagues from Kingsfleet – Lou Gladwell and Jack Warnock – to delve into the detail. They talk about everything from Income Tax relief and annual limits, to the security of pensions and avoiding scams. Above all, they highlight the importance of independent financial advice and how this can affect the value of your pension fund, which ultimately will sustain the type of life you want to have when you finish work.

For more information on how Kingsfleet may be able to assist you please visit: https://kingsfleetwealth.co.uk/contact-us/

Debbie Hudd and Sean Hedges-Quinn

Everyone had a soft spot for the entertainer Roy Hudd, who lived here in Suffolk and who sadly died three years ago. To help make sure that his memory lives on, a statue of Roy is being lovingly crafted. Rather than being put on a plinth, as a man of the people, Roy’s sculpture will be sat on a bench outside the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, so that people can sit with him and enjoy the memories this evokes.

To find out more about the project and the fund-raising campaign behind it, on this week’s podcast Lesley Dolphin meets Roy’s widow, Debbie Hudd, and talented Suffolk sculptor, Sean Hedges-Quinn.

Debbie explains how she wanted a memorial to Roy that everyone could enjoy. Roy loved Suffolk and the Theatre Royal in particular meant a great deal to him. However, at a cost of around £100,000 lasting monuments don’t come cheap. Debbie tells Lesley how they are now over half way in raising the funds needed and, how she has been touched by people’s generosity, which in turn shows their love of Roy.

Sean Hedges-Quinn is well-known for creating the wonderful statues of Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Alf Ramsey and Captain Mainwaring amongst many others. He tells Lesley how thrilled he is to be commissioned for such an exciting project and is looking forward to portraying someone with such a larger-than-life character.

Roy was appointed OBE for services to entertainment in 2004. He was a great believer in charity and philanthropy and, as Debbie says, this statue will be a way of saying “Thank you Roy, for your talent, generosity and love”.

To find out more about the Roy Hudd Statue Appeal, please visit: https://www.theroyhuddstatueappeal.co.uk

Peter Willis, President of the Nancy Blackett Trust

The picturesque sailing village of Pin Mill is famous for being the setting of one of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazon’s books. Thanks to Peter Willis, it is also now home to Nancy Blackett, Arthur’s cherished sailboat, which featured as ‘The Goblin’in his book ‘We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea’.

On this week’s podcast, Lesley Dolphin takes a stroll along Arthur Ransome’s Walking Trail with Peter, who founded the Nancy Blackett Trust back in 1996, to buy this very special 1931 Hillyard cutter and maintain her for future generations. As they follow the route of The Goblin along the glorious Shotley Peninsula, Peter tells Lesley about his lifelong passion for this very special children’s author, and his favourite yacht.

Now owned by the Trust and sailed frequently by its members, Nancy Blackett ensures that Arthur’s tales of childhood adventure are kept very much alive.

If you are interested in joining the Nancy Blackett Trust or would like to find out more, please visit: https://nancyblackett.org