Suffolk Money

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money podcast, Lesley Dolphin speaks to Patsy Johnson-Cisse, Managing Director of the charity Brave Futures, about the phenomenal work they do and the support they offer to young people who have had the worst start in life. Brave Futures is a support service for children and young people up to the age of 18 years who have experienced sexual abuse. They work throug...

There’s just over a week to go until the Suffolk Show takes place, on Wednesday 31st May and Thursday 1st June, at Trinity Park near Ipswich. So, in this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, Colin Low is delighted to be joined by organisers John Taylor (Honorary Director) and Nick Watts (Deputy Show Director) who explain how the Show remains hugely important in bringing the community together; sharing...

In celebration of this year’s Suffolk Walking Festival (which launches on Saturday 13th May) for this week’s episode, Lesley Dolphin laces up her walking boots and takes her dog for a stroll with Festival Director, David Falk. As they walk along the banks of the River Deben, Lesley and David take in the sights and sounds of the estuary and its wildlife, whilst chatting about what makes Suffolk suc...

With a lifelong passion for everyday nature and a champion of the joy to be found from the wildlife on your doorstep, Christine Luxton (chief executive of Suffolk Wildlife Trust) is a true inspiration when it comes to the protection and future of Suffolk’s wildlife and countryside. In this week’s episode, Lesley Dolphin chats to Christine about our county’s nature charity – the only organisation d...

On this week’s Suffolk Money podcast, we talk about libraries and, if you haven’t been in one lately, you’ll be amazed what’s changed. Colin Low’s guest is Bruce Leeke, chief executive of Suffolk Libraries and he explains about what has happened since Suffolk Libraries became the first council library service in the country to become an independent charity. Although the main driver behind the chan...

Best-selling author Louis de Bernières knew from the age of 12 that he was going to be a writer. But success didn’t come overnight and, in this fascinating chat with Colin Low, Louis talks about how he got to where he is now. From his early education through to university and the many varied jobs he’s taken to support his writing (including landscape gardening, carpentry and teaching) Louis has ha...

The words abandonment and destruction may seem negative to most, but not to Jake Slinn; a young Suffolk entrepreneur who has built a very successful business, disposing of unwanted or illicit cargo. Jake’s story is one of drive and resilience, and in this week’s episode of Suffolk Money he chats to Lesley Dolphin about how he saw a gap in the market for the salvage and safe disposal of abandoned p...

Thomas Gainsborough was one of the greatest artists of his age and is renowned throughout the world for his portrait and landscape paintings. In this week’s episode, Lesley Dolphin visits the house in Sudbury where Gainsborough was born and lived as a child, and is now a national museum and gallery. Mark Bills, Director of Gainsborough House, takes Lesley on a fascinating tour of the new-look muse...

In this week’s Suffolk Money podcast, Colin has a lovely chat with his new co-presenter, Lesley Dolphin, finding out about how Lesley came to live in Suffolk and her love for this special county. Having grown-up in rural Norfolk before studying at Bradford university, Lesley has now lived in Suffolk for most of her life. She joined BBC Radio Suffolk when the station launched in 1990 and has since...

On this week’s Suffolk Money podcast, we’re delighted to welcome experienced interviewer and broadcaster, Lesley Dolphin to the team. Lesley talks to local historian Jean Macpherson all about her new book, The Felixstowe Floods of 1953 – Never to be forgotten. Although these floods are by far the biggest disaster that has ever happened to Felixstowe, it’s amazing that not many people really know a...

In the words of David Attenborough, 'Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?' Our guest this week couldn’t agree more and, in her chat with Colin, Hannah Debnam demystifies the unusual art of taxidermy. Having always preferred the company of birds and animals, Hannah shares her life with wha...

Today, it’s something different, as we look back on some of the memorable moments from 2022. Our thanks to all the guests who joined us last year. The one thing that they’ve all had in common is that they’ve been inspiring; our contributors invariably showing huge determination and spirit to overcome the hurdles placed in their path. We are indebted to each and every one of them. Amazingly, we’ve...

In our last Suffolk Money podcast of 2022, Colin Low is on location to meet the dedicated team at Ipswich-based UK charity Tools With A Mission. The warehouse is a hive of activity, as volunteers collect and refurbish a vast array of unwanted tools, before sorting them into trade kits and sending them to the developing world for livelihood creation. The group’s chief executive Mike Griffin explain...

The delicate subject of divorce is the focus in the latest Suffolk Money podcast - supported by Kingsfleet - as two experts in family law talk to Colin Low about striving for resolution not confrontation. Juliet Harvey is a Legal Director at Birketts and Melanie Pilmer is a Partner at Greene & Greene and both are very experienced in helping to resolve family disputes, in the most calm, amicable an...

By any measure, it’s been a turbulent few weeks for the economy, so for the latest Suffolk Money podcast, supported by Kingsfleet, Colin Low is joined by two experts, Adrian Game of Resolute Mortgages and Daniel Zipfel of Kingsfleet. Together they talk through the issues that have arisen over the last few weeks and months and try to assess what it all means for mortgages, pensions and savings ......

In this week’s Suffolk Money podcast, Colin talks to Amanda Bloomfield about her work at the wonderful Gatehouse in Bury St Edmunds. A small, independent charity, Gatehouse is based on the western side of the town. They carry out all their projects from this building and help people not only in the nearby community, but also far and wide across other counties in the region. As Amanda explains, Gat...

For this week’s Suffolk Money podcast, Colin Low has been chatting to Olly Magnus, CEO of logistics company Magnus Group, who was recently awarded Director of the Year at the Suffolk Business Awards. Olly describes the moment he won this award as the proudest moment of his life, not least because this provides closure on a very difficult chapter of his life. Having overcome massive life challenges...

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money Podcast, Colin is joined by Kate Higgs from Ormiston Families; the East of England’s leading family charity. Kate tells Colin how the charity began, when a charitable trust was created in 1969 to honour the memory of a young woman called Fiona Ormiston Murray, following her tragic death. Now known as Ormiston Families, this trust was established to help chil...

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, Colin talks to Carole Burman, founder and owner of one of our region’s leading HR consultancies, MAD-HR. Like many great things, MAD-HR came from small beginnings, with Carole launching a new business from her kitchen table back in 2014. As Carole explains to Colin, prior to this she was in a very successful corporate HR role, but when her mother became une...

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, Colin talks to Charlotte Davitt-Mills, the General Manager and owner of Shotley Vineyard. Charlotte tells the remarkable story about how she and her husband bought a beautiful plot of land close to their home in 2017, having fallen in with the stunning views that surrounded it. The initial plan was to set-up a glamping business, however they quickly discove...

Deborah Watson joins Colin in this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, to tell him all about Wednesday’s Child; a not-for-profit organisation that helps support individuals and families affected by eating disorders. Sharing her own personal experience of living with an eating disorder, Debbie talks candidly and openly about the issues she faced as a young person at university and the ‘perfect storm’...

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, Colin speaks to someone who really has really made a difference to her local community, having created a small business in memory of her first child. Zoe Hayman-Cox tells a truly heart-warming story, which lead to her opening a very popular tea-room in Chantry Park. With no previous experience in the baking profession, Zoe had a long and successful career i...

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money Colin talks to inspirational duo, Tracey Clayden and her son Jake, who have built their wonderful Suffolk business selling luxury hand-poured beeswax melts and candles. With a focus on natural products and scents, they have a real passion for the environment and supporting local beekeepers and their bees. Tracey and Jake set up their company just over a year...

This week Colin talks to Chris Wiley, founder of Sow Successful Ltd, whose Harkstead horticultural business has gone from strength to strength since he launched it in 2020. Having always nurtured a keen interest in plants, Chris previously worked for a large horticultural firm, where he ran plant research and development tests as part of an in-house breeding programme. Supported by the Prince’s Tr...

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, Colin talks to Bridie Iachetta at Larking Gowen, tapping into her expert knowledge on cryptocurrency and the, often little-known, tax implications around this. Cryptocurrencies have been around since before 2010, but many of us wouldn’t know a bitcoin from an ethereum, or a fork from a blockchain. As an expert in this digital medium of exchange, Bridie disp...