The big question remains: at what cost? Here’s to all kinds of staff members and volunteers grafting for charities and the arts, grafting to nourish the lives of their communities and holding it all together. You’re incredible.

I had an inspiring chat with a community leader about the future, dove into an exciting dramaturgy session with a playwright working on a new East Anglian musical, and then saw this certificate from the Ipswich Romanian Community thanking us. Makes it all okay.

But then there are days like today. I caught the end of the panto, with a packed house full of joy, the team pulling together to keep the show going despite a tough week of illness.

These awards are a great recognition—but let’s be honest, it’s tough out here. Local government cuts, rising costs, and the impact of the latest budget are making it harder and harder to run a charity. We’re all feeling it. And there's more to do.

Big shoutout to the team and our associates for their incredible achievements: winning the East Anglian Daily Times Awards for Community Impact and Suffolk Business of the Year for our environmental and community efforts.

New Wolsey Theatre productions were seen in Bury St. Edmunds, Colchester, London, Hull, Bolton, Keswick, Pitlochry, and Windsor. A massive thank you to our collaborators across the UK—you’re the reason we can still create large-scale work.

The result? A new pot of project funding for culture. It’s not ideal, but we’re proud we kept the door open and proved how vital culture is to Suffolk.

Our stage and spaces have been buzzing with diverse work and activity, thanks to partnerships across Ipswich, East Anglia and the UK.

This year started with a bang—the wrong kind—with Suffolk County Council’s announcement of a 100% cut to culture funding. It was a blow, but we didn’t back down. A full-on, joined-up campaign couldn’t get core funding restored, but we kept the council at the table.