The shortlist of charities that have been selected for possible support by Senior School students at Ipswich School this term were revealed in the annual link-up with Suffolk Community Foundation.

Three local organisations were outlined in the Headmaster’s Assembly, with more details supplied in the Occasional, the school’s weekly newsletter.

Suffolk Rape Crisis – This organisation helps support girls and women who are victims of rape or sexual assault. They provide counselling and other forms of support, including online support groups and courses. In 2021 they provided 2148 counselling sessions as well as 958 hours of support making them a very worthy contender.

Access Community Trust – Our second charity is Access Community Trust (ACT), an organisation that works in Suffolk to prevent people from becoming socially excluded – basically helping people who have few friends and other social problems. It started small in Lowestoft in the 1970s and since then has grown massively and has provided housing to help over 180 individuals and families get back on their feet. ACT now offers people a range of other programmes, including skills activities and support with mental health and employment issues.

Suffolk Mind – The final charity pupils could choose is Suffolk Mind – a charity that wants to make Suffolk the best place for talking about and taking care of mental health. They work from wellbeing to more severe mental illnesses, ran a telephone support service for older people during the Covid-19 pandemic and provided free courses and counselling for Suffolk’s LGBTQ+ community during LGBTQ+ History Month.

We recommend doing some more research and then voting for the charity which you think is the best on the google form sent with the Occasional.

Will and James, Year 10 student journalists