Latest news with #BBCSuffolk
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Ed Sheeran fans camp overnight ahead of Ipswich Portman Road gigs
Ed Sheeran superfans from around the globe have been camping out since the early hours of this morning ahead of the musician's trio of latest "homecoming" singing superstar will kick-off the first of his three shows at Portman Road stadium, in Ipswich, later on sold-out concerts, which are also taking place on Saturday and Sunday, will attract 90,000 fans, some of whom have been queuing since 04:00 BST on Friday to make sure they can get prime positions in front of the of those, Deborah Marshal, 73, who travelled to the town from Indiana, US, said: "I came a long way because I really, really, really love Ed Sheeran." "I didn't even know who Ed Sheeran was before 2020 but once I found him I just wanted to follow him," she told the BBC outside Ipswich Town's ground."He has helped me through life situations with his music." Martin Cox, 70, from London, has been a fan of Sheeran since 2010 and turned up outside Portman Road during the early hours."I like to be here to get to the front row and to also meet other people who are in the queue," he said."He means so much to me because of his songs, the way he performs, and his personality." Many of the fans gathered outside Portman Road are wearing pink, inspired by the artwork and marketing for Sheeran's upcoming album has also provided the inspiration behind the pink displays and bunting that have been dotted around the town. BBC Suffolk's first interview with Ed Sheeran in 20082019 exhibition at Christchurch Mansion curated by Sheeran's dadSheeran returns to Ipswich pub as part of three-gigs-in-one-day effortIpswich Borough Council and Ipswich Central will be hosting a three-day homecoming party in the town centre will include a Cornhill fan zone from 10:00 to 18:00 BST each day, featuring a large screen filled with Sheeran trivia, live messages from fans and more.A pop-up shop selling merchandise will be set up, and there will be live busking in Alderman Park next to Portman Road stadium from 13:30 daily. Morgan Summersgill, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has travelled to England for the first time to see Sheeran, both tonight and on said she was soaking up the atmosphere that has engulfed the town in recent days."I am a huge Ed Sheeran fan and this is my fifth time seeing him," she said."I am so grateful to be here and be a part of it, and tomorrow, to make it even more special, I am getting the 'Play' symbol done [as a tattoo] in Ipswich."It is incredible and I cannot even explain how I am feeling." Hayley Judge, from south London, claims to be the world's only female Ed Sheeran tribute told BBC Radio Suffolk she was looking forward to hearing the singer's new songs, which she is "loving", but added that 2011's The A Team "never gets old for me"."I used to run an open mic night, and one of the guys came one night, and he played The A Team, and I'm like, 'Oh, that's an amazing song'," she said."And then that's how I started following Ed and just started learning his songs and bought a loop station." Sheeran himself is equally as excited about his huge shows this weekend - but it is not the first time he and his acoustic guitar have popped up in the performed pub gigs as he made a name for himself in venues including the Steamboat Tavern and The Swan, and he appeared at Ipswich Music Day where local acts perform at the annual free event in Christchurch his rise to global superstardom, he played four concerts in the town's Chantry Park in 2021, in the wake of Covid lockdown restrictions, he played a live-streamed gig at Portman Road with no audience also played an impromptu gig outside the town hall in 2022."This is the first time in my entire career that I am actually playing [in front of fans at Portman Road]," he said while talking exclusively to the BBC. "So this is kind of like a homecoming show, which is going to be good." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC Suffolk Make a Change event: What happens, where is it?
Have you been wanting to make a positive change in your life, whether it be a career move or getting on top of your finances? BBC Suffolk's Make a Change event is taking place and offers a place to learn with demonstrations, in-depth chats and more. Here is everything you need to know ahead of the event. What is Make a Change and where is it? Make a Change is BBC Suffolk's way of helping people make a positive change in their could be through learning new skills, finding out about other careers, learning how to improve a CV, tips on how to save money, as well as learning how to make changes to your physical and mental health. It takes place from 08:00 BST to 16:00 at the University of Suffolk in Ipswich. Can I attend the event? Members of the public are invited to attend the event and meet the exhibitors offering is an event open to everyone, but if you are unable to visit in person, you will be able to listen on BBC Radio Suffolk and BBC Sounds where teams will be live from 06:00 to 14:00. Wayne Bavin's Breakfast Show as well as Sarah Lilley's Daytime Show will be broadcast from the event. They will be hearing from different stalls and the demonstrations happening across the event. What is on offer at the event? A large variety of different talks, demonstrations and more are on offer at the 09:00 there will be a live cook with Anya Hill from Kitchen Sixteen based in Suffolk and Essex, where attendees can learn how to save money in the kitchen using a slow cooker on a 11:00, Amber Hunt from Marshall Wolfe, a recruitment agency based in Woodbridge, will talk all things job related and how to make improvements to a will be live performances from BBC Introducing artists as well as a dance session where you can learn how to improve your wellbeing from 12: will be plenty of stallholders from different groups and organisations as well as the live Advice and Trading Standards will be in attendance with others like Feel Good Suffolk helping people quit smoking and Suffolk New College helping people discover adult will also be able to learn sign language, how to upload with the BBC, how to craft and get a health check on the Be Well is on offer and can be seen here. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'I was a paralegal for 20 years, now I'm a Suffolk beekeeper'
A woman who was a paralegal for 20 years changed her career to become a beekeeper after she wanted to do something for Middleditch, from Belchamp St Paul on the Suffolk/Essex border, became tired of the paralegal world just before the Covid-19 turned to beekeeping, took a course, and now regularly attends markets across Suffolk selling honey which she said brought her comments came as BBC Suffolk hosts its Make a Change day at the University of Suffolk on Wednesday to help people make a positive change in their life. "After 20 years of being a paralegal in various different fields like criminal and special educational needs, I needed a change," Mrs Middleditch initially took an introduction to beekeeping course at West Suffolk College before setting up hives on her and her husband's farm."We had bees on the farm so the family literally said to me, 'Why don't you do for others what you do for us?'," she continued."So, I thought, 'OK, OK, let's give this a go'."At the time, her son Jonathan had returned home from school and he now helps her with the said her two careers could not be further apart."With the bees, when you're out there and you've opened a hive, you are in that moment and it is so therapeutic," she said. "It is wonderful." Mrs Middleditch regularly attended markets and said she enjoyed the community feel of them."You not only have a wonderful family within all the stallholders, but you also have customers coming back to you and they are literally my friends now."The family element the business was key, Mrs Middleditch said, with her daughter, Lottie, helping her with marketing and social media, while she hoped Jonathan would one day take over the Make a Change event can be attended in person from 08:00 to 16:00 BST on can also listen live on BBC Radio Suffolk and on BBC Sounds. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
28-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Church of England bishop sad to retire after decade in Suffolk
The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich said hanging up his clerical collar after dedicating nearly 50 years to the Church of England felt "really strange" and "quite sad".The Right Reverend Martin Seeley, who was ordained and made a deacon back in 1978, is retiring after spending 10 years serving as the area's 70-year-old was relieved of his duties during a ceremony at Bury St Edmunds Cathedral."Suffolk has been my life and love for 10 years and living in Suffolk and Ipswich has been a gift - I have absolutely loved it," he said, while speaking to BBC Suffolk. "But, when we finish, we can't stay where we are and so I have to move out of Suffolk."So, I am conscious of the friendships, relationships, and wonderful things I have been involved in... and it's quite hard."I am currently in the midst of packing and so I am coming across all these things that bring it all back." During the decade Bishop Seeley spent in the county, Donald Trump was elected US president on two occasions and the world also experienced the coronavirus was also at the helm for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, as well as her death, and also King Charles III's coronation in 2023."You forget how much has happened in those 10 years and it's been a very complex 10 years in many ways," he said."I started with Trump and I am ending with Trump."He recently said that "radical change" was required within the Church of England following a report which documented a cover up of child Seeley, who also sat in the House of Lords, officially said goodbye to the Church of England and the county at a special event held in Bury St concluded in symbolic fashion, with him removing his "clobber", handing back "the bishop's crook", and walking out of the cathedral, hand-in-hand with his family. He said it proved to be an emotional and "overwhelming" occasion."We were all in tears and I just had this overwhelming sense that the people of Suffolk – that family I had been caring for 10 years - had just given me back to my family," he said."I knew it would be hard but I don't think I had got a sense of the extraordinary things people were going to say and how powerful letting go and handing over would be."I think I am still recovering from it."Meetings to choose his successor will be held in March and April. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
