Ipswich Charter Festival 825 update – poetry competition!

Come June 2025, it will be 825 years since Ipswich was presented with its Charter. We know that the Charter gave the townspeople important freedoms, to trade and govern themselves. It established Ipswich as one of the major trading centres across Northern Europe, with ideas and attitudes filtering through from the different trading partners who settled here.

We want to celebrate something of that freedom and independence by launching two competitions, open to everyone. We are inviting you to explore the importance of the Charter and the freedom it brought through art or poetry. You may want to reflect on the historical significance of the Charter but, equally important, you may want to express something about the way these principles of freedom and independence might take us forward into the future. These are bold concepts and there are no limits! Give those creative impulses free rein!There are different categories for different ages: 11 and under; 12-14; 15-18; 18 and older. There will also be monetary prizes with the amounts for each age category to be announced in the new year.

We are also delighted that Ipswich Borough Council has generously given permission for one of the galleries in the Town Hall to be the exhibition hall for the competitions’ entries. From Saturday 21st June, for a week, the exhibition will be open to the public, free of charge. Who knows? Your insightful poem or striking work of art may get noticed. There will certainly be lots of publicity for the entrants.

We are really looking forward to 2025 being a great year for Ipswich and, what’s more, a fantastic showcase for our town’s creativity.  If you want to know more about these competitions and how to apply, as well as having access to the wonderful stimulus material and information about the Charter, which has already been made available to every school, download the documents from here:  https://www.stmaryletower.org/charter825

As ever, Ipswich.Love also has all the information you need for events in Ipswich.

Who wrote this about Ipswich?

David Matthews

David is a Churchwarden, St Mary-le-Tower and Acting Chair of Trustees of Essex and Suffolk Children’s University. For the last eleven years of his professional career, David was headteacher of a comprehensive school in South London.