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St Mary-at-the-Quay church is a super little Waterfront Church with a superb double hammer beam roof and probably dates from 1450. The church has been redundant since the 1970s although it was used by the Boys' Brigade for a time. However the future of the building is now looking bright.

Suffolk Mind and the Churches Conservation Trust have been awarded a grant of £3.6m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to restore and rejuvenate the medieval church, into a Wellbeing Heritage Centre for everyone in the community.

The aim of this innovative collaboration is to create a building that will provide a quiet and beautiful sanctuary. St Mary-at-the-Quay will be a flexible and welcoming community space which is open to all. It will offer wellbeing and heritage activities, a centre for local events, complementary therapy as well as a cafe. The whole project is likely to cost some £5.7 million.

Suffolk Retail Park (off London Road) has been sold for a reported £18.75 million. The out of town retail centre which is home of Next, Argos, Halfords and The Range consists of 96,787 sq. ft of retail floor space generating an annual rental income of almost £1.5 million. If you are aware of the expected return on an investment of this size you will appreciate that this is a valuable asset with some prime retailers ensuring heavy footfall. It is just a pity it takes so long to drive out of the car park!

John Lewis Partnership

Almost 50% of John Lewis 'click & collect' is collected from one of the 291 Waitrose Stores, (there are thirty JLP department stores and a further nine John Lewis At Home stores). JLP are planning to open twenty new branches of Waitrose during 2013. Annual gross sales should reach £10 billion this financial year, of which £1 billion is via the web. A Waitrose store within five minutes' drive increases the value of your home by a measurable percentage.

Heritage Open Days: Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September 2013. The weekend of 14/15 September will again see the Ipswich Society organising the hugely popular Heritage Open Days. There are approximately twenty-eight buildings in this year's event plus Sailing Boat Victor. They represent seven centuries in the history of Ipswich, providing a chance to see inside historical buildings, many of which are normally not accessible to the general public. There will free guided walks led by Ipswich Tourist Guides. All information will be in our leaflet available from mid-August at the Tourist Information Centre, the museums and libraries.

New blue plaque leaflet

The Society has published an attractive colour guide to all the plaques installed throughout Ipswich commemorating notable (and sometimes forgotten) figures with a local connection. It is available from the Tourist Information Centre.