Two Weeks of Campaign and Change
Every August, a group of young people from Ipswich and Suffolk spend two weeks learning how to campaign. This year, two groups took on litter and period poverty — and actually did something about both.
Jack Abbott's Summer School is a free two-week programme for 18 to 24 year olds from Ipswich and Suffolk who want to get into politics, campaigning and public service.
This year, participants led two campaigns focused on local issues. One took on litter. One took on period poverty. Both went out into Ipswich, talked to real people, and came back with something to show for it.
Campaign One: Litter-ally Ipswich
318 tonnes. That's how much litter was collected from the streets of Ipswich in 2022/23. To put that in context — 49% of people admit to having littered in their local area. The fines can be as high as £2,500 - not really worth it in todays climate.
Yet the problems persist.
The Litter-ally Ipswich team decided that the issue wasn't just the litter itself — it was that most people didn't know what tools already existed to tackle it.
Ipswich Borough Council already offers free hire of litter picking equipment. There are online reporting tools for fly-tipping and street cleaning concerns.
The campaign consisted of going out and telling people about these tools. They talked to local businesses and even got independent shops across Ipswich to display posters celebrating sustainable business practices. They pushed awareness of the council's existing services.
If you ever get bored, and are taking on new habits - like getting your 10k steps in the day - enquire for a litter picker. Kill two birds with one stone. (Figuratively)
"It is clear we need to rally people together as we Ip-switch up our habits."— Oliver Till, Litter-ally Ipswich
Campaign Two: Ipswich Period Rights
11% of people who menstruate in the UK struggled to afford period products in the last year. Locally, a 2021 Suffolk County Council survey found that 43% of respondents had used sanitary products not fit for purpose, or for too long, because of cost. And 22% of people who couldn't afford period products stayed home entirely as a result.
Period poverty, aside from being a financial issue, is also a holistic one. It excludes people from public life, keeps them in doors - it's scattered, underpublicised. A stigma.
The Ipswich Period Rights team spent their two weeks mapping where free period products are already available across the town — Another Bowl, Cub Cafe, Harvest Moon among them — and making that information visible.
They spoke to Katy Robinson, named the UK's Most Influential Woman in Construction, who put it plainly: in construction site bathrooms, "I can guarantee not everybody uses the soap but we still provide it." The same principle, she argued, should apply to period products.
The campaign isn't asking for much. Just for what's already there to be easier to find — and for more businesses to consider stocking products in their toilets.
"It has been really positive to see the ways in which the community has supported our campaign." — Charlotte Legrand
What the Summer School actually is
Last year's participants visited Parliament and Downing Street, heard from speakers working in journalism, local government and trade unions, and ran campaigns that reached 10,000 people online. One participant went on to run as a council candidate. Another now interns in Abbott's Westminster office.
Jack Abbott MP said: "A summer school was my break in politics. It changed the course of my life, and I'm so delighted to give the same opportunity to young people in Ipswich and Suffolk."
During such a poignant time in Ipswich, where the voices of young people are looking to be amplified, these two campaigns shining light on issues that are not subject to just them - that's where the magic lies. Showing up, speaking out and adhering to change!
Follow Ipswich Period Rights on Instagram at @periodrightsipswich.
