Supporting community initiatives

Terry O’Donoghue has written this article for the October 16 issue of the Bury Free Press

Last month we wrote about the Bury Society’s constant monitoring of planning issues within the town and surrounding villages, and our concerns surrounding future town expansion. Whilst a very important aspect of our work as the town’s civic charity, we are also very hands on, including working with other community groups and where appropriate, partnering or providing funding for initiatives which either protect the town’s heritage or help improve the lives of those who live and work within the local area.

The most high-profile arm of the charity is Bury in Bloom, managed by a sub-committee of the Bury Society. As recently announced, Bury in Bloom has had its most successful year ever in the Anglia in Bloom competition, being county champion and winner of Gold in the Large Town category and the Abbey Gardens also won Gold in Historic Parks and Gardens. Of more importance is Bury in Bloom’s work throughout the year to protect and enhance the town’s green spaces: this includes working closely with a number of community and educational groups in the town. The society also ensures the town is always adorned with both summer and winter hanging baskets. It also attracts local sponsors and ensures the planting and maintenance of a number of roundabouts, hopefully providing that all important positive first impression for visitors.

The Bury Society is always keen to support any initiative that benefits the town in the longer term. Through our Dr Rae fund and carefully managed general reserves we have been providing grants for a number of community and heritage projects over the last 50 years. Within the last 3 years we have provided grants to the Trinity Methodist Church (drop in centre), helped with the costs of relocating the Suffolk Regiment records back to the Gibraltar Barracks, assisted the Moyse’s Hall Museum to bring alive various aspects of our local history and supported their efforts to reach out to the local schools. We replaced the planters to the south side of the cathedral, provided financial support to the Guildhall to promote the history and heritage of the building. The society was the rallying point for a large number of groups involved in the 2028 Town of Culture bid and we were most proud to have provided seed funding for the ‘Abbey of St Edmund, Reborn’ project which has now been successful in attracting national heritage lottery funding, allowing this most ambitious project to become a reality.

Having highlighted some of the work of the society, now comes the BUT. In common with many such charities, the perennial problem is attracting volunteers and particularly for our society, the next generation of trustees to ensure the work of the charity can continue. Working as a team, the demands on an individual’s time is not onerous, and the most valuable contribution that can be made is to provide an opinion or put forward constructive ideas on the current work of the charity and its future direction. If interested in exploring what is involved as a trustee of the charity and ensuring that it remains such a respected voice in the town and wider West Suffolk, please contact our secretary by email at: secretary@burysociety.com, or write to our registered address, 90 Risbygate Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3AA.