The Thurston and Ixworth Flyer Magazine April ’24 edition
Welcome to Thurston and Ixworth Flyer Magazine April ’24 | Free Magazine. In this April edition of the Thurston and Ixworth Flyer magazine we have news and updates from local schools, clubs and community news.
Thurston and Ixworth Flyer Magazine April ’24
We Invite you to Join our Friendly Croquet Club
New Green Centre, Thurston , IP31 3TG, plenty of free parking, toilets & café.
Croquet is a game played in the fresh air by people of all ages and abilities, and is good exercise and fun. We have vacancies for new or experienced players. Why not bring a friend or neighbour for a visit?
Sessions are offered with instructions and use of club mallets. Please wear flat shoes.
Club days Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 pm , Fridays at 10 am Members can play anytime We play throughout the year and have regular social gatherings.
Please contact us to arrange a day and a time for a member to meet you.
Telephone 01359 230752 or 01359 256888 Or email midsuffolkcroquet@gmail.com Or text 07907437843
From your MP
So as the evenings lengthen, driving around Suffolk this week I was treated to those signs of Spring being upon us, the hedgerows coming into leaf and green shoots pushing up through the blanket of earth and the odd bee starting to buzz.
With April, however, comes the new tax year, there is no denying the last few years have been tough, Covid and the war in Ukraine have bought instability and price hikes. Slowly but surely, we are seeing the situation begin to ease with inflation dropping to 3.4% and forecast to drop further by the end of the year. Whilst the cost-of-living payments helped, I know from my conversations on the doorstep things still feel tight for many. That is why April 1st brought several measures to further ease budgets, namely a further 2% cut in National Insurance helping put £900 back in the pocket of the average salary worker in Bury. The increase in the national living wage to £11.44 nearly doubling since 2010 will also put a full-time wage up by £1800 a year.
For those with little ones, the government has expanded childcare to 15 free term time hours for all 2 year olds and from September, it is from 9 months old with a massive 150,000 more children benefiting. For those who have not received Child Benefit due to the thresholds, these have been lifted to £60000, which two people in town thanked me for only last week.
For those who have completed their working life, the state pension was uplifted by 8.5% meaning £900 more a year and the triple lock was confirmed -this is something a gentleman I was chatting to in a local care home said he was grateful for.
The energy price cap being reduced by 12.3% means the average family will save £238 a year, which will help ease those tough times we’ve faced as will the reduction in food inflation.
However, as I am visiting firms and talking to those who are looking for staff to join their organisations, they ask me to make sure that we are focused on making work pay, encouraging the 6 million of working age who are not working to be helped to join the employment market and to show them they will always be better off in work.
With busy surgery appointments I am often shown how difficult life can be however, my team and I are always pleased to be able to help.
Occasionally, a different surgery meeting request comes my way and a recent fascinating one informed me all about the ‘Asian Hornet’ their predatory nature and the threat they pose to honeybees. They are distinctive with little yellow boots and a very dark body. Whilst the government is taking proactive action everyone needs to be on the lookout and report possible sitings. These are then verified by our local bee experts and if positive The National Bee Unit swings into action to eradicate them. You can help by downloading the Asian Hornet Watch app to be part of the early warning group like I have, to protect our native bees.
I hold regular surgery meetings -if you have a problem that you’d like assistance with then please contact me on jo.churchill.mp@parliament.uk