Deborah Watson joins Colin in this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, to tell him all about Wednesday’s Child; a not-for-profit organisation that helps support individuals and families affected by eating disorders. Sharing her own personal experience of living with an eating disorder, Debbie talks candidly and openly about the issues she faced as a young person at university and the ‘perfect storm’ that lead to her developing anorexia nervosa. The lack of information about mental health during this time and the feelings of stigma associated with eating disorders, meant that it was very difficult, for her and her family, to seek help and support.Despite Debbie's illness, she managed to successfully complete her degree and was quickly offered a job as a journalist with the East Anglian Daily Times. Debbie describes how being able to create and shape a career path helped create an upward spiral towards recovery. It is this lived experience of being ‘full of woe’ that inspired the organisation’s name, Wednesday’s Child; as defined in the old nursery rhyme. Debbie is passionate about not letting past experiences define a person and that every ‘Wednesday’s Child’ has the capacity to be as full of love, vibrancy and opportunity as a child born on every other day. Having run a successful PR agency for over 20 years, Debbie set up Wednesday’s Child in 2019, determined to make a difference to the lives of those experiencing an eating disorder and, to aid those who care for them. She could see that there was still so little support available to people living with eating disorders and the eighteen-month NHS waiting list was leaving families feeling abandoned and desperate.Her initial idea was to provide carefully curated gift boxes, which would be ideal for someone in recovery. This was met with lots of support, but Debbie then began receiving requests for therapy. The rise of Zoom during the 2020 lockdowns provided Debbie with the opportunity to contact therapists virtually and refer families; meaning those in need could access therapy within a matter of days rather than months. Now working closely with schools and universities, as well as healthcare professionals and business leaders, Wednesday’s Child continues to enable people to reach out for help and support and to ease the suffering of individuals and families affected by an eating disorder.To find out more, please visithttps://wednesdayschild.co.uk (https://wednesdayschild.co.uk)

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, Colin speaks to someone who really has really made a difference to her local community, having created a small business in memory of her first child. Zoe Hayman-Cox tells a truly heart-warming story, which lead to her opening a very popular tea-room in Chantry Park. With no previous experience in the baking profession, Zoe had a long and successful career in conciliations, working for ACAS in what she describes as her ‘dream job’. Everything changed when Zoe fell pregnant and, quickly learned that her baby had a chromosome abnormality and a life-limiting condition. Whilst her employers were supportive at first, sadly Zoe was ultimately forced to leave her job as circumstances changed during this time of great personal tragedy.Zoe gave birth to William in August 2017. He lived for two precious hours and Zoe and her husband received amazing support from East Anglia Children’s Hospice, who made sure that family could come and visit them and meet the baby.As time passed, Zoe found comfort in baking. Her natural talent flourished and, inspired by the flowers at her son’s funeral, Sweet William’s Bakery was established in 2020. Initially baking for small groups of people from her own kitchen, having accepted an order for a large event in 2021, Zoe quickly upscaled her business and began operating out of Chantry Park’s disbanded Bowls Pavillion.Sweet William’s Bakery is now a wonderful, thriving business – offering afternoon teas and a selection of cakes, scones and savouries – in Chantry Park, behind the Sue Ryder care home. With plans to expand further with additional indoor seating, Zoe clearly pours her heart and soul into her business, having created Sweet William’s Bakery as a treasured connection with her first child. You can find Zoe there most days, along with her delightful three-year old daughter, Emilia, when she’s not at nursery!Sweet William’s Bakery is also on easily found on Facebook and Instagram and please see below for links to the fantastic charities mentioned in this podcast:East Anglia's Children's Hospices (https://www.each.org.uk)https://www.each.org.uk (https://www.each.org.uk)Petals Charity | The Baby Loss Counselling Charity (https://petalscharity.org)https://petalscharity.org (https://petalscharity.org)

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money Colin talks to inspirational duo, Tracey Clayden and her son Jake, who have built their wonderful Suffolk business selling luxury hand-poured beeswax melts and candles. With a focus on natural products and scents, they have a real passion for the environment and supporting local beekeepers and their bees.Tracey and Jake set up their company just over a year ago with the intention of funding Jake through university. Having always loved burning wax melts at home, Tracey had grown fed-up with the poor quality of the products she was using. Jake looked into the process and found that many wax melts are made using soy or paraffin, which are both detrimental to the environment and are also never very highly scented. So they set about creating their own family business (with Dad, Simon also playing his part in building the website) providing top-end products that are environmentally responsible and, using the brand to highlight bees and the vital work that they do in pollination.Beginning with one weekly pitch in Stowmarket, uMeltz now trades in 14 locations across Suffolk. Staying true to their principals, you won’t find any plastics on their stalls as all uMeltz products are packaged in eco-friendly non-plastic glassine pager. They also have an active online presence, having truly embraced the new hybrid way of working. For more information please visit their website, where you can then also find them across various social media platformshttps://umeltz.com

This week Colin talks to Chris Wiley, founder of Sow Successful Ltd, whose Harkstead horticultural business has gone from strength to strength since he launched it in 2020.Having always nurtured a keen interest in plants, Chris previously worked for a large horticultural firm, where he ran plant research and development tests as part of an in-house breeding programme. Supported by the Prince’s Trust and mentored by none-other than Peter Seabrook, Chris tells Colin how Sow Successful really took off when he discovered and cultivated a completely unique sweet pea, which he later named after his mentor in a fitting tribute for the support he’d received over the years. The unusual colour and exceptional scent of the flower gained royal approval, when a bouquet was presented to the Queen at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this summer. Chris then went on to win the Best New Plant Award at BBC Gardener’s World Live!At just 27 years old, Chris’s success will surely be an inspiration to any budding horticulturalists thatare passionate about a career in the great outdoors.For more information about Sow Successful please visithttps://www.sow-successful.com (https://www.sow-successful.com)

In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money, Colin talks to Bridie Iachetta at Larking Gowen, tapping into her expert knowledge on cryptocurrency and the, often little-known, tax implications around this.Cryptocurrencies have been around since before 2010, but many of us wouldn’t know a bitcoin from an ethereum, or a fork from a blockchain. As an expert in this digital medium of exchange, Bridie dispels the confusion around the terminology, whilst discussing the pros and cons of cryptocurrency and what makes it so volatile.Once perceived as insidious, cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly popular as society deals less and less with cash. Colin and Bridie talk about the possible effects on society and the issues we face as we move towards a cashless society.For more information you can contact Bridie at Larking Gowen:https://www.larking-gowen.co.uk/our-people/bridie-iachetta/ (https://www.larking-gowen.co.uk/our-people/bridie-iachetta/)

If you’ve just started a business and wonder who you can turn to, this episode of Suffolk Money Podcast may just give you the answer. This week Colin speaks to Nick Pandolfi, who after a long and varied career in the media, is now part of the team at MENTA; a non-for-profit organisation that works with entrepreneurs and growing businesses, offering help, support, advice and training.Nick begins by talking about his education at drama school in London, which led to roles on stage as well as in television and film. After a brief spell in the States, he returned to Suffolk and took his first role on the air waves, with Radio Suffolk. Presenting local radio turned out to be a great fit, giving Nick the opportunity to be himself and to learn more about Suffolk. Nick went on to work for a variety of radio stations, including Liberty, SGR Radio, Heart and finally Town 102. It was here on his breakfast show that Nick first met Colin, our local money expert. Presenting a breakfast show six days a week naturally comes with enormous challenges. By 2017 Nick was ready for a change and joined MENTA, to help with marketing and media engagement. Nick is now focused on helping start-ups and established businesses improve the promotion of their brand, products and services through social media as well as traditional media.The evolution of MENTA is one of Suffolk’s biggest success stories. It was started in 1984 by a small group of business people who saw a need for business support, training and coaching and it has been at the forefront of helping local businesses grow ever since. Not only does it provide a wide range of cost-effective business services, but also the facility for co-working and collaborative workspaces, with sites in Haverhill, Brandon as well as Bury St Edmunds. For more information about MENTA please visit https://www.menta.org.uk (https://www.menta.org.uk)

The Suffolk Show is a real highlight in our region’s calendar and, in just over one week, the green fields of Trinity Park will once again be alive with the sound of cheering crowds, lowing cattle and live music, amid a cacophony of educational activities and entertainment for the people of Suffolk.In this week’s episode of Suffolk Money Podcast, Colin was delighted to catch up with Phillip Ainsworth (Chief Executive of the Suffolk Agricultural Association) and Tony Pulham (Deputy show director), as they prepare to open the gates and welcome tens of thousands of visitors in what promises to be a particularly unique and special year.Held at the start of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the 2022 show will be a great opportunity for Suffolk to come together and celebrate the last seven decades of her majesty’s reign. Phillip and Tony tell Colin about all about the planning that has gone into this year’s show and how they’ve used the downtime, during the enforced two-year hiatus, in a positive and productive way to improve the facilities and the experience, to make sure this year’s show is truly inclusive and a fantastic day out for all.The show’s primary purpose since it first began in 1831, has been to deliver education about food, farming, agriculture, the countryside and the wider environment. It continues to shine a light on our county’s rich rural heritage, celebrating the crucial role our farmers, landowners and rural businesses play in the local economy, whilst offering an enormous variety of family-friendly activities; there really is something for everyone.To find out more please visithttps://suffolkshow.co.uk (https://suffolkshow.co.uk)

In this weeks’ episode, Colin has a difficult but important conversation with the inspirational Mandy Small, about what a family goes through and what they continue to go through after the tragic loss of a family member to suicide.Mandy met Chris met in Iraq in 2004 when they were both serving in the forces. After they married and their son Jamie was born, Chris’s role in the army saw him continue to be deployed all around the world and Mandy eventually left the air force so that they could be together as a family. They lived happily in Germany for the first four years of Jay’s life, but when Chris was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, everything changed.It was a horrendous tour and he gradually withdrew communication with the family whilst away serving, and his behaviour changed during his breaks back at home at home. Only those closest to him saw how much he’d changed and how this was affecting Mandy and Jay. When Chris retired from the forces to have a normal family life, Mandy’s service meant that she had valuable personal insight into the challenges Chris faced, and was determined to help him. However, Chris had begun drinking heavily and when he became abusive towards Mandy, both verbally and then physically too, Mandy was forced to leave. Despite her best efforts to stay in communication with Chris, supporting him and encouraging him to seek help, on 29th November 2015 Chris took his own life.Jay was just eight and a half years old when he lost his daddy, so of course helping him process his grief was Mandy’s priority. It’s a true inspiration to then learn about how both Mandy and Jay have found ways of finding positives from everything they’ve been through. Mandy now supports other veterans who are reaching crisis, in her work as a Peer Support Worker at the veteran’s mental health charity, Walking with the Wounded (https://walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItPOq99fZ9wIVipftCh3MUQy7EAAYASAAEgIRBvD_BwE). She has also written a book called ‘Living our Lives’ (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Our-Lives-Bereaved-Suicide/dp/B09RNL49RJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=B2CKJ4P5O1X2&keywords=living+our+lives&qid=1652344781&sprefix=living+our+lives%2Caps%2C59&sr=8-1), telling the story about how she and Jay rebuilt their lives after they lost Chris and focusing on the positives they’ve taken from this harrowing experience.The practical way that Jay has dealt with his father’s death is also astounding, as he has become a prolific young fundraiser. At just 10 years old, Jay organised a small fun day, to raise funds for the forces’ charity SSAFA (https://www.ssafa.org.uk/) (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association). He smashed his initial target of £200, raising well over £6,000, which led to him winning a local award as the most ‘Inspirational under 12 year old in Suffolk’. His appearances on local news and radio then went national, as he became a finalist in the Soldiering On awards. At just 11 years old, his video with Coronation Street actor Antony Cotton as part of the SSAFA Big Brew Up campaign then went viral. Sadly, things took a turn for Jay when he started being bullied for how his dad died. However, Jay once again showed amazing spirit when at a bullying workshop, he told everyone how bullying made him feel and how he sees his dad as a hero. Jay’s next mission is a fun day that will include a charity football match, pitting a team of military veterans against the official England fans football team in aid of (SSAFA), (https://www.ssafa.org.uk/) Scotty’s Little Soldiers (https://www.scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk/) and

This week’s edition of Suffolk Money Podcast was recorded live at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds, at BBC Radio Suffolk’s Rising Cost of Living Support Fayre. Here, Colin spoke to host of experts, all providing free advice on how to cop...

This week, Colin speaks to George Pennell, a former recruitment consultant whose decision to go-it-alone and start a new business was forged on the golf course, during his 2020 furlough.Looking for a new direction, George realised that cleaning had never been more important and set about creating Vivo Clean. The company was quickly established in January 2021, with his first job being a humble oven clean.Business quickly snowballed and within months of founding the company, Vivo Clean were hired to work on the set of Amazon Prime's TV series The Power, when they filmed in Bawdsey last summer.Having since diversified and established Vivo Recruit – specialists in construction recruitment – George is a shining example of a local entrepreneur that took a chance on a business idea and scored a hole-in-one.