Coronavirus: Suffolk Mind to close Ipswich's Quay Place

Quay PlacePAul Cook

Suffolk Mind opened Quay Place in 2016

A £5m heritage and wellbeing centre in a regenerated medieval church will not reopen after lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Suffolk Mind opened Quay Place in 2016 after an eight-year project with the Churches Conservation Trust to restore St Mary at the Quay Church in Ipswich.

The project was funded mainly by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

But the mental health charity said the building has been costly to run and the coronavirus pandemic has set it back.

Chief executive Jon Neal said: "Nobody is more disappointed than we are that we haven't been able to make it pay for itself."

He said most of the original lottery money was spent on saving the building from collapse.

Mr Neal said while the centre had increased income at more than 20% each year it was not enough to cover the building's high running costs and Suffolk Mind was about to start subsidising it.

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Due to the impact of Covid-19 and the government's lockdown measures, the board of directors "felt this was a subsidy the charity could no longer afford".

Mr Neal said: "It's really sad to have to make a decision like this.

"Quay Place has been part of Suffolk Mind for many years now, and it holds a special place in the hearts of many staff, volunteers and people who visited.

"We're proud of what we've achieved, but also sad that we haven't been able to get the costs and income to a place where we can keep Quay Place open."

PAul Cook

Quay Place had been used as a wellbeing centre by Suffolk Mind and other groups

The church, pictured in 2012 before renovation, sits in the middle of the one way system near Ipswich's waterfront

Mr Neal said Suffolk Mind is looking for other venues to run its services.

Quay Place had become home to a number of groups, including maternal mental health charity Get Me Out The Four Walls.

Suffolk Mind would help other groups to find alternative spaces and would help the Churches Conservation Trust to find new tenants for the building, Mr Neal added.

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