BBC Children in Need gifts Ipswich Community Playbus £98,000

Activities aboard the play bus change each term and are based around colours, seasons and celebrations

A charity that runs a play group on a converted bus has been given £98,000 from BBC Children in Need.

The Ipswich Community Playbus hosts six sessions a week across the town.

The organisation has been operating since 1979 and the grant will make sure it can welcome families for the next three years.

Mandy Potter, play bus co-ordinator, said: "It's going to be an exciting year and this has just been the icing on the cake."

A range of activities and games are available on the bus, known as Maggie, including an indoor sandbox, a built-in slide and a painting area.

Faye Trenter and her daughter, who has additional needs, visit Maggie every week.

She said: "It's been a massive help to us. We've gone to a lot of groups in the past where I've felt judged and we've had to leave, but here [my daughter] can just be her full self."

Parent Faye Trenter said she planned her whole week around trips on Maggie

Pat, who works locally as a childminder, said the bus was a "very important" service for the community.

"It's free, it's accessible and it's close to home," she said.

"It's lovely and staff are really friendly. There's always something for the children to do."

Maggie is the charity's third bus, but she will be retired in the coming months following 21 years on the road.

"Dennis will be the newer and more modern play bus," said Ms Potter.

Mandy Potter has worked on the Ipswich Community Playbus for 21 years

"He's just about finishing his conversion, then he'll go to paint, so I'm hoping within the next couple of months... Dennis will be out on the roads - it's exciting stuff."

The bus currently stops at six locations in Ipswich - Cobham Road, Sandyhill Lane, Griffin Wharf, Congreve Road, Downside Close and Ulster Avenue.

Maggie has been operating around Ipswich for a couple of decades