Student Life leads the way on Ipswich Waterfront project

Regional charity Student Life is the lead partner on a project to encourage people of all ages and abilities to improve their physical and mental health.

The ‘Waterfront Mile’ is a one-mile course that is set to be marked out around Ipswich’s waterfront marinas and is supported by some of the best known organisations in the area.

Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Associated British Ports, The Hold (formally Suffolk Record Office) and Dementia Action Alliance are the additional partners on the project, which has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but is now set to launch at Christmas.

Richard Stewart (CEO of Student Life), explains the details of the project:

“We want to encourage more visitors to the area, alongside getting residents and students from our schools, colleges & the uni to get involved in being more active.  It was from this that we came up with the idea to plot a one-mile route on Ipswich Waterfront, marked at equal intervals; utilising social media, our own publicity, and the support of our sponsoring organisations, to encourage people to walk, run, cycle, scoot, hop, skip or jump a mile, in front of one of the best views in the area!  Markers – placed at 1/10th of a mile intervals – will feature subtle, yet noticeable, signage, indicating what point of the mile you are at.

We will also be creating a hashtag #WaterfrontMile, which will encourage people to take selfies and upload posts to social media. We’ll run competitions for the most creative selfies and give prizes to people who stand out from the crowd with their stories. This will lead to more online exposure for the area and the project partners’ health goals.  Funds raised from sponsorship of the project will go towards the design and construction of the markers, the implementation of a leader board, ongoing publicity for the Waterfront Mile in both print and digital, and a number of focused events throughout the year based around the Waterfront Mile. We want to encourage more young people to get active too and will be putting together a goody bag for each under-10 that completes the Mile, based on a ‘trail’ leading them to an answer at each marker.

We are delighted that all of our project partners have jumped at the opportunity to get involved and the versatility of the Waterfront Mile has been proved by the involvement of the Dementia Action Alliance.  This partner was already looking for a user-friendly walk around the area and is excited about the chance to tie this in with collaborating with The Hold, over the maritime heritage”.

To find out more about Student Life, the Waterfront Mile and how to get involved, please visit the website or get in touch at [email protected]