A network of 10 Anglican churches in Ipswich is helping tackle food poverty and social isolation through its Top Up Shops scheme, which new research by the University of Suffolk shows is "filling a gap in public sector provision."
Why it matters: According to , who observed customers queuing from 6am to access the service, the initiative is providing vital support as the cost of living continues to increase.
The big picture: Researchers from the University's Institute for Social Justice and Crime studied the Top Up Shops initiative, which allows residents struggling to make ends meet to fill a bag with food and suppliesworth up to £40 for a £2 donation, with no referral needed.
Dr Mark Manning, Dr Isabella Boyce, and Dr Jennifer Coe from the Institute of Social Justice and CrimeLaura PolleyUniversity of Suffolk
Key findings: University of Suffolk researchers Dr Mark Manning, Dr Isabella Boyce, and Dr Jennifer Coe spent 40 hours observing all 10 sites over 12 weeks in spring 2023, interviewing 20 service users aged 18 to over 70. They found:
The £2 fee helps maintain users' sense of dignity
Some bags contain enough food "to feed a small family for a week"
Visiting nurses have identified "serious health concerns" among users
The service helps signpost people to other support services
What they're saying: Dr Mark Manning said: "While Top Up Shops in Ipswich are by no means the only services delivering vital food and support locally, it is clear that Top Up Shops are considered to be highly effective in supporting those in need within their communities."
Reverend Lawrence Carey, who helped establish the service, said: "The Top Up Shops are about more than just food, they are about dignity and agency. By sharing God's love with our communities, in real and relevant ways we have seen people's lives be transformed."
The Right Reverend Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, added: "The Top Up Shops have been a remarkable response for people who need help feeding their families and themselves. I have seen first-hand how they are not just sources of affordable food, but places of support and community."
One organiser, Anne, said: "I've got a vision for it, so I very much want it to be a kind of new expression of church within church... looking out for each other, just like it used to be in the old days when everybody knew everybody else's business and if there was a need, it was met."
The food provision at Top Up Shops in IpswichTop Up Shops Ipswich
Looking ahead: The research suggests wider strategic coordination of funding and logistics could boost the long-term sustainability of Top Up Shops. The service could help address three of the four priorities in Suffolk County Council's Tackling Poverty strategy.
The bottom line: As cost-of-living challenges persist, the Top Up Shops are providing more than just affordable food – they're creating new communities and delivering vital support services across Ipswich.
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The National Crime Agency's crackdown on high street businesses suspected of links to organised crime has made headlines in Shrewsbury but remains conspicuously absent in Ipswich, despite remarkably similar retail patterns.
A pattern emerging elsewhere
While Ipswich residents have yet to witness raids on local businesses, a stark scene is unfolding elsewhere: officers forcing their way into brightly-coloured barber shops, vape stores, minimarts, candy stores and phone repair shops that have proliferated across town centres.
Last month, the National Crime Agency (NCA) coordinated 265 raids on such premises across England and Wales as part of Operation Machinize, targeting high street businesses suspected of being fronts for international crime gangs – but it remains unclear if Suffolk, or Ipswich, has been part of this operation.
Oliver Rouane-WilliamsIpswich.co.uk
Shrewsbury and Ipswich: towns with similar profiles
In Shrewsbury, a market town not dissimilar to Ipswich, officers detained two Kurdish asylum seekers during raids on barber shops, seizing thousands of pounds in cash and illicit vapes. The intelligence suggested these establishments were linked to money laundering, illegal immigration and drug dealing.
The parallels between Shrewsbury and Ipswich are difficult to ignore. Both are historic county towns with traditional market squares, and a mix of independent and chain retailers. Both have experienced the same influx of barber shops, vape stores, minimarts, candy stores and phone repair shops on their high street.
Yet while Shrewsbury has seen decisive action, Ipswich residents have yet to witness any comparable enforcement activity. At least not visibly. And if it has, it has yet to make any difference.
The Ipswich landscape
According to commercial property analysts Green Street, the average number of barbers per person in England and Wales has doubled in the past decade.
Walk through Ipswich town centre and the changing retail landscape is evident – multiple barber shops, vape outlets, phone repair shops and sweet shops often within yards of each other, typically with very few visible customers.
It is important to note that we are not suggesting any specific businesses in Ipswich are engaged in illegal activity. The presence of these shops alone does not indicate wrongdoing, and many could be legitimate businesses.
But questions should be asked. And questions are being asked – repeatedly – by residents.
The scale of the problem
The National Crime Agency estimates that £12 billion in illicit cash is laundered in the UK annually, with lots of it flowing through criminal front organisations on high streets.
These businesses appeared to surge as shop vacancies grew following the pandemic, creating opportunities for criminal gangs to establish themselves in plain sight.
The suspicious signs are easy to spot: businesses claiming implausible income levels, unpaid utility bills despite supposed high turnover, and the sale of illicit products like illegal vapes and tobacco.
In Greater Manchester, linked mini-marts were found to be staffed by asylum seekers, some working illegally, with hidden compartments concealing contraband.
What Operation Machinize uncovered
During Operation Machinize, authorities discovered cannabis farms, seized Class A drugs, arrested 35 people and questioned 55 suspected illegal immigrants. Three potential victims of modern slavery were identified. Bank accounts worth over £1 million were frozen and £40,000 in cash seized.
Detective Inspector Daniel Fenn, who led raids in Shrewsbury as part of the operation, said: "Members of the public are angry. They can see these fronts are there. The criminals feel they are hidden here. They think they can come to sleepy areas and won't be found."
The same could easily be said of Ipswich.
The pattern of exploitation is particularly concerning – the NCA believes some shops are used as fronts for drug-trafficking, people-smuggling, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation. In 2023, it secured the conviction of one Iranian Kurdish barber shop owner who was using his London premises as a base for smuggling 10,000 people to the UK in small boats.
Impact on legitimate businesses
Legitimate barbers are calling for a registration scheme and stricter regulation. Gareth Penn, chief executive of the Hair and Barber Council, highlighted how illegal barbers have led to fungal infections from improperly cleaned equipment.
More importantly, though, is the damage being done to genuine businesses that cannot compete with those avoiding costs and taxes, and those that cannot find suitable high street premises.
The damage is significant and potentially long-lasting.
Will Ipswich be next?
For Ipswich, the question now is whether Operation Machinize will visibly extend to Suffolk – or indeed, whether it already has without public knowledge.
Unlike local police forces, the National Crime Agency is exempt from Freedom of Information requests, making it impossible for journalists or the public to determine how many Ipswich businesses, if any, have been investigated.
This distinction is important.
While local police forces handle everyday law enforcement, the NCA was specifically created to tackle serious and organised crime that extends across police force boundaries, international borders, or requires specialist capabilities.
Their involvement signals that these high street businesses are not merely local issues but part of sophisticated criminal networks operating nationally and internationally.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis has stated that "high street crime undermines our security, our borders, and the confidence of our communities", promising "decisive action" to bring those responsible to justice.
The road ahead
There are concerns about the effectiveness of current measures. Of the 265 raids conducted, only 10 shops have been shut down permanently. Many businesses raided were back operating within minutes of officers leaving.
The challenge for authorities extends beyond individual shops to dismantling the organised crime networks behind them – networks that may have been profiting in plain sight for years on our high streets. While local police forces can target individual businesses, only the NCA has the mandate and resources to tackle the international networks behind them.
For Ipswich residents concerned about these issues, the prospect of action against suspicious businesses cannot come soon enough. However, due to the secretive nature of NCA operations, we may never know the full extent of their activities in our town – only their results, if and when they choose to make them public.
