Mark Sargeantson, the Society's Chairman, has taken on a huge personal challenge for charity – the GR10 Pyrenean coast to coast walk (Atlantic to Mediterranean). This route follows the length of the Pyrenees on the French side. The total distance is about 560 miles (900kms) and height gain 164,636 feet (49,714 metres), about five times the height of Mt. Everest. Mark aims to complete this walk in 50 days and hopes to raise £50,000 for the Cancer Campaign in Suffolk. Mark is dedicating this walk to the late Dr. John Le Vay who was Oncologist at Ipswich Hospital and founder of Cancer Campaign in Suffolk.The Charity provides information and support for cancer patients, their families, friends and carers through Ipswich Hospital. Funds are now being raised for a mobile unit. Members can keep up to date with Mark's progress via a weekly update in the East Anglian Daily Times which is 'adopting' this challenge or you can find out more on these news pages. If you would like to sponsor Mark and support the Cancer Campaign in Suffolk, please click this link www.justgiving.com/marksmountainwalk If you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. Good Luck Mark!

The Society is delighted to announce the launch of a new investment account that will benefit three local charities, St Elizabeth Hospice, Suffolk Wildlife Trust and East Anglian Air Ambulance.

The new ‘We Care’ affinity account pays attractive rates of interest to savers looking to invest between £100 and £50,000. In addition, Ipswich Building Society has committed to donate an annual 1% bonus calculated against the accounts average balance direct to the customers chosen charity.

Paul Winter Chief Executive comments ‘At Ipswich Building Society we are keen to nurture links within the local community. We believe affinity accounts such as “We Care’ provide an effective way to contribute to charities which in turn will benefit the local community”. Talking about the partnerships Paul continues “We feel there is a good mix of causes and beneficiaries that we hope will appeal to everyone”.

Simon Gray, Executive Director of the East Anglian Air Ambulance, commented:  “We have to raise £3 million each year to keep our two life-saving air ambulances flying and to provide the advanced medical equipment they carry.   Income coming to us through this new We Care affinity account will make a vital contribution to the operating costs of the aircraft and will also help us to ensure that the very latest medical equipment is available for use by our highly trained clinical crews.”

Janine Erangey, Corporate Fundraiser at St Elizabeth Hospice, says “Every penny we receive really will make a difference to the lives of our patients and their families, friends and carers throughout East Suffolk. For example, £5 could pay for a specially prepared meal for one, £30 could pay for a counselling session with the family support team and £64 could pay for one music therapy session.”

On behalf of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Michael Strand adds “Choosing a We Care account will help Suffolk Wildlife Trust restore, recreate and reconnect habitats across Suffolk to create a living landscape where wildlife flourishes in our countryside and villages; where children grow up inspired by the sights and sounds of nature; where people live happier, healthier lives.”

Ipswich Building Society is proud to announce the opening of a new branch on the Ravenswood Estate on the East side of Ipswich. This new out of town branch will open its doors for business at 9am on Friday 18 April. Paul Winter , Chief Executive comments: ‘We are delighted to be opening a new branch in such a prominent location within Ipswich. Our new branch will offer improved access and parking facilities, that we are sure will provide a highly convenient option for our members’.

Ipswich Building Society has 8 other branches located in Suffolk, and has made a significant commitment to improving their facilities in recent years. Even now during such turbulent conditions within the market place, Ipswich Building Society still looks to be confidently riding out the storm and continuing to put their member’s needs first.

It would now appear that Ipswich Building Society are bucking the trend by continuing to support a strong branch network as over the past 12 months the financial service industry has seen a fall in the number of branches opening. Paul Winter, Chief Executive continues ‘The Society is truly committed to maintaining a local branch network and always looking for opportunities to service the community. As an organisation we are experiencing some exciting times at the moment, and we really believe this new venture will have a positive impact on the growth of the Society’

The new Ravenswood branch will continue to offer a complete range of financial products and third party services with the same high level of customer service. To mark the opening of the new branch Ipswich Building Society will be coordinating a number of promotional activities including a meet the CEO event on 20 May, where Paul Winter will be available to speak to new and existing members.

Sara Bucknall, Branch Supervisor and her team now look forward to this new and exciting opportunity and to celebrate the occasion the staff will be offering the first new customer who opens an account and the first existing member who visits the new Ravenswood branch a bottle of champagne.

Ipswich Building Society hosted their 158th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 26 March at Trinity Park Conference Centre, Ipswich. Society chairman, Mark Sargeantson, told Members that its assets had totalled £403million at the year-end, representing annual growth of 12.45% and an increase of 25.5% for the past two years combined.

Gross mortgage lending during the year to November 30, 2007, had totalled £83.43million, with the gross amount outstanding on residential property and land at the year-end standing at £281.78million. Investors' balances - including shares and deposits but excluding wholesale deposits - had increased by £8.08million during the year to £308.52million.

“The Society is not heavily reliant on wholesale funding and is in a strong position, with a high level of liquidity,” added Mr Sargeantson.

The Society is receiving record levels of deposits as more cautious savers seek a safe haven amid the turmoil within the stock market and the banking sector. And with its mortgage lending continuing at a satisfactory level, at a time when some other Societies have been withdrawing products, the Ipswich is well set to ride out the “credit crunch” crisis.

The guest speaker was Andrew Motion, the Poet Laureate, who grew up in north Essex. He spoke about his role as Laureate and his involvement with www.poetryarchive.org, the online collection of poets reading their work.

He also read a number of his poems, including “Harry Patch”, about a meeting with the last surviving member of the British Army to have served on the western front during the First World War, and “The Mower”, based on a fond childhood memory of his late father - complete with a reference to his Ransomes lawn mower.

The results of the resolutions were as follows:

1. To receive the Report of the Directors, Annual Accounts and Auditors Report: For 4548 Against 70 Abstain 58
2. To approve the Director's Remuneration Report: For 4231 Against 323 Abstain 122
3. To-appoint KPMG Audit Plc as Auditors: For 4444 Against 153 Abstain 78 Spoilt 1
4. Election of Directors:
a) to re-elect Jeremy Bristol: For 4353 Against 251 Abstain 72
b) to re-elect Hugh George May: For 4400 Against 195 Abstain 80 Spoilt 1
c) to re-elect Nigel Hugh Hamilton Smith: For 4335 Against 255 Abstain 86

Thank you to all who voted. As a result £610.70 was paid into the Society's Charitable Foundation.

Ipswich Building Society and Key Retirement Solutions today announce an equity release partnership. The deal will see all Ipswich Building Society’s equity release business introduced to the specialist intermediary. This agreement ensures that Ipswich Building Society’s members benefit from receiving independent equity release advice from the UK’s leading specialist.

Paul Winter, Chief Executive of Ipswich Building Society, said: “At Ipswich Building Society our primary aim for our customers is to make available leading products and services. The missing element from the range of services available has been that of equity release. After careful deliberation we chose Key Retirement Solutions to deliver an equity release service due to their unrivalled knowledge, independent advice and whole of market offering.”

Dean Mirfin, Business Development Director at Key Retirement Solutions, added : “Our partnership with Ipswich Building Society is testament to our dedication to providing the best possible service tailored to individual needs. This deal is proof of the rising consumer confidence in equity release, and we look forward to providing members of the Ipswich Building Society with our expert advice.”

Brokers will be able to access Ipswich Building Society’s mortgages online following a link-up between the mutual lender and Mortgage Trading Exchange. From this week, MTE’s 26,000 users can complete online mortgage applications for Ipswich’s range, regardless of what sourcing or point-of-sale system they use. Once intermediaries have completed an online intelligent application form via MTE, it seamlessly transfers data to Ipswich’s head office for processing to begin. Ipswich becomes the latest signing for MTE, which is used by more than 70% of the UK’s lenders and is now responsible for processing £50bn-worth mortgages per year.

Paul Winter, Chief Executive of Ipswich, said: “The link with MTE means that, for the first time, brokers will be able to access our products online wherever they’re located. We anticipate this boosting demand as it is going to give our mortgages much wider exposure. We think our well-regarded 100%LTV shared ownership products and self-certification mortgages will prove particularly popular.”

Mark Lofthouse, Chief Executive Officer of Mortgage Trading Exchange, said: “Having Ipswich commit to our technology is further testament that our common trading platform is the best solution for all in the industry. With more and more intermediaries using MTE this link can only increase business levels for Ipswich.”

Following a successful pilot project, Ipswich Building Society has teamed up with the town’s schools to launch a new scheme aimed at helping pupils learn more about money and finance.

A series of ‘Money Days’ were initially trialled within eight primary schools, between March and May this year. More than 227 Year 2 pupils took part in a day long series of fun activities including mathematical money games, reading, writing and creative tasks. Children had the chance to make their own money boxes and even design their own money.

The joint project comes on the back of ‘Every Child Matters’ – the Government’s aim to ensure the well-being of all children, including an understanding of finance. Through this it links directly to the National Curriculum.

From September, Money Days will be rolled out to schools across Ipswich, a number of schools have already been in touch with Ipswich Building Society to enquire about hosting a Money Day.

Paul Winter, Chief Executive of Ipswich Building Society, said, “We were delighted with the success of the Money Days. Schools could see the benefits and were really positive about taking part. The enthusiasm of the children was wonderful to see. They really enjoyed the games and activities, and by the end of the day had learnt a lot about the value of money, how it is used and why it is important to manage it. Learning at such a young age helps children be responsible about money and their finances later on in life.”

Helen Peats, Year 2 teacher at St Margaret’s Primary School in Bolton Lane commented on the day, “The children really, really enjoyed the day, they certainly were enthusiastic and they loved all of the activities – they thought it was brilliant. A lot of thought had gone into all of the preparation and that ensured the day ran smoothly.”

Pupils who have taken part in the Money Days have really enjoyed the experience. One pupil from St Margaret’s School said, “The Money Day was better than my birthday!” Another commented, “Can we do this every day?”

Schools interested in taking part in Money Days should email moneydays@ibs.co.uk for more information.

Ipswich is about to take its commitment to intermediaries one step further with the launch of its Intermediary Support Unit. The new unit will enable brokers to discuss cases in principle with staff dedicated to broker business. Ipswich will be delivering named contacts for intermediaries, who will benefit from being able to speak to the same person twice.

As an established mutual, Ipswich understands that even in today’s technologically advanced mortgage industry there is no substitute for the human element. Intermediaries using the Ipswich have long enjoyed its individual approach to underwriting, with no credit scoring and decisions made by real people. This strength is now being duplicated with superior communication at the front end.

Paul Winter, Chief Executive said, “we want to support intermediaries with the kind of telephone service that they struggle to find in the marketplace. Being able to provide brokers with personal attention from named telephone contacts will further complement our popular intermediary proposition.”

To experience Ipswich ’s guaranteed response, call Paul Lazarus or Lisa Last in the Intermediary Support Unit on 0845 230 9696 or email isu@ibs.co.uk