Hospital funding desperately needed
There was one major development and another two important updates regarding hospitals in the West Moreton region this week.
Arguably the most important of these was the announcement of a new 174-bed public hospital section to be added onto the existing Mater Private Hospital at Springfield.
The new public hospital will include an emergency department, intensive care unit and maternity services, with the state government to contribute $177 million to construction. Inspections of the extensions at Ipswich Hospital. Picture: West Moreton Health
With about 100,000 new residents expected to call Springfield and Ripley Valley home over the next five years, and Ipswich Hospital already operating flat out, there is no doubt these facilities will be desperately needed.
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WHEN a young Ipswich mum found herself looking for something more from life while raising two children, working and completing her PhD, she stumbled across a trick or two.
Meg Hooper hasn’t looked back since she joined a circus group about a decade ago, and after also getting her children involved she started looking at ways to start her own group up in Ipswich.
The result was Circus Ipswich, formed in 2017, which has provided a much needed creative and physical outlet for children with autism and other physical and intellectual disabilities.
“I fell in love with the circus, and knowing what it did for my sense of wellbeing and that of my children, it was something I wanted to bring closer to home,” Dr Hooper said.
Chinese investors have spent at least £134billion on UK assets, including private schools, infrastructure businesses and top ranked British firms, it has today been reported.
Investors and businesses based China or Hong Kong now own stakes in key infrastructure businesses such as Thames Water, Heathrow Airport and UK Power Networks, according to the Sunday Times.
As much as £57billion is also invested in FTSE 100 companies, according to the paper.
And, as previously reported by the Mail on Sunday, Chinese firms have also invested heavily in prestigious private schools - including Thetford Grammar School and Bournemouth Collegiate College - to the tune of around £10billion.
Saint Felix School near Southwold, which has become part of Inspired Learning Group
- Credit: Saint Felix School
A private school near Southwold is to receive a multi-million pound investment as part of a new partnership with an independent schools group.
Saint Felix School, in Halesworth Road, Reydon, will join Inspired Learning Group (ILG) on April 30, it has been announced.
As part of the agreement, ILG has promised to upgrade the school s facilities to continue the school s rich tradition of academic and extracurricular excellence .
Saint Felix, a day and boarding school for children aged from two to 18, has been independent since it was established in 1897.