Members meet at Martlesham

On Saturday 22nd July, Suffolk Coastal Liberal Democrats hosted a very well attended "party information afternoon" at Martlesham Heath Pavilion, followed by "thank you drinks" for our parliamentary candidate, James Sandbach. Suffolk Coastal members were pleased to be joined by members from Ipswich, Mid-Suffolk, West Suffolk and Waveney -- and especially delighted to welcome members who are new to the party.

After refreshments on welcome, Jon Neal (chairman of the local party) gave us an overview of the Liberal Democrats: how the party came about, what we stand for, and how the party is structured. Three local members described their experiences at the party conferences. And we welcomed back Daisy Cooper (most recently the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate in St Albans, but a former parliamentary candidate for Suffolk Coastal), who gave a rousing and persuasive speech about what liberalism means today, the message that the party wishes to convey, and how to communicate that message to the wider public.

James Sandbach, our parliamentary candidate in the past two general elections, then spoke about how he became a candidate, and he thanked the local party for supporting him. (We, in turn, wish to thank him for standing in the Suffolk Coastal constituency, and we wish him well in his future endeavours.) We then retired to the nearby Douglas Bader pub, where James generously bought drinks for the group.

It wouldn't be a Lib Dem event without some form of fund-raising activity. The raffle was well supported, swelling the local party's coffers by £140 (after deducting the cost of hiring the hall).