CARICATURES, music and lots of fun are all on the menu to mark the end of office for Suffolk County Council chairman Ron Sudds.As a break from the norm, Mr Sudds has decided to throw a fundraising event for his for Ipswich charity of the year, the Ormiston Children and Families Trust.

By Jessica Nicholls

CARICATURES, music and lots of fun are all on the menu to mark the end of office for Suffolk County Council chairman Ron Sudds.

As a break from the norm, Mr Sudds has decided to throw a fundraising event for his for Ipswich charity of the year, the Ormiston Children and Families Trust.

Mr Sudds is believed to be the first County Council chairman to follow the Mayor and choose a charity of the year.

Already throughout the year, more than £300 has been raised for the trust and there is more to come with Friday's charity gig at the Ipswich Caribbean Society in Woodbridge Road.

Evening Star cartoonist Jock will be one of the stars of the evening turning his hand to music as well as artwork – drawing caricatures when he is not playing in the band.

The music for the evening will be on tap from entertainer, The Hat Man.

Councillors from across the county will be going along as well as MP Chris Mole who will be donating a mystery prize to the raffle in a bid to raise extra money for the trust.

The Ormiston Trust, based in the Robert Milne centre in Felixstowe Road, is a charity set up to help disadvantaged and vulnerable families in their own communities.

It was set up 25 years ago and now has 18 projects running across East Anglia.

At the family centre in Ipswich it is mainly pre-school children and their families who benefit from the playgroup and toy library, but there is also a tuition group to help school age mothers to complete their education.

Fathers are also catered for with a range of services including play and learning opportunities along with IT training.

Louise Irving from the trust said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be chosen as the charity for the year and we are looking forward to Friday."

Chris Elmy, spokeswoman for Suffolk County Council said: "The chairman and his wife Marion wanted to do something really pro-active for the community so they chose the Ormiston Trust as a beneficiary.

"As far as I know this kind of thing is fairly unusual, something a bit different rather than the normal formalities.

"He just wanted to put something back into the community."

The event is being held at the Ipswich Caribbean Club on Friday from 8pm until 1am.

Tickets are £2.50 in advance and £3 on the door. They are available from Chris Elmy at Suffolk County Council on 01473 584007.