Ipswich community leader and ex-mayor Albert Grant dies

Mr Grant arrived in Ipswich in 1955 as a 21-year-old from his home in the Barbados in search of a better life as part of the Windrush generation.

He arrived in the town with his wife Ena and found a job in the huge Cranes Engineering factory off Nacton Road - where Futura Park is today.

But as well as working and bringing up his family, Mr Grant was also determined to improve life in the town.

He was one of the founders of the Ipswich Caribbean Association, which ran the Caribbean Club in Woodbridge Road. 

Over the years this expanded to become the International Community Centre to reflect the increasingly diverse nature of Ipswich before the failing structure of the building forced its closure in 2010.

Mr Grant became involved in local politics - he was first elected as Labour councillor for the Whitehouse Ward in the mid 1980s and represented the area, in two separate periods, for 26 years.

Albert Grant with then fellow Labour councillor David Ball in his Ipswich ward. (Image: Ipswich Labour Party)

In 1995 he became the first black mayor of Ipswich from the town's by then well-established Caribbean community.

But while that marked him out as special on the role of honour he was seen as very much a mayor for everyone in the town.

He was a founder of the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality and his work for community relations in the town was recognised when he was awarded the OBE.

Former councillor John Mowles was an old friend of Mr Grant and said was one of the most significant figures in the development of the town's communities over the last 60 years.

He said: "Albert and his colleagues in the Caribbean Association helped to integrate the communities in Ipswich. It is a huge credit to them that we never saw the tensions that built up in some other places.

"He was a very dedicated and much-loved councillor - I feel really privileged to have known him as a friend."

Mr Grant retired from the council in 2016 but he continued to be a well-known figure in the town.

Mayor of Ipswich in 2013 Hamil Clarke, Mayor's Consort Daisy Weekes and Albert Grant. (Image: Newsquest)

He may have been the first from the Caribbean community to be mayor of Ipswich but he was not the last - his friend and fellow ICA stalwart Hamil Clarke was mayor twice - and was joined by Mr Grant at one of his major events in 2013.

And his legacy continues. Newly-elected Ipswich MP Jack Abbott said: "I am deeply saddened to learn that Albert Grant OBE has passed away.

"Albert was a trailblazer, serving as the first black mayor of Ipswich and as a local councillor for more than a quarter of a century. 

"He was a dedicated public servant, a passionate campaigner, and an inspiration to so many.

"A great man who committed his life to helping other people."