The Reverend Deacon Mike Vipond
Cert.Ed., B.Ed., A.C.P.
Deacon Mike Vipond is married to Ann and they have two sons and three grandchildren. Mike was a teacher working in Edmonton and Walthamstow. He played rugby for the Saracens Rugby Football Club and he has a life-long passion for this game. Mike was Headteacher of Saint Patrick's Primary School, Walthamstow, before moving to Suffolk. Mike and Ann moved to Framlingham in 1979 to work at Framlingham College Junior School, Brandeston Hall.
Mike was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by Bishop Alan Clark on 25th May, 1991. Mike's ministry is not only at Saint Clare's Church but extends to the wider community in Framlingham, working closely with Churches Together and until recently The Royal British Legion. He is also a governor at Sir Robert Hitcham's C.E.V.A. Primary School and a Trustee of a local charity. He worked as the Sessional Roman Catholic Chaplain at Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill Prisons for twenty years.
- Bishop Alan Hopes visited Framlingham and celebrated Mass in Saint Clare's Church on the occassion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ordination of Deacon Mike Vipond in May 2016.
- Bishop Peter Collins visited Framlingham and celebrated Mass in Saint Clare's Church on 22nd May, 2024. During the celebration of Mass, Bishop Collins presented the East Anglia Diocesan Medal to Deacon Mike in recognition of his thirty-three years' service to the Church.
Photo: Woodbridge Parish Archives.