MK DAD 2020, Milton Keynes Disability Day this year is going to be virtual and is taking place Tuesday 14 July 2020. For full information click here. Join Milton Keynes Community Choir with guest stars Electirc Umbrella for a musical hour (7.45pm to 8.45pm) to celebrate MK Disability Awareness Day. Full details are on their Facebook page, link here.
MIND BLMK, opened their new crisis support centre, called Crisis Cafe on 15 June for the Milton Keynes Community. To learn more click here Click here to go their website.
WOW Global 24, the first ever free 24 hour online festival uniting women and girls across the world will take place 27 – 28 June. The effects of Covid19 pose a profound risk of reversing progress towards achieving equality, one that must be tackled together and fast. To learn more, see link below: https://twitter.com/WOWisGlobal Women of the World Festival is an annual arts and science festival that celebrates the achievements of women and girls, as well as looking at the obstacles they face across the world. As a global feminist movement, it seeks to inspire new generations of young women and girls.
Learning disability charity, MK SNAP has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. This award is the highest honour that can be bestowed by the Queen to a charity or voluntary group and is the equivalent of an MBE.
The end of our winter season in 2020 was like no other before it. Kathy Howard, Welfare Manager of the Winter night Shelter said “We had to close our emergency accommodation early before the nationwide lockdown began on 23rd March and urgently find our homeless guests a safe place to stay. In the weeks and months following we have been providing emergency food relief and welfare support to those who have no other source of help.” Click on the video below for the story of what becomes possible when the community and volunteers come together to support those in urgent need. This work has been supported by public donations and funding from MK Community Foundation. Video – Covid-19 Emergency Relief from Winter Night Shelter To find out more about the work of the Winter Night Shelter Milton Keynes, and to donate, please visit www.winternightsheltermk.com/. Thank
Hi I’m Esme Smithson from the British Red Cross and I’m reaching out to ask if SI Milton Keynes and friends could support the British Red Cross and our response to the Covid-19 crisis by getting involved in some of the fun activities we are doing online? We’re currently supporting the most vulnerable people within the community; we’re delivering food parcels and helping people financially impacted by the crisis through our Hardship Fund. Many people have needed our support over the past few weeks and we know this need will only increase in the coming weeks and months. Why we need your support: It just isn’t safe to run our face to face fundraising activities right now so like many other charities, we are working hard to raise vital funds through online fundraising activities so we can meet the need for support at this time.
Social isolation and loneliness can have a huge impact on mental health during a crisis like Covid-19. Can you help MK Snap (Special Needs Advancement Project) keep in touch with over 140 local people with learning disabilities and complex needs? Just write a positive message on a postcard and post it to us at MK Snap, 20 Bourton Low, Walnut Tree, MK7 7DE and we will share it to make someone’s day! We can’t do this without your help; so please take a minute to show someone you care and in return we will keep you posted! #Postcardsof hope #RandomActsofKindness For more details see MK Snaps website and social media. https://mksnap.org/
The MK branch of Soroptimist International is collecting toiletry items for our SOS packs for vulnerable people, especially women and girls. We are working in partnership with “The Women’s Refuge”, “YMCA”, and “The Red Cross”. Between Jan and October 2019 we donated £1,600.00 in toiletries for these charities. Please donate any new and unused toiletries: Soap Shower Gel Toothpaste and Toothbrushes Deodorant Combs Sanitary Products Hand and Body Cream Perfume Collection bins are available at various locations around the Borough in some churches, chemists and village halls or the items can be collected if you phone on – 0791 3803289. Collection venues include – Whaddon Medical Centre, Tweed Drive; Redhouse Surgeries; City Church; Newport Parnell Baptist church; churches in Hanslope and Castlethorpe. Many thanks for your help and please keep
Each year we focus on one main project and for 2019 we decided to set ourselves a target to raise £2,500 to help furnish a room in the new YMCA facility being built in central Milton Keynes. During 2019 a number of events were planned to raise funds and promote SIMK; These included a Sewathon, held on 27 April, when volunteer patch workers, from across MK were sponsored by family and friends to make a king size quilt and two single quilts in a day! The magnificent king size quilt, in YMCA colours, was then raffled over the summer to add to the total raised, which was approximately £1,600.00. When staff at the YMCA saw the single quilts, destined for two lucky residents, they asked if it would be possible for us to make a further twenty eight quilts so that every new resident coming
Victims of domestic abuse in Milton Keynes have MK Act to turn to if they feel trapped at home with their abuser during the coronavirus lockdown. MK Council supports services from MK Act, managed by the city’s Women’s Aid group, who have a crisis service helpline where people can turn to for help. Contact can be made via either: The MK Act Crisis Service helpline number is 0344 375 4307 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm) or the National Domestic Violence Helpline, which is open 24 hours on 0800 2000 247 For victims of domestic abuse, the coronavirus pandemic can be an especially frightening time. They may be very worried about self-isolating with someone who is harming them. It’s important that family, friends and neighbours with any concerns about a loved one should keep in contact with them. In Oct 2018, MK Council completed a need
