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Winter Night Shelter MK Giving tea to a guest
Winter Night Shelter MK need volunteers

Winter Night Shelter MK need volunteers

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Winter Night Shelter are opening their emergency Night Shelters this winter from 22 November in a number of places around Milton Keynes and need volunteers to help. It is clear this winter is going to be a tough one for many people and they are expecting that many people who find themselves in crisis will continue to turn to them for help. Throughout the summer they have had an average of 100 individuals a week accessing support from their centre, Unity Park Station (the old bus station on Elder Gate), which is unprecedented. Their welfare team work with the homeless guests to provide support and pathways out of homeless into longer term accommodation and the volunteer-led services all work alongside this to provide a vital package of wraparound care. Can you help give time to help the homeless over the winter time.  Click here to

Handing cheque for £700 raised from Music event to Winter Night Shelter Oct 2021
£700 raised for Winter Night Shelter MK

£700 raised for Winter Night Shelter MK

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Classical Music Concert, raffles and craft stall raise £700 for Winter Night Shelter MK One of the five local charities we support is the Winter Night Shelter MK.  Covid has had a significant impact on their services, with them now becoming a year round charity helping many different people at their point of crisis.  But the winter months are coming up, which they anticipate as being even busier than ever with the increase of homelessness seen here and nationally.  The Winter Night Shelter supports: rough sleepers; sofa surfers; people in emergency accommodation or temporary housing; those who need support with their tenancies; anyone at risk of homelessness; and others who are vulnerable. It’s been a tough couple of years for us in terms of fundraising for our linked charities but at last lockdown was lifted, and just in time, as we had been planning our first

SI MK Awards for Women of Achievement in our Charities - Violet Awards Winner Ruth and Sue WNSMK
Violet Awards 2021 “Women of Action”

Violet Awards 2021 “Women of Action”

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Violet Awards 2021 – “Women of Action”       Milton Keynes Soroptimist Club works to support vulnerable women and girls both internationally, nationally and locally.  One of the ways we do this is via our links to local charities working directly with vulnerable women in Milton Keynes: MK Act, MK YMCA, British Red Cross, Winter Night Shelter MK and Works for Us. Soroptimism is an international movement, which started 100 years ago, is an international women’s voluntary organisation working to improve the lives of women and girls locally, nationally and at an international level. We are Soroptimists. Women inspiring action, transforming lives. We are vibrant, dynamic and like-minded women, Working on global to local projects that help improve the lives of women and girls. 2021 is our centenary year of celebrations and as part of that Soroptimists International Milton Keynes are piloting an Award dedicated

Amy Searle
Celebrating Invisible Women – October

Celebrating Invisible Women – October

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  Amy Searle, Parish Councillor, Mum and worker in the Justice Service.  A Little about me I was recently asked at work to think about what my personal #Hashtag would be, if I had to choose one.  Something that sums me up in a single sentence.  So, I started to think about what others usually say about me and that’s when it hit me…. My personal hashtag would have to be #AlwaysontheGo. It’s sort of a running joke that I can’t say no to things.  Which is funny really because I’m quite an assertive person!  But I really find a lot of joy in being able to give something back to the local community where I can.  I would urge anyone reading this to think about what their personal and professional #Hashtags would be …. It certainly gets you thinking. So, a bit about me

Christine Hayter - The Oasis Project , Gambia
Celebrating Invisible Women – September

Celebrating Invisible Women – September

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Chris Hayter, founder of The Oasis Project (The Gambia) Chris Hayter received a Rotary Champions of Change Award earlier this year for her work with the people of Bakau, a village on Gambia’s Atlantic coastline to the west of the capital Banjul. She was driven to help this fishing community because of her deeply held belief that everyone deserves a chance.  This belief is firmly rooted in her own life experiences and reflects her strong Christian faith and values. Chris was almost ten when she arrived in England, escaping war torn Nigeria, to join her father in London. A troubled childhood followed, where love was short and scolding’s frequent. Eventually Chris was taken into care. As life unfolded Chris faced more challenges, but she never lost hope that a brighter future awaited her. She focused on her education and training, steadily built her confidence and

Raising £200 for Princes Trust Brilliant Breakfast Oct 2021 - Women Supporting Women
Brilliant Breakfast – raising funds for The Princes Trust Women Supporting Women Fund

Brilliant Breakfast – raising funds for The Princes Trust Women Supporting Women Fund

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Brilliant Breakfast event to raise funds for The Princes Trust Women Supporting Women Fund About this Event Please join Soroptimist International Milton Keynes on Wednesday 6 Oct 7.30-8.45am at MK Snap,  20 Bourton Low, Walton, Milton Keynes for a Brilliant Breakfast of coffee/tea and pastries that will change lives  by raising funds for young women in the UK who need our support, helping them wake up to a more positive future. Help us reach our target of £200 for The Princes Trust Women Supporting Women Fund Click on the link & make a donation https://princes-trust.enthuse.com/pf/similtonkeynes… About the Brilliant Breakfast The Brilliant Breakfast’s mission is to inspire and invite everyone from all over the UK to get together and host a breakfast to raise money for The Prince’s Trust Women Supporting Women initiative. After a year which has seen young women among the hardest hit by

Classical Musical Concert for Homeless
Classical Music Concert – live orchestra raising funds for MK Homeless

Classical Music Concert – live orchestra raising funds for MK Homeless

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Classical Music Event with live orchestra to raise funds for MK Winter Night Shelter organised by volunteer group SI Milton Keynes About this event Our Music Concert which will take part on Friday 1st October at The Servant King Church at Furzton. It will start at 7.00 pm to give people a chance to get raffle tickets and browse the craft stall. The concert itself will commence at 7.30 pm and contain the following pieces of music. To book tickets please click here to be directed to our eventbrite page Quintet – Beethoven’s 5th Symphony Quartet – Handel – Siciliana from Concerto for Oboe and Strings, Sinfonia from Almira, Gavotte from Ottone Quartet – Mozart – Adagio and Allegro Duet / Quintet – Ibert – Andante – mostly flute and clarinet Quintet – Popular Song – William Walton arranged by Pete Ringrose Quintet – 70s

White Ribbon day 2020
White Ribbon Accreditation being pursued by Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council

White Ribbon Accreditation being pursued by Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council

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Going for White Ribbon Accreditation at Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council Amanda Carter-Philpott, past Chair, member and now a Town Cllr at  Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council is delighted that in mid August, Bletchley and Fenny Stratford Town Council voted unanimously to support my proposal to pursue White Ribbon Accreditation. As a resident who has lived here since 1985, Amanda was horrified to discover Bletchley and Fenny Stratford is one of the most dangerous small towns to live in Buckinghamshire according to crime statistics.  The most common crimes in our community are sexual and violent offences so clearly this is an area in which we need to actively engage to promote a safer environment for all.  Accreditation with White Ribbon will drive social change, strengthen gender equality and stop male violence against women in our community and organisations by training staff to recognise

Mathilda Kessler
Celebrating Invisible Women – August

Celebrating Invisible Women – August

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Matilda Kessler (1919-1990) This strong minded, popular pillar of our community came from a family with a background in law so it is no surprise that Matilda herself had a robust attitude to social and community issues becoming a co- founder of Milton Keynes CAB which was originally set up in Bletchley in 1971. Nor is it any surprise that later on she became a Magistrate on the Fenny Stratford Bench in 1968. This was back in the good old days when there was no Central Milton Keynes Magistrates Court but instead 3 courts covering the whole town. She studied at LSE in the 1930s and during the war years divided her time between supporting the East End evacuation in London and her growing family based in Stoke Hammond. She was also influential in the WRVS. As a new young town with a constant influx

Celebrating invisible MK Women
Celebrating Invisible Women – July

Celebrating Invisible Women – July

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Margaret Durbridge OBE (1911-1999) Margaret Durbridge was born in 1911 in London. Her father was an eminent immunologist in St Mary’s hospital, where she was born. Margaret had an early interest in science and as a young woman she helped her father in his laboratory, and was in the elite science group at her girls’ school.  She practised briefly as a commercial artist but like many women of the time Margaret’s career was cut short when she married. Margaret wanted to contribute to her community. Domestic life on its own frustrated her as it has many women before her and since, and over the years she involved herself extensively in her community in many ways. She believed in the importance of education and she was a strong believer that the environment young people lived in helped them become happy and useful adults. She also began