Local News

50 years ago when Milton Keynes was envisioned and built, a 40 acre site was designated for use as a riding school. The idea was that local residents could enjoy horses and green space right in the heart of the town. That space is in Loughton and after many years of neglect the charity, Ride High, has taken over a 30-year lease of the site and a commitment to turn it into a thriving riding school that everyone can enjoy. The Ride High Equestrian Centre is in Loughton just 10 minutes walk from the train station and the heart of Milton Keynes Rachel Medill MBE, Founder and CEO of Ride High said: “This huge green oasis of land sits in the heart of Milton Keynes but is almost unknown.  It was intended to be a space where local people could enjoy the countryside and the gentle beauty of horses but..

Country Court Care was delighted to welcome local dignitaries and business people to the Grand Opening of their state-of-the-art Care Home, Lakeview Lodge in Newton Leys, near Bletchley. Lakeview Lodge Care Home provides residential and essential specialist dementia care in a beautiful, homely environment tailored to fulfill the needs of the residents. With 66 tastefully decorated ensuite rooms, the stunning Lakeview Lodge Care Home boasts a beauty and hairdressing salon, a private dining room, a family room, a relaxation spa, a bar named the “Enigma Lounge”, a shop and cinema to entertain residents and their families. Spacious lounges and dining rooms overlook the beautiful Little Willow Lake and a variety of events and activities offer residents the opportunity to socialise and make new friends. Mayor of Milton Keynes, Cllr David Hopkins and Country Court Care’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Abdul Kachra performed the ribbon cutting whilst guests toasted the opening..

The Parks Trust was proud to welcome The Duke of Cambridge to the Milton Keynes Rose in Campbell Park, as part of a special visit to celebrate the city’s 50th birthday. Richard Forman, Chairman, and Rob Riekie, Landscape and Operations Director, of The Parks Trust showed His Royal Highness around part of Campbell park and explained how the Trust manages over 6,000 acres of parks and landscape as a self-financing charity. They walked out to the Belvedere and Light Pyramid sculpture to see the view over the eastern half of Milton Keynes, which shows just how green the city is. The Duke was also introduced to David Foster, Chief Executive of The Parks Trust; Gordon Dundas, Landscape Officer; and Jools Kendall, Community Ranger. David commented: “We were delighted that The Duke visited Campbell Park, and that he was so interested in the Trust’s model for looking after green space.  Campbell..

Akeley Wood School, a leading private school in Milton Keynes, has welcomed a new Head and Deputy Head to the school. Georgina Masefield started at the school at the beginning of the new term and brings with her a wealth of experience. Teaching since the 1990’s, Georgina has assumed various roles including advisory and consultancy, school inspections and managing head teachers. Georgina explains: ‘I have enjoyed working in different roles in education, however my passion lies in teaching and I intend to use my experiences to benefit each child at Akeley Wood School. We believe in the potential of every child and in providing a committed, family friendly and safe community which nurtures individual self-worth, well-being and a sense of belonging while preparing children for a successful future outside education.’ Georgina joins the Senior School from Northbridge House in Hampstead, London. Kara Dowson is also a new addition to the..

Despite the apparent wealth of Milton Keynes, over the past eight years, the city has moved up 31 places on the list of the ‘most deprived’ local authorities in the country, with 21 areas inside Milton Keynes ranking amongst the 20% most deprived areas in England. The proportion of children living below the poverty line in Milton Keynes is 1 in 5.* Local charity, MK Money Lifeline, aims to help those who are struggling with debt, offering free, confidential debt advice to individuals and families. With a team of 12 volunteer highly-trained debt advisors, the Charity is able to help and support those in need, either over the phone, with a personal appointment or with a self-help pack, and they also offer local estate drop-in sessions across the city. MK Money Lifeline needs to raise valuable funds to ensure its work both continues and expands across the city, and will..

Popular womenswear retailer Coast in intu Milton Keynes will reopen this Thursday having been closed for two weeks for a refurbishment, and there are prizes to be won.  The first 100 guests will receive a goody bag AND three of these goody bags will have an added extra - a £100, a £200 and a £500 voucher in! The store is set to become a go-to-destination for occasion wear both in and around Milton Keynes.  The new concept space will be created to celebrate the DNA of the brand, complete with beautiful feminine handwriting around the store, a calm and intimate interior which will be made up of neutral tones and finished with luxurious textures. Enhancing the customer journey and the customer experience in the store will be key and this will be achieved by introducing new luxury fitting rooms.  Coast will stock one of the widest collections available, which..

Business people from across Milton Keynes swapped their suits for walking gear on Friday to trek The Parks Trust Challenge, raising over £5k for the brand new ‘City Fund,’ created to raise money and awareness of homelessness throughout the City. The idea to walk the 25 mile long Parks Trust Challenge, was born when Nicholas Mann, MD of full service marketing agency Interdirect, jokingly suggested it during his summing up of a talk given by David Foster, the Chief Executive of The Parks Trust. The 25 Mile Challenge Walk was created by The Parks Trust to mark the 50th anniversary of the City and links together some of the city’s finest parks and lakes. Nick’s throwaway comment was ceased upon by Simon deMaid of Howes Percival who offered his immediate support, and the duo quickly drafted in Milton Keynes College to help with the marathon task of organising the event...

Milton Keynes Council’s Procurement and Commissioning Committee has approved the tender process for a higher education (HE) partner to lead the implementation of MK:U, making the new multi-million pound technology university for Milton Keynes one step closer. MK:U is designed to make the most of collaborations between business, public and higher education organisations using the city as a ‘living laboratory’.  As a result, it will offer different ways of learning to other universities, with far more integration with business to produce highly skilled and employable graduates. The aim is for MK:U to have around 10,000 students, with smart cities, technology, engineering and intelligent mobility its main areas of specialism.  Students could work directly on smart city and intelligent mobility projects already in development in MK, such as driverless pods and urban sensors to manage the flow of traffic and utilities. The lead HE partner, once appointed, will assume responsibility for all..

Hard to believe, as The Casino MK is an integral part of the Milton Keynes entertainment scene now, but it celebrated its 4th birthday this month. The venue opened back in September 2013 and since then customers have been racking up some huge numbers as they enjoy the hospitality and gaming experiences the casino offers 24/7. Here’s how the numbers stack up: 1,910,028 visitors since it opened The roulette wheels have been spun over 5 million times Over £2,873,436 won on their slots jackpots 185,441 pints of Fosters have been pulled 8,023 steaks served in the restaurant Their giant TV screen has been on for over 34,000 hours, non-stop Recently, The Casino MK relaunched their loyalty scheme which has over 37,000 members. The new ‘Aspers World’* scheme allows customers to access a range of instant discounts of food and drink, invitations to special events and, for a limited time, a..

The delivery today of 11 microscopes at Denbigh School, donated by Trajan Scientific and Medical, will mean students will be able to gain a better understanding of the fascinating biological study of cells and tissues. The microscopes were purchased as part of a £1500 award made to Denbigh by Trajan, following the School’s successful trialling of the Crownhill based company’s smartphone adapter for microscopes - the MiPlatform.   Trajan supply a broad range of quality laboratory products across disciplines including histology, haematology, microbiology, chromatography and general consumables.  MiPlatform is a smartphone adapter, which combines the comfort of microscope navigation and smartphone camera lens, thereby, enabling scientists and clinicians to study quality images quickly and ergonomically. It maintains microscope-like navigation to fully utilise the advantages of microscope slides in both clinical and training settings.  During the trial in 2015, Denbigh’s Head of Science, Anthony Brown, found that the adapter enabled the..

For the second year in a row, Maaya Indian Kitchen & Bar in The Hub has been officially ‘nominated’ for the most prestigious Indian restaurant awards in the UK, the British Curry Awards. Last year, Maaya was nominated and shortlisted as the Best Newcomer, and this year customers have nominated the independent restaurant under the Best in the Region category. Nomination is the first stage - only a few restaurants are nominated from thousands of entries – and then, if successful, Maaya will be shortlisted.  “It is such an honour to receive a nomination for the second year in a row, especially as this is done so by our customers and then reviewed by the judges”, said Mo Abdul, General Manager and Owner at Maaya. He adds: “Last year we were shortlisted and went to the awards to represent Milton Keynes and show the rest of the UK that we..

A new eBook has been created by Kids Play Childcare following a recent Kids Play survey revealing huge confusion concerning the new 30-hour education grant for Pre-School children, starting on 1st September 2017. Addressing the knowledge shortfall from the survey, the childcare group’s eBook outlines the eligibility criteria for 30 hours, accessing the 30 hours and the deadlines in place to register. The feedback from nearly 200 parents with children 4 or under in the Milton Keynes and Bury St Edmunds area (where Kids Play Day Nurseries & Pre-Schools are located) and whilst 90% of their survey were aware of the grant, a staggering 51% didn’t know the eligibility criteria, 71% didn’t know there was a deadline for the September grant and 64% were unaware they needed to apply for it and how. Said Sharon Elliott, Childcare Director of Kids Play “We were quite surprised by the results and quickly..

Bletchley Park today honoured the achievements of key codebreaker Bill Tutte by unveiling a bust of the renowned mathematician. Created by sculptor Gabriella Bollobás, who has donated the artwork to the museum, it sits on display in the exhibition ‘Bill Tutte: Mathematician + Codebreaker’, which opened in April to coincide with the centenary of his birth. Tutte played a significant role in breaking Lorenz, the cipher that was used by the German High Command, and after World War Two became one of the most eminent mathematicians working in combinatorics and graph theory. Gabriella Bollobás knew Tutte, who passed away in 2002, through her husband Béla Bollobás, himself a renowned mathematician. Tutte had sat for the Hungarian artist in his later years, but the new bronze depicts him as a younger man in his 20s, as he would have looked when he worked at Bletchley Park. “I had only a few..

92.3% of students achieved A* to C/9 to 4 grades in five or more subjects including English and Maths, up an impressive 17% on last year’s GCSE results Students at The Webber Independent School performed extremely well across all subjects, with stand-out results in Chemistry, Physics, English, Maths, French, Italian, Spanish, History, Music and Physical Education, where 100% of students gained A* to C/9 to 4 grades. With the top three students achieving thirty A*to A/9 to 8 grades between them. Charlie deGorter found good reason to smile about the number nine, he achieved a hat trick in English Language, English Literature and Maths, in addition to five A* grades and three A grades (including further Maths). “I can’t quite believe it! Three nines in the new grading system, wow – I’m blown away. I’m so happy, and I can’t thank my teachers enough for their support in preparing me for the..

Which store gives the best customer service, who has gone the extra mile and who deserves to receive an award? You decide!  Cast your votes for the intu Milton Keynes Retailer Awards 2017 and even get a chance of winning a £250 Gift Card and other prizes.  This year’s Retailer Awards include 10 different categories, so every store within the centre has a great chance of picking up a prize, plus all the votes made by customers will count towards an entry into the draw to win £250 gift card and a night’s stay at Jurys Inn!  Voting has opened! This year’s categories include, the ‘World Class Customer Service Award’, the ‘Womenswear Retailer of the Year Award’, the ‘Menswear Retailer of the Year Award’, the ‘Footwear Retailer of the Year Award’, the ‘Jewellery & Accessories Retailer of the Year Award’, the ‘Health & Beauty Retailer of the Year’, the ‘Food..