Local News

More than 250 children took to their scooters for Willen Hospice’s third annual Mini-Moo Scooterthon on Sunday (20 May). The event saw children aged from 3 to 11 years old take a sponsored lap or two of Willen Lake North. So far, donations have topped almost £12,000, which will support the end-of-life care provided by Willen Hospice. Events Fundraiser, Gemma Cantwell, said: “We had an amazing day at Scooterthon. The sun shone and we were delighted to see so many smiling faces arrive ready for their challenge. Not only did we see some super scooting, we have also seen some amazing fundraising. We would like to thank everybody who took part and helped make the day so much fun.” All children received medals and goodies when they finished and those who raise more than £100 for the Hospice will be invited to a special celebration party at Safari MK in..

Lakeview Lodge Care Home in Jersey Drive, Newton Leys got into the full Wedding spirit this weekend and opened their doors to the local community for the Royal Wedding! The staff, residents and families hosted an afternoon tea to celebrate the Royal Wedding celebrations. The staff and residents also took part in games & activities, had a BBQ in the garden, and enjoyed some singing, live music and dancing. Maria Moore, Customer Relations Manager for Lakeview Lodge Care Home, said: "All our residents & families had such a wonderful day celebrating the Royal Wedding. We were also delighted to welcome lots of local people in, who came along to watch the event with us. This was a wonderful opportunity to show the excellent services on offer and the fantastic work that goes on at Lakeview Lodge. We are excited to invite the local people of Milton Keynes & Newton Leys..

MK Museum has just secured a £75,000 grant for a permanent exhibition celebrating Jock Campbell, influential chair of Milton Keynes Development Corporation. The grant from AIM Biffa Award is part of its History Makers scheme - funding museums to create new exhibitions that will inspire the public through the lives and achievements of extraordinary historical figures who have made a significant impact shaping the world we live in today. While the exhibition will highlight the vision, leadership and innovative thinking that led to the creation of Britain’s biggest and boldest experiment in new town planning, Jock was a genuine history maker in many spheres. Explained Museum Director Bill Griffiths: “Early in his career he took control of his family’s sugar estates in Guyana and committed to making good his family’s success, which had been built on the slave trade. He was driven by the conviction that profit alone should not..

Milton Keynes Hospital Charity is asking the community to raise a cuppa and celebrate the wonderful NHS!  On Thursday 5 July people up and down the country will be coming together to toast 70 years of the National Health Service.  The charity is asking people in and around Milton Keynes to host their own tea parties with friends, family or colleagues – to mark the occasion and support the vital work of their local NHS charity! The humble cup of tea has a long and proud association with the NHS. Originally served to patients in traditional fine cups with saucers and side spoon, tea was considered an important aspect of patient satisfaction and recovery. Tens of thousands of patients enjoy tea in NHS hospitals, clinics and GP surgeries every day. Tea brings people together. It breaks down social boundaries and like the NHS and NHS charities, is a symbol of..

Pret a Manger at intu shopping centre has joined forces again with Willen Hospice for this year’s charity event, MK Midnight Moo, which takes place on Saturday 14 July. They have supported the event for the last ten years and will once again be staying open through the night to serve event volunteers, supporters and staff.  The restaurant will be providing breakfast snacks and hot drinks for walkers as they complete their challenge - a ten mile walk under the stars.  They join a team of supporters already on board, including Specsavers, intu and MKFM. All were on hand for a taste test this week along with Willen Hospice mascot Florence the Cow (refers to image).  Manager of Pret a Manger, Katya Soothill said “Our shop is located at the start and finish of this incredible event, and it’s the perfect opportunity for us to show our continued support for..

Willen Lake, Milton Keynes’ most popular park, has launched a new website which offers customers an improved online experience; with fully responsive design, better interactivity including maps and video and integration with a new booking system. Visitors to the website can quickly and easily find out information about all of the activities available at Willen Lake, such as Treetop Extreme, the county’s only urban high ropes course, equipment hire and watersports including wakeboarding, canoeing, windsurfing and many more. The site is easy to navigate through a drop down ‘mega menu’, with separate sections for ‘Discover Willen Lake’, ‘What’s On’, ‘Watersports’, ‘Activities’, ‘Schools & Groups’. For the first time, tickets for all the watersports and on land activities can be booked online through the one website, including sessions for Splash ‘n’ Play, one of the UK’s largest outdoor splash parks. Users can also buy tickets for more than one session at..

The redevelopment of YMCA Milton Keynes site in Central Milton Keynes made significant progress this week, following confirmation from the Regulator of Social Housing that its application to become a Registered Provider of social housing [RP] had been approved. “The redevelopment of our site and the building of a new, purpose designed, campus, where we can provide accommodation and support for formerly homeless young people, is incredibly complex”, said YMCA Milton Keynes Chief Executive, Simon Green “Not only are there multiple landowners involved and multiple partners in the overall project – but also complex funding arrangements that need to be put in place. Approval of our application to become a Registered Provider is a major advance as it enables us to draw down a significant grant from Homes England, without which the new development could not have progressed.” YMCA Milton Keynes has ambitious plans to build a new purpose-designed eight..

You may have witnessed the major spring clean that has already started across the city centre thanks to the Amazing CMK BID (Business Improvement District). This epic task is no mean feat for the BID project team with years of grime and dirt to clean that had been left to collect across the city’s paving, stairways and underpasses. A hefty 25% of the BID’s budget, which is raised directly from a levy on rateable value, has been allocated to the ‘deep clean’ and a local contractor has already made a big impact with tasks like jet washing the pavements, removing graffiti, and trialling the use of a polymer coating that is absorbed into the stone called ‘pave saver’ - a new anti-chewing gum solution. The clean up project is running alongside an additional scheme to deal with the ever-present rat problem which has been neglected for many years. Many of..

Self-financing charity The Parks Trust is thrilled to have won the Leisure Entertainment & Arts Category at the 2018 Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards. A new category for 2018, the award recognises the extensive and varied events and activities programme facilitated by The Parks Trust. In 2017, the charity organised and enabled over 500 events in its parkland, from popular, standalone favourites World Picnic and Spooky Halloween Walks to smaller, regular events such as Women’s Walking Network and Tree Tots. Additionally, The Parks Trust offers an extensive programme of community engagement, working with local communities to encourage them to engage with their green and open space and developing its Community Ambassador Programme. In particular, the Trust is working closely with BAME communities through workshops, training and devoted staff resource, which led to several diverse communities hosting their own MK50 celebrations in 2017 including MK Hindu Association’s Mela, African Diaspora Day..

A Milton Keynes charity hosted a day of hat-tastic fun to launch a national fundraising campaign to help fund vital research into brain tumours. Supporters came from across the country to Brain Tumour Research’s HQ in Shenley-Wood to take part in a day of fun ahead of its annual Wear A Hat Day on Thursday 29th March. The big day will see schools, workplaces, families and individuals across the UK fundraising and taking part in fun events to raise awareness of brain tumours and help fund life-saving research. The launch event on Saturday 3rd March saw guests take part in a hat-decorating workshop by craft supplier Hobbycraft, guests were able to attend talks on how fundraising supports research carried out at the charity’s four Centres of Excellence, where scientists are focused on improving outcomes for patients and, ultimately, finding a cure. Guests had the opportunity to talk to other families..

The mum of a seriously ill little girl from Milton Keynes is backing two dads’ 130-mile kayak challenge which will raise thousands of pounds to help care for seriously ill children like her daughter. Maria Cater, 49, from Great Linford, Milton Keynes, said she’s delighted that friends Graham Durcan and Richard Nordsted are supporting Keech Hospice Care, which has cared for her daughter Presley Stewart, 12, since she was a baby. “Presley has extensive brain damage caused by contracting group b streptococcal meningitis at just three weeks old. She also has epilepsy and cerebral palsy and is registered blind. “I don’t know what we would have done without the emotional and practical support Keech Hospice Care has given to us throughout Presley’s life. That’s why we’re so grateful people like Graham and Richard are raising money to help such an amazing local charity.” Later this month, the pair, known locally..

Willen Hospice is set to host its first live music event next month. Willen Live takes place on Friday 9 March at Ousedale School’s Olney Campus and will see four local bands come together to perform in support of the charity. Organisers are promising an eclectic mix of rock, country, indie and pop from loud and raw local talent: Zak & Dan, Secret Genius, Wait for Jude and Bite Me. Events Coordinator Tracey Jago, said: “We are so excited to be hosting Willen Live. It’s a first for us and we believe we have found a line-up that offers something for everyone. If you haven’t seen these bands before, they’re a must. We’re so grateful to them for their support and can’t wait to see as many people as possible on the night. “As well as a brilliant night for music lovers, the crowd will also be doing something amazing..

Willen Hospice is gearing up for its annual fundraising extravaganza, Blue Week, set to take place next week (5 -11 March). The charity’s army of staff and volunteers will hit the streets holding bucket collections in shopping areas, high streets and train stations across Milton Keynes and surrounding areas in a bid to raise vital funds to support the care provided by the Hospice. Blue Week organisers are calling on local people to support them by teaming up with family, friends or colleagues to become ‘Bucket Buddies’ and take part in collections. Slots are available for just an hour and half in various locations including Central Milton Keynes, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Olney, Kingston and Bletchley. Allison Waterhouse from the Hospice’s Community Fundraising Team said: “Bucket collections are a great way for us to get out and about to meet the community and raise those extra pennies that will make..

Lakeview Lodge Care Home has a very special reason to feel extra proud today, as it was announced that they are one of the Top 20 most recommended homes in the South East of England! The awards, run by carehome.co.uk, the largest online directory for care homes in the UK, were made based on recommendations from families and residents at homes across the South East. Cheryl Rolt, Home Manager of Lakeview Lodge Care Home, said: “I am extremely pleased and proud that we have won this award. All our staff members are overwhelmed by this achievement and we will decide between the team how we would like to celebrate, although a good night out may be on the list. We pride ourselves on saying that Lakeview Lodge is first and foremost a home, and we do everything in our power to make it so. We are all one big family..

Thursday 15th February marked the first of a whole series of 250-year anniversaries for the Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney as William Cowper, the renowned 18th Century poet, took up residence in the building that is now the museum in 1768. Joining the museum trustees to commemorate this event were local dignitaries including Milton Keynes Mayor, Councillor David Hopkins, Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher and Mayor of Newport Pagnell, Councillor Derek Eastman, plus representatives from local heritage organisations and Milton Keynes Council. The event also started a year-long project funded by a recent £93,800 Heritage Lottery Fund grant for the museum’s refurbishment programme. The ‘Our Heritage’ grant will cover almost 85% of the projected cost of £112,000, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players. Milton Keynes Borough will contribute an additional £5,000, with the remainder to be met from the museum’s budget and local fundraising. The project..