Local News

The Parks Trust, the self-financing charity that manages and maintains over 5,000 acres of Milton Keynes’ green space, welcomed 33 students from nine schools across the city for its fourth annual Junior Rangers Conference. The Junior Rangers enjoyed an action-packed day of activities at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve, including owl pellet dissection, a team challenge which involved discovering and identifying mammal tracks and trails and birdwatching. The Junior Rangers also took part in a quiz about The Parks Trust and the role of the Community Rangers. An important and exciting part of the day was the opportunity for each school to give a verbal presentation, briefly sharing ideas (and visuals), on what they have achieved so far this academic year and how they are engaging with the other children in their school. Middleton School were the overall winners of the challenges and quiz, taking home a birdfeeder and some bird..

Building work has begun on a two million pound investment by local childcare provider Kids Play. Under the umbrella name of ‘Childcare Hub’, plans include a completely new re-build of the existing Nursery and Pre-School setting, resulting in a state-of-the-art, purpose built Childcare site which will provide modern Nursery and Pre-School facilities, all with access to gardens and age-appropriate equipment. Plus, Kids Play’s Camp MK Activity Day Camps will run during the school holidays based in the new, on-site ‘Adventure Park’ as well as the provision of After School clubs, providing 360 wraparound care solutions for local parents and businesses. Says Sharon Elliott, Childcare Director of Kids Play Childcare: “The new Childcare Hub is an amazing opportunity for us to put Kids Play’s core value of ‘Nature Based Play’ into practice. We have worked closely with the architects to ensure that all the indoor and outdoor spaces allow our children..

Crew members from last year’s exciting event, Age UK Milton Keynes chief executive Jane Palmer, MKFM’s Darren Dorrington, Matthew Edwards from Gable Events and The Zen Garden Restaurant owner Mei Xu attended the launch of the 2017 Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival on Friday 27th January 2017. Gable Events brought along a 30 foot wooden dragon boat for would-be paddlers to try out on dry land and relive the excitement of last year’s racing. As well as competing for the champions’ trophy, each dragon boat crew is encouraged to raise funds for Age UK Milton Keynes, the official charity of the event.  The crew that raises the most wins the charity trophy and voucher worth up to £350 towards a celebratory meal at Zen Garden Oriental Buffet Restaurant. Age UK Milton Keynes’ focus this year is on preventing loneliness and isolation among older people in our community.  The charity hopes..

Head Chimp at MK based music brand, Beatcheck has decided to swap out his raving shoes in place of some rather fetching running trainers. Running more than 52 miles over two marathons in April, the Beatcheck monkey will chimp his way around The Great Manchester Marathon on April 2nd and take on the world famous London Marathon, April 23rd More used to raving than running, Jason Charles, otherwise known as “the Beatcheck monkey” has taken on a double marathon challenge to raise money for MK based charity Toybox. Jason tells us: “MK Based Toybox are an amazing charity who help children of the streets in some of the poorest and deprived countries in the world. Their work sees an end to a life on the streets, abuse and mystery for so many kids. Sometimes it’s just something as simple as getting a birth certificate (their very identify in some countries) that..

A Milton Keynes entrepreneur celebrated his 44th year in business at the same time as the city marked its 50th anniversary. In honour of MK's anniversary, a 50cm diameter cake was baked, with 50 pieces shared out to Bucks Biz Business Centres' clients at the iCentre in Newport Pagnell. Bucks Biz owner Joe Muscat said: “Our success in reaching 44 years is only possible because we are in Milton Keynes and it is a pleasure to toast this fantastic place.” The three Bucks Biz Business Centres across the city are home to more than 300 businesses that rent office and studio space on short and long term licences. “We have all kinds of businesses here,” said Joe. “So when I typed in “cake” to our internal directory, up popped Caketastic Ltd and they did a fantastic job for us. “We rent space to businesses from one person to 100 person..

Shortly before Christmas an interim report was published proposing that a Silicon Valley be created in Britain like that on America’s west coast, and that Milton Keynes should be its hub. The report’s author? – the new National Infrastructure Commission, established eighteen months ago by George Osborne to provide expert advice to the Government on the major infrastructure challenges facing the United Kingdom. The report argued that Britain possesses two of the finest universities in the world but that their future success is threatened by a chronic under supply of housing and poor east west transport links in what it describes as the Cambridge Milton Keynes Oxford knowledge arc. As a result staff are difficult to recruit and retain, and business costs rise. The Commission proposes that the existing plans for an East West Rail link should be taken forward urgently and that an Oxford Cambridge Expressway should be built...

The annual Christmas gift wrapping service at intu Milton Keynes has helped to raise thousands of pounds for local charities in what the centre has described as ‘selfless festive generosity’. Speaking about the Gift Wrapping service, Shelley Peppard, general manager at intu Milton Keynes said: “We are overwhelmed at how generous customers in and visiting Milton Keynes have been over the Christmas period, this is a huge boost to local charities and I can’t thank people enough for their support.” The station broke last year’s total and raised an amazing £9,641 which all goes to the eleven Charites involved. The gift-wrapping station which was in the centre from Black Friday, the 25 November, and was run by local charities from in and around Milton Keynes including Advantage Africa, Age UK Milton Keynes, Hope for Hollie, Citizens Advice and Willen Hospice. Customers were invited to bring their newly purchased Christmas gifts..

The Lions Young Ambassador Final took place at the Holiday Inn, Elstree on Sunday 15th January. Five very able young people sponsored by Lions Clubs along with family and supporters came together to enlighten the audience about their volunteering. An amazingly wide range of activities were undertaken by these candidates - helping at the  local Food Bank, Scouting, Army Cadets, Fire Brigade Cadets, Youth Parliament, Anti Bullying action, published author, international radio presenter, peer mentoring, public speaking, fundraising and Youth Work. Starting with three minute timed presentations to the assembled audience each candidate  then  had a 15 - 20 minute individual interview with our Judging Panel. The winner James Curtis sponsored by Stony Stratford won the £500 Bursary and now represents Stony Stratford in the national Final in February. James aged 16 has double cochlea implants and is a national advocate and mentor for deaf children, supporting  parents of newly..

Mercer & Hole Chartered Accountants’ Private Client Partner, Lisa Spearman was privileged to cut the official MK50 Birthday cake at the celebration for Milton Keynes’ 50th Birthday celebrations. The community of Milton Keynes marked the 50th anniversary of the Designation of the New Town over a Birthday Weekend celebrated from 20 to 23 January. The MK50 Birthday cake, created by Cake Artist, Karrin Simpson measured 6ft x 4ft and featured Milton Keynes’ landmarks. It was unveiled at Middleton Hall on Friday 20 January prior to the event on Sunday 22 January, at which the Mayor of Milton Keynes, Steve Coventry addressed the crowd and called Lisa to the stage to cut the cake. After a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ by The Rock Chorus Choir, slices of cake were handed out. Lisa, who lives and works in Milton Keynes, celebrated her own 50th Birthday over the same weekend and was honoured..

Local adoption agency St. Francis’ Children’s Society (SFCS), based in Woolstone, Milton Keynes, has come together with other adoption agencies in the region to help find loving families for vulnerable children. The new partnership is formed of ten local authority and independent adoption agencies across the East of England, covering Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Northamptonshire. This new Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) also includes two other MK adoption providers, Milton Keynes Council and AdoptionPlus. The initiative supports the Government’s drive to speed up the time it takes to find adopters for children waiting for a family. In the future, approved adoptive parents will be able to find out more quickly about children who are waiting for a family across the whole region rather than just in their local area. The agencies also hope it will help to recruit more adopters for children who often wait longer to be placed with..

MK – The Golden Years!  Just in you case you hadn’t heard Milton Keynes is celebrating its 50th birthday! A yearlong programme of events have been created to celebrate the birth of the “New Town” in 1967. Developed as an answer to alleviate the chronic housing situation in London, Milton Keynes became a truly ground-breaking initiative which has been able to attract over 260,000 people and encourage a wealth of recognised major international businesses.  Milton Keynes will be hosting a yearlong programme of exciting events and each household will be receiving a souvenir programme listing a wide variety of activities, in fact there is something that everyone can enjoy and share in this landmark birthday. Please visit http://www.mk50.co.uk/ and join the party!  Work tree – First Rung of the Ladder to Employment  In Milton Keynes we have established..

intu Milton Keynes and Milton Keynes Hospital have praised shoppers’ generosity as the total number of gifts donated for the Generosity Tree is revealed.  Last Christmas, intu Milton Keynes launched the Generosity Tree for customers to donate a present for someone less fortunate than themselves at Christmas.  Nearly 100 presents were donated by shoppers over the festive period that were handed out to patients at the hospital during Christmas. From colouring books to slippers and scarves, ‘the presents provided some much-needed joy for patients having to spend their time in hospital,” said Vanessa Holmes, head of fundraising at Milton Keynes Hospital Charity.  “We’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who donated presents, as well as all the staff at intu Milton Keynes who made this possible. A present for a patient at Christmas really can brighten their stay over the festive season – we look forward to working..

The Parks Trust, the charity that cares for Milton Keynes’ parks and green spaces, has planned a series of events and activities to celebrate the city’s 50th birthday, with exciting activities for people of all ages and interests to enjoy. A highlight of the year for many will be The Parks Trust’s partnership with Milton Keynes Council to offer a special programme of 50 led walks throughout 2017. These walks will be held at a wide variety of locations across the beautiful and inspiring city, offering people the chance to discover new areas and learn more about Milton Keynes. The most adventurous of all will be The Parks Trust’s 25 mile Challenge Walk, which will begin at Howe Park Wood. This will be a self-guided walk stretching across the city’s parkland, with a downloadable map available at www.theparkstrust.com This will be complemented by The Parks Trust’s definitive list of the..

Hermes Investment Management, the £28.6 billion manager focused on delivering superior, sustainable, risk adjusted returns to its clients – responsibly and AustralianSuper, co-owners of centre:mk, have today announced plans for a £60 million investment in the centre.  Over the next three years, the grade two-listed building will undergo a series of enhancements focused on re-imagining the iconic principles that led to the creation of one of the UK’s most dominant UK regional shopping centres. The £60 million investment programme includes the recently completed £10m refurbishment of Sunset Walk, designed by architecture and design company, Rawls. The next phase will see the development of new state of the art customer facilities on Deer Walk, including a customer service lounge, family facilities and WCs, together with work beginning this spring on a new 1,400 space multi–storey car park adjoining John Lewis.  Other initiatives will embrace the latest digital technology with a new..

The Bridgman & Bridgman story started back in the 1970s when horticulturalist Neil Bridgman and his wife relocated to Milton Keynes to work for the visionary Milton Keynes Development Corporation. Neil worked on the tree nursery at Milton Keynes Village and his young son, Chris, would soon join him in his passion for horticulture. From the age of about five Chris would spend weekends and school holidays working alongside his father: “Those childhood memories really inspired me to go and study horticulture after I left school.” After working together for numerous years, the father-and-son team made the decision to venture out on their own, establishing Bridgman & Bridgman LLP in 2006. Chris says it’s a pleasure to be based in his hometown of Milton Keynes: “It really is the city of trees, and the city is so well-maintained with green space and biodiversity being a top priority. It’s amazing how..