Sheriff and an iconic hymn

In the Community Victim support scheme wins crime prevention award

Ascheme run by the YMCA in Milton Keynes that supports young people affected by serious violence has won a national award.

Under the Hospital Navigator scheme, volunteers provide signposting to mentoring and support for victims aged 1335 who attend hospital A&E departments, including to YMCA MK’s services.

The scheme has won first prize at the National Crimebeat Awards, run by the youth crime prevention charity National Crimebeat. It is the national charity of the High Sheriffs’ Association in England and Wales and the Hospital Navigator programme, which had the backing of Buckinghamshire High Sheriff George Anson, received the High Sheriffs’ Association’s Special Award.

YMCA MK’s hospital navigator Tayler Tookey said: “We know that when people are in hospital, there is a reachable moment when intervention can be successful. It is incredibly rewarding to see the impact this scheme has had on the young lives of those we have supported.”

The Hospital Navigator Scheme launched in June 2021. Funded by the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit, the volunteers operate from the A&E department at Milton Keynes Hospital.

Space raises community spirit

Welcome to The Outdoor Space, an urban undercover area next to The Old Bath House and Community Centre in Wolverton and the first stage of an ambitious community project.

Works by local artists Timothy B Layden, Luke McDonnell, Sara Myers, Cathy Ebbels, Jill Kitchen, Iain Talbot and Gavin Grace, along with more than 40 mosaic birds made in workshops by families during lockdown, has been shared on the walls of the pedestrian entrance to the space between the centre and Tesco supermarket.

The space is the result of a consultation with Wolverton businesses and residents. Their responses led to plans to make the area more welcoming and to encourage more people to use the space. The Outdoor Space, which already hosts two weekly community fridge sessions and a regular monthly craft market, will soon be home to a pop-up café at weekends.

“The collective creativity, time and commitment that everyone has contributed to this project is astounding,” says project coordinator Helen Innes. “We hope that people that use this space, enjoy it and it makes them feel good.”

Foundation launches refugee fund

An appeal to support Ukrainian families and individuals fleeing the war in their homeland for a new life in Milton Keynes is under way.

It has been launched by Milton Keynes Community Foundation, which hopes that the appeal will help to ease some of the hardship, isolation and fear faced by refugees as they settle in the borough.

The appeal also aims to support the onward resettlement of refugees to other places in the UK, said the foundation’s director of philanthropy Ranjit Singh.

He added: “MK Community Foundation’s mission to ‘Fund Fairness’ is at the heart of everything we do. We want support those vulnerable refugees who will call MK their home and wish to provide the right support to help them do this.”

n Voluntary groups and charities supporting refugees in Milton Keynes can apply for funding via MK Community Foundation’s website at https:// mkcommunityfoundation. co.uk/grants/apply-for-agrant/. 22 Business MK | May 2022

Willen Hospice is hoping for a significant boost to its funds from the Summer of Moo events

Fundraisers in the moo-d to put best feet forward

Willen Hospice has unveiled plans for its three biggest fundraising events of the year. The Summer of Moo begins in June, a series of walks around Milton Keynes to raise funds for the hospice.

The Midday Moo on June 25 and Midnight Moo on July 15 challenge local people to walk a five- or ten-mile route around Milton Keynes. The Mini Moo, previously branded the Scooterthon, on August 7 offers a fun way for younger supporters to get involved.

The Midday Moo starts and finishes at Milton Keynes Rugby Club in Emerson Valley, and includes pub stops on route and a finale at The Big Food Festival. The Midnight Moo is back for its 13th year with a new route starting and finishing at Midsummer Place shopping centre.

The pandemic has hit hospice funds hard and Willen is hoping that participants can pass its fundraising target of £125,000. “I am confident,” says hospice chief executive Peta Wilkinson. “The Moo has become one of Milton Keynes’ most popular fundraising events and we are looking forward to it being even bigger and better this year.”

The hospice’s specialist nurses provide free, holistic care to people at the end of their lives and to those who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting condition such as neurological diseases or cancer, as well as comfort and counselling for their family and friends. The service is free to those who need it but requires £4.7 million a year to run. Specsavers MK has agreed to be the Midnight Moo’s headline sponsor. The Midday and Midnight Moo costs £20 to enter, and includes a Moo T-shirt and medal. The Mini Moo costs £10, which includes a cap and medal.

n Find out more at www.willen-hospice. org.uk/moo. To discuss sponsorship, email corporate@willen-hospice.org.uk

High Sheriff speaks of a year inspired by hymn’s anniversary

Former Mayor of Milton Keynes Debbie Brock has been appointed the new High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

She is pictured after the official Declaration Ceremony at The Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes, attended by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant The Countess Howe, past High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire, Mayors from across the county, judges, magistrates and guests.

She succeeds the outgoing High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire George Anson and will be in the post for 12 months.

Of his year in office Mr Anson said: “Being the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire has opened my eyes to the tremendous contribution made to our community by essential service providers and volunteer organisations.”

He described his year in office as “very special”.

Ms Brock added: “I look forward to giving my service in support of the peace and well-being of our county. Like many of my predecessors, I am keen to support initiatives that help to build stronger communities as well as those that prevent crime and reoffending and I am also keen to understand the ways in which victims of crime are supported.

“I have a broad theme of inclusion and taking the lead from my home town of Olney marking the 250th anniversary of Amazing Grace being sung on 1st

Debbie Brock, the newly appointed High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire “I January 1773, looking at the way modern slavery and am keen exploitation are tackled to support initiatives that help today.” All appointments were witnessed by Neil Arnold, to build stronger chair of Buckinghamshire communities” Magistrates. Serene Taylor was appointed as the new Under Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and Ms Brock’s predecessor George Anson was appointed as the Deputy Under Sheriff. The Office of High Sheriff is the oldest secular office in the UK, after the Crown. The High Sheriff is appointed personally by The Queen at the Pricking Ceremony held in March each year.

Former art critic takes office in Bedfordshire

Lady Jane Clifford is the new High Sheriff of Bedfordshire for 202223. She was installed at a ceremony at Elstow Abbey and succeeds Eric Masih.

A former art critic for the Daily Telegraph, she worked closely with Laura Ashley finding and copying antique wallpaper and textile designs and writing books about furnishing and decorating houses for the company.

Lady Clifford’s husband Timothy was a director of the Manchester City Art Galleries and National Galleries of Scotland. He was knighted in 2002.

The Cliffords moved to Bedfordshire after their retirement in 2010 to be nearer London and their daughter and grandson.

Lady Clifford is keen to support charities that promote sport for all ages, rehabilitation and homelessness. She also spoke of the honour of holding office in The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.

A concert fit for a Queen

Inspiring orchestral music is set to round off celebrations of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at Milton Keynes Theatre.

The Milton Keynes Chorale concert will include music by Handel, Elgar, Parry and Walton and at the same time arise money for Willen Hospice.

The concert, on June 5 at 7.30pm, is to be sponsored by law firm Geoffrey Leaver Solicitors, which has been based in Milton Keynes for more than 50 years.

“We truly believe that being a successful business is about more than just delivering a high-quality service to clients but to support both socially and economically the wider local community that we Milton Keynes Chorale in concert

operate within,” says Geoffrey leaver partner Paula Stuart. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to support a momentous event such as this in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.”

The concert will feature more than 120 singers from four choirs, accompanied by Milton Keynes’ new professional orchestra Alina Orchestra. At the end of the concert, there will be a collection for Willen Hospice, and any profit from the concert will also go to Willen Hospice. Hospice chief executive Peta Wilkinson says: “We are delighted to have the generous support of Milton Keynes Chorale. We rely so heavily on donations made by local people to help us raise the money we need to support patients and their families in the community.”

Ticket prices start from £15. Book at www.atgtickets.com/ shows/mk-chorale-crowningglory/milton-keynes-theatre/

MK Chorale will also perform at Jubilee Parade being planned by the Mayor’s Office on June 2 at MK Rose in Campbell Park.

No messing about on the river as waterway park gathers support

Board members and regional chairs of the Inland Waterways Association have been in Bedford to hear an update about the 26-kilometre Waterway Park plan to link the River Great Ouse with the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes.

The delegation, including IWA national chair Paul Rodgers, took a trip along the Great Ouse on the Bedford community boat the John Bunyan and visited a new landing stage at Kempston Mill.

“The board were keen to see for themselves the progress being made on this strategically important proposal for a new waterway,” Mr Rodgers says. “The time is right for this project with its benefits to biodiversity, water management and to the economy of the area.

“Particularly impressive are the immediate benefits Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust chair Jane Hamilton with Paul Rodgers, chair of the Inland Waterways Association, and Bedford MP Mohammed Yasin

of demonstrating an electric trip boat and the new landing stage. IWA is committed to supporting the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust and its local partners as they seek to deliver this landmark initiative which brings a new dimension to the regeneration of the waterways in the 21st century.”

The trust presented the latest on the Waterway Park plan. The history of the plan was provided by IWA Great Ouse branch secretary John Hodgson, a founder member of the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust.

After lunch at Box End Water Park in Kempston, the delegation was joined by Bedford MP Mohammed Yasin and boarded the John Bunyan community boat to see Bedford’s Embankment from the river and understand the challenges the river poses.

Trust chair Jane Hamilton said that the search for investment in the Waterway Park was under way. “IWA brings a great deal of experience in regenerating waterways, working with volunteers and pulling in a wide range of funding for projects. We certainly hope to see a lot more of them as we take steps to secure large-scale investment in the B&MK Waterway Park.”

The Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust was established in 1995. Having designed a route linking the Grand Union Canal and river Great Ouse, now protected by local authority policies in three Local Plans, the trust is lobbying for its inclusion as part of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.

n Find out more at: www.bmkwaterway.org

A new perspective on the revival of a historic park

Major works by The Parks Trust to restore and interpret the historic park at Great Linford Manor have included the provision of a mooring point pictured for the new community boat Electra on the Grand Union Canal.

This allows Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust volunteers, who run the all-electric boat, to offer a new selection of Grand Union Canal cruises.

“The Parks Trust is delighted to work in partnership with the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust. This work will

The Parks Trust is working to reveal, revive and restore the wider 18th-century landscape of the park with the help of fuding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Electra’s lead cabin host James Clifton said: “We are most grateful to The Parks Trust for giving us access to this mooring and charging point for Electra. It means we can now offer cruises starting at Great Linford in addition to our existing routes from our base at Campbell Wharf.”

Last year the Trust hosted over 180 cruises from Campbell Wharf. Heathland at Rushmore Country Park, part of Greensand Country

Festival celebrates the beauty of the countryside

Housebuilder Mulberry Homes is to support the annual Greensand Country Festival in Bedfordshire for a second year.

The festival, hosted by the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership since 2018, begins this month and promotes events taking place across the local area, encouraging people to explore more of Greensand Country and its parks, woodlands, heritage sites and attractions.

Events already signed up include Forest Bathing at Rushmere Country Park at Stockgrove near Heath and Reach, an early morning dawn chorus at RSPB The Lodge in Sandy, talks by Bedfordshire Gardens Trust about the Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth and Ickwell Bury, a plant fair, ultra-trail run and celebrations for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Greensand Country covers the Greensand Ridge, a swathe of countryside running from Leighton Buzzard to Gamlingay across central Bedfordshire.

Mulberry Homes’ sponsorship of the festival comes as part of a £7,500 donation, in which it is supporting and raising awareness of Greensand Country. The money will also fund drone footage, a leaflet and a cycling competition.

“We could not be happier to be supporting the Greensand Country Festival for the second year in a row,” says Mulberry Homes sales and marketing director Kerry Jones. “The Greensand Ridge itself runs through the heart of our Bedfordshire patch so aligning ourselves with this project felt like a very natural decision.

“2022 is a hugely important year for both the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership and Mulberry Homes and both of us share similar core values of putting the local community and sustainable practices at the heart of all we do.”

The festival programme includes events at The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden.

“Supporting the local environment - from nature to commerce and everything in between - has never been more important in order to ensure we create a sustainable and healthy future for the landscape and the people that live, work and enjoy it,” says Shuttleworth’s executive director Rebecca Dalley.

“Each year, we include our events at Shuttleworth and the Swiss Gardens within the festival programme to help us reach new audiences, share activities hosted by other local organisations to our visitors and to raise the profile of the unique and much-loved Greensand Country area.”

Daniel Bowles, partnership co-ordinator at the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership, said: “Our annual festival allows us to showcase both the amazing landscape of Greensand Country and the efforts of all our partners, with whom we work very closely all year round. The festival is the perfect opportunity to explore.”

n Find out more about the Greensand Country Festival 2022 at www.greensandcountry.com.

n In Business MK’s April 2022 edition, we published an article headlined ‘Conservation work reveals hidden medieval artwork’, in which we referred to Eleanor of Aquitaine as the wife of King Edward I. She was in fact the wife of King Henry II. Eleanor of Castile was the wife of Edward I. We apologise for the error.