IF: Milton Keynes International Festival is calling on local business and individual donors to support its new social initiative - the City of Angels Fund.
The fund aims to remove barriers for audiences and widen access to the Festival so that more people and communities in Milton Keynes can be enriched by engaging with unforgettable live cultural experiences in the heart of the City this summer.
Monica Ferguson, Festival Director & Chief Executive of The Stables, explained: “We are calling on the support of business and individual ‘angels’ to support our appeal to raise £30,000 towards a designated fund that will ensure we can provide wider access to events during the Festival.
"We have a strong track record of involving and welcoming people and communities from right across Milton Keynes and with the launch of our City of Angels initiative, we plan to build on that platform to ensure that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can have access to our events and activities and enjoy the Festival in spite of the cost of living crisis.”
Working with Milton Keynes City Council, Milton Keynes Community Foundation, local community leaders and neighbourhood managers, the Festival will use the fund to reach out to groups who traditionally have restricted access to live arts and culture, with a particular focus on low income households, ethnically diverse communities and Disabled and Learning Disabled people in the city.
The Festival will be offering a number of free events, subsidised tickets and making specific access provision available to people with particular needs, such as touch tours, British Sign Language interpretation at events and easy read guides.
Studies consistently demonstrate access to the arts improves mental health, reduces isolation and loneliness, helps people age better, reduces anxiety, improves educational attainment and reduces the likelihood of criminality.
The City of Angels Fund has taken its inspiration from the Festival’s largest-ever event: Place des Anges, which, given its scale and spectacular nature, will turn Milton Keynes into a ‘city of angels’ this July.
There are two strands to the City of Angels Fund, one for businesses, and one for individual donors. Details of the fund and how to make a contribution are available here
