Friday, 22 November 2024 09:21

Welcome to Camphill MK's newsletter. As ever, they have been busy bees and can boast a whole host of activities. If you've missed the latest on social media, here's what they've been up to this month.

Big Give Christmas Challenge

From 3rd - 10th December (only), Big Give pledges to double the difference and match fund donations made to Camphill MK from the public. If you’re thinking about donating to us this festive season, please do so between those dates because your donation can make a HUGE difference. We could secure a whopping £30,000 in the Christmas campaign. Donations can only be made through their website HERE. Read the full story about what the potential funding will go towards here.

THANK YOU!

Sofia Gallo, MasterChef UK contestant, private chef, and food writer, delivered three workshops for our residents to teach cookery skills. Our residents learnt how to make pasta and macarons in classes delivered to three different levels of abilities. Resident Anna said, “Out of this world! I had never experienced Italian cooking before. I learned a lot and enjoyed eating what I made. I learned about the different flour types and how to roll our pasta using the machine.” There is still time to join us for our Christmas Jumper Jaunt on Sunday, 1st December 2024! Dig out your finest Christmas jumper and sign up for the fun, family-friendly 1-mile or the 5K route. You can walk, hop, skip or run and have fun while raising money for charity. We hope you can join us!

Christmas Tree Festival

Midsummer Place is again running its Christmas Tree Festival community initiative that gives local organisations a unique chance to sponsor their own Christmas tree on the mall to support charities. Shakespeare Martineau, one of our corporate partners, has sponsored one of the 20 available trees and asked our residents to make the decorations. Our clever and crafty workshop attendees have been busy making their very own festive decorations to adorn the 6ft tree. The textile decorations have been made from scraps of handwoven material from our Weavery Workshop. The upcycling project has been exciting, and the decorations are rustic, but our residents have entirely made them with minimal staff support, using their creativity and imagination. Visitors and shoppers will then have the chance to partake in the festivities by voting for their favourite tree designs. The three trees with the most votes will be rewarded with a portion of the total funds collected during the campaign, contributing to the charitable initiatives of their choice. As the festive season is (almost) upon us, it is a time for joy, celebration, and gift-giving. We have the power to make choices that bring joy to others and benefit the planet and its people. Ethical festive gifting is about choosing gifts that are kind to the environment, fair to workers, and support sustainable practices.

With this in mind, we’ve compiled an ethical gift guide this festive season.

Buy a ceramic tile for your loved ones. Our Tile Me a Story is a crowd-funding art project. Participants get to make a tile and fundraise at the same time.
Why not buy the gift of immersive craft? Have your loved ones ever wanted to try ceramics or pottery, and are they creative? Our 2025 Creative Courses are the perfect gift.
If you’re searching for truly unique, handmade festive gifts that make a difference, then our Etsy shop is the place for you.
You could gift your loved ones by adding them to our Friends of Camphill gang. If you are in the position to donate to Camphill MK on their behalf regularly, you will support our 5-year plan to build additional accessible accommodations for adults with disabilities.
Our much-loved Cafe is a hidden gem in Milton Keynes. It stocks local Blum honey, freshly pressed juice from apples grown in our orchard, local artwork, gift vouchers and more.

With so many festive gift ideas to consider, we hope you will find something exciting for your loved ones this Christmas.

Nominate us for the Benefact Group £120,000 giveaway in December!

The final phase of Movement for Good 2024, their 12 Days of Giving, runs in December, and they will give 120 charities £1,000 each over 12 days. The first draw occurs on December 5th and the last on December 20th, with 10 charities drawn every weekday.

HOW TO NOMINATE:

1. Follow this link – https://movementforgood.com/#nominateACharity

2. In the search bar, copy & Paste – 283556 – CAMPHILL MILTON KEYNES COMMUNITIES LIMITED

3. Select ‘charity type’ DISABILITY

4. Fill in your details

That’s it! Your nomination will then go into a draw for us to be awarded £1000! Nominations are open until 23:59 on December 19th 2024.

Handmade Craft & Food Fair

Well, that’s our Handmade Craft & Food Fair done for another year! We want to thank everyone, from visitors to stall holders, staff and residents, for such a fantastic event. This year, the Mayor of Milton Keynes, Councillor Marie Bradburn, opened the event, which raised £5200 to support our charity! Thank you all!