Three children's charities to benefit from partnership with Milton Keynes shopping centre this Christmas

    Harry’s Rainbow, KidsOut and Victa are all part of the Christmas festivities at centre:mk, set to raise awareness and funding for these fantastic causes.

    Harry’s Rainbow is a local, independent charity based in Milton Keynes who provide support and services to children in the region, who have lost a parent or sibling through bereavement. Very often, Christmas is the hardest time of year to come to terms with losing a loved one, so working with Harry’s Rainbow at this time of year seemed a fitting way to help support the children and families at this very difficult time.

    Visitors to centre:mk will be able to throw coins into the wishing fountain located in the grotto in Middleton Hall or purchase some “Magic reindeer glasses” from the guest services desk or grotto ticket office for £2. All proceeds will go to Harry’s Rainbow. These special glasses turn every point of light in the centre into hundreds of reindeer faces, so are a great way to entertain the children as well.

    Back again for the third-year running is The Giving Tree, in conjunction with Leighton Buzzard based charity KidsOut, who support over 70,000 disadvantaged children annually across the UK, most of whom have escaped serious domestic violence. Last year centre:mk’s shoppers generously donated over 500 presents as part of the Giving Tree scheme which works by visitors collecting a decorative gift tag from the shopping centre’s Guest Services area featuring a child’s first name, age and ideal gift (between £5 and £20) which can then be purchased and handed back to the Guest services team. The drop-off deadline for gifts is the 19th December and the charity ask that all gifts are left unwrapped. The ensures that children in refuges across the UK receive Christmas presents, without which, they would mostly receive nothing.

    The third charity partner is Victa, a Milton Keynes based charity supporting children and young people who are blind or partially sighted. Their annual Christmas competition invites children who have a vision impairment to create their own Christmas tree decorations to delight the senses, through smell, texture and braille. These are displayed on a tree in the grotto, for all to enjoy, spread a unique touch of Christmas magic and raise awareness for VictaUK. All entries receive a Christmas treat from Victa, with prizes for the winners.

    Kevin Duffy, Centre Director commented, “Working with charities is an important part of what we do all year round, but it is especially important around this time of year. Bringing some hope and happiness to children at Christmas is at the very heart of Christmas spirit and we are delighted to be able to support these three fantastic causes. Visitors to centre:mk have been extremely generous in support of our charity partners previously and we have no doubt that we will see this again this year.”

    Sponsored Stories

     

    Local News

    Weather

    • Fri

      12°C

    • Sat

      13°C

    • Sun

      13°C

    • Mon

      11°C

    • Tue

      12°C