thecentre:mk staff help build an Ark

The Ark Charity from Milton Keynes are celebrating a windfall of over £8,000 from the donations to the Wishing Pool at thecentre:mk’s Big Top Christmas Circus Show. On top of this, staff from thecentre:mk are volunteering to work at the Ark House in Wolverton sourcing materials and providing much needed maintenance work and donating £2,000 towards the work.

This year £8259.15 was donated by visitors to thecentre:mk through the Wishing Pool, which is a central feature to the annual Christmas Show in Middleton Hall and is used to raise money for local charity organisations and community groups. Founded in 1976 The Ark Charity was established in response to the growing need to alleviate the youth homelessness problem in Milton Keynes. The Ark Charity provides both 24/7 supported accommodation at its Ark House hostel in Wolverton together with move-on facilities where residents receive assistance from floating support workers. Since opening, over 500 young people have been cared for by the charity at Ark House.

The volunteers from thecentre:mk are going to replace an entire bathroom at the Ark House, redecorate the front of the house, install a new toilet, fix the outside lights and perform maintenance on the laundry sourcing materials whilst providing all the labour and materials free of charge.

Joy Gibson, Development Manager of The Ark Charity, said; " We are delighted with the result of the Wishing Pool and the offer of help from the staff from thecentre:mk. This will be a huge boost to our funds and help us to assist the young people in our care with furniture when they move on to their first home; subsidise educational opportunities for the 19-21 yr olds we support and also with much needed refurbishments at our Hostel and move-on flats."

Jackie Tracey, Events Manager at thecentre:mk said "Every year, the decision about the Wishing Pool beneficiary gets tougher and tougher. However, we felt by choosing The Ark Charity the money raised would have the most direct impact for local people in Milton Keynes leaving a legacy in the community.

The team at thecentre:mk have really got behind the charity and in December visited an ex-resident of the Ark Charity in her new flat and completely redecorated it, though they have more work still to do, it has been a great start”

For more information on the Ark Charity, simply visit www.thearkcharity.org.uk

Click here for more information on shopping in Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes Local News Home Page

Back to Community Channel Homepage