Milton Keynes Council- support with your finances

MKC Cost of Living Crisis Winter Plan 

Milton Keynes City Council factsheet detail help with the cost of living

Sustainable Warmth Programme
The Sustainable Warmth Programme helps to fund home energy improvements for households struggling with energy bills. This grant could see households receiving up to £25,000 of home energy improvements at no cost to them.

HM Government's Help for Households

HM Government plans to help cut energy bills for businesses

Find a Warm Welcome Space

Warm Spaces Locator 

King's Church Community Centre, Creed Street, Wolverton, MK12 5LY. 01908 411300

Food Bank Session, Monday to Friday 12.30 - 2.30pm. 
Come along to the Foodbank sessions for an informal chat and to see if you are eligible to receive Foodbank - please bring I.D.

Top-Up Shop, Every Wednesday 12.30 - 2.00pm. 
For those facing financial hardship. You can buy 10 items of store cupboard food or baby food for just £2 along with tins of formula for £4 and extra bonus items. You do not need to have a previous professional referral to use this service and any support from us will not count towards your Foodbank limit. This is a means tested service, and a cash only event. Please bring a bag!

Lunch Drop In, Every Thursday 11.30 - 1.30pm.
A place where anyone in need of food, friendship, support or just a chat can drop in. We provide a
selection of sandwiches, cakes and a hot meal option each week. You can either have this at a table in our
hall or as a take-away. This is a free service, donations welcome, and is not means tested.

The Old Bath House and Community Centre, 205 Stratford Road, Wolverton, MK12 5RL.
01908 310574

Wolverton Community Fridge - saves fresh, surplus food from supermarkets, local food businesses, households and gardens from going to waste. The food is free, session times are: Wednesday 6 - 7pm & Saturday 12 - 1.30pm. All welcome. For more information go to mkcommunityfridge.org or call
Jenni on 01908 310574.

Foodcycle Lunch, every Friday, 12.30 - 1.30pm - A lunchtime session to meet and enjoy a free home-cooked meal. All welcome. If you are interested to volunteer, contact:
samantha@foodcycle.org.uk

Repair Cafe, second Saturday of the month, 9.30am - 12.30pm - an opportunity to have broken household items fixed at no cost. The team offer a warm welcome and free refreshments. For more information email: repaircafe@oldbathhouse.org

MK Christian Foundation, The Square, Wolverton, MK12 5HX. 01908 311112

Open Monday to Friday 9.30am - 4.30pm, Cafe open 9.30am - 3.30pm. For reasonably priced food and drinks. Senior Citizens' Coffee Mornings Thursday and
Friday. Free access to internet and IT.

The Old School, Old Wolverton Road, Old Wolverton, MK12 5NH. 01908 321898

Study Hub, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Offering a warm place to do homework for children and young people, a hot meal and social activities. Contact info@futurewolverton.org for
more information or call to speak to the Cafe Team.

Energy Advice

Climate Action

Provides statistics on areas such as housing, transport, energy, trees and waste for your local area and what improvements need to be made.

How Climate Friendly in your Area?

Centre for Sustainable Energy

Energy Saving Trust

Simple Energy Advice

National Energy Action

Greenpeace - Renewable Energy

Types of Renewable Energy

Citizens Advice Bureau

Top 5 Renewable Energy Companies

Smart Metre Advice from GoCompare

Energy Saving Tips from Compare the Market 

Tree Planting & Biodiversity

Woodland Trust

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust

Friends of the Earth Guide to Helping Bees

Plantlife

Buglife

Greenpeace UK

World Wildlife Fund

RHS - Environmentally Friendly Gardening

Air Pollution

Clean Air Hub

Air Pollution Calculator

DEFRA Air Pollution Resources

Carbon Footprint Calculator 

Impact's community carbon calculator 

 

Wolverton's Hedgehogs

There is a community group dedicated to helping the hedgehog. You can find it on Facebook as 'Wolverton Hedgehogs'. 

Save Wolverton's Swifts and Martins

These red listed birds need all the help they can get. Visit the SWSM Facebook page to find out what you can do, such as putting up a swift box.

Order bins, bags or boxes from MK Council.

To request a yellow battery bag to be posted to you, please email customerservices@milton-keynes.gov.uk or call 01908 252570.

If you are still in doubt about which bin or box or bag to use, view the A-Z guide of recycling in MK.

You can return your soft plastic packaging to Tesco instead of putting it in your household waste. Read more information about Tesco recycling soft plastics. 

New Waste Collection Information (Wheelie Bins)

Wheeled bin information leaflet

Assisted collection leaflet

Further Information

Hubbubs Tips for Change

Greenpeace Plastic Pollution

Friends of the Earth- Living Without Plastic

NASA Global Climate Change

Love Food Hate Waste

Top Tips for Saving Water

UK Gov Green Deal

Bikeability- Learn How to Cycle

If you are a business owner in our parish and are unsure about how to dispose of your business waste. Please view our handy guide to business waste disposal. 

Revised Christmas Waste and Recycling Collection Dates 

Organising a Litter Pick

1. Borrow litter pickers

WGTC has these available to hire, alongside hi-viz jackets. You can also contact MK Council to hire pickers.

2. Arrange collection of the filled sacks

Please let MK Council know at least seven days in advance where possible of the area you are litter picking and where you would like the rubbish sacks to be collected from so they can ensure a crew is available to collect the bags. You can contact the Waste Team. If you only have one or two bags for collection you can put them out on your normal collection day and they will be collected as part of your weekly collection.

There are currently regular litter picks taking place in Wolverton. Head to the Wolverton Litter Pickers Facebook page for more information or contact the office, 

Growing firms in the South East Midlands will find out how they can successfully bid for up to £300,000 for capital projects at an exciting free event on 23rd June 2023.

SEMLEP will unveil details of two new funding streams that are opening soon to growing businesses across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes at its Show Me Success business conference.

The event will also give firms the chance to connect with other ambitious business leaders, hear from leading speakers, access university-led business masterclasses and take advantage of support from SEMLEP Growth Curve advisers.

Further information about Show Me Success, including bookings.

Register for support from the Growth Curve programme.

Milton Keynes City Council Funds Local Creatives

As part of their Economic Recovery Programme, Milton Keynes City Council is funding a pilot scheme at MK Gallery to inspire people interested in the music production industry.

The funding will enable 50 people to receive six months of membership to The Music Room (TMR) for unrivalled access to workshops held at Milton Keynes Gallery. The workshops will cover a range of subjects, such as creative music production, audio software and technical skills.

TMR is a live music performance platform that promotes music, culture and art. Local performers from diverse communities are actively encouraged to take part.

Fore more information visit the next big thing?

Upskilling Your Workforce

Santander has partnered with MK:U committing £1million to support businesses in upskilling employees

Santander is reinforcing Milton Keynes as a digital hotspot within the UK by committing £1million to support businesses in upskilling employees and new recruits.

This fund supports businesses to register their employees onto apprenticeships.

MK:U Degree Apprenticeships sit at the leading edge of innovation within UK higher education, built in response to the needs of the business community.

With this fund Santander will help businesses pay the costs of an apprenticeship through the levy transfer process. Find out more and apply.

What is the NatWest Accelerator?

The NatWest Accelerator supports and empowers UK entrepreneurs to scale their businesses to the next level.
Their free Accelerator programme specialising in wrap around support provides:
• one-to-one coaching with their experienced Acceleration Managers
• a programme of thought leadership and events
• access to a network of like-minded peers, supported by their Ecosystem Managers
• focused support with access to experts from across your specialism
• use of their modern co-working spaces in one of our nationwide hubs

For more information visit Natwest's website.

Neighbourhood Watch

You may want to consider setting up a Neighbourhood Watch committee. You can find information on the Neighbourhood Watch website. The Town Council are here if you have any further questions or would like to discuss any other issues.

Safer MK 

The SaferMK Partnership works to tackle and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. 

The SaferMK vision, "sustaining safe and resilient communities together" aims to make Milton Keynes a safer place by reducing the fear of crime, minimising the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime and by addressing community safety concerns to improve the lives of our residents, businesses and visitors. 

For more information please visit the SaferMK webpage.

Security Measures for Businesses

Please also below for guidance on installing security measures for businesses who are in the conservation area of Wolverton:

Security shutters should be:

1 Link or lattice type and contained inside the shop so that the shop front and contents are still visible after the shop is closed.

2 The colour of the shutters should not detract from the character of the building or the area.

3 Security glazing is an alternative which can be unobtrusive and effective.

Important Numbers 

101 for the police for non- emergency calls.

999 for the police, ambulance and fire brigade in an emergency only.

Central Networks

0800 111 999 for gas emergency

0800 771 881 for water

0800 056 8090 for electricity outage

You can sign up up Thames Valley alerts.

Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) and the Community Trigger

This includes the Community Trigger (also known as the ASB Case Review), which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour reported to any of the main responsible agencies (such as the council, police, housing provider) the right to request a multi-agency case review of their case where a local threshold is met.

For more information on the Community Trigger, and how it works please visit the Gov UK guidance, MK Council Safer MK, ASB Help or the SaferMK Community Trigger Procedure.

Depaul Reconnect

Depaul Reconnect offers professional and impartial support and mediation for young people and their families. They help improve communications and strengthen relationships to prevent youth homelessness, providing a safe space and an accredited mediator to help find solutions to conflict.

Contact the Reconnect Team on 0330 555 0180 or reconnect.mk@depaulcharity.org.uk

Nightstop Milton Keynes

Nightstop aims to provide a safe place to sleep for vulnerable young people aged 16-25 in the homes of trained and vetted volunteer hosts. Depaul UK is currently setting up this service in Milton Keynes and they are asking for help. Nightstop is looking for people across the parish who can offer young people a bed for the night, a hot meal, a wash and a listening ear.

For more information on hosting or other volunteering opportunities please contact Catherine or Lucy on 0330 555 0180 or email nightstop.mk@depaulcharity.org.uk

Citizens Advice Bureau

Appointment based service every Friday 10:00-14:00. Call 01908 604475 to make an appointment or visit the CAB website.

View their contact info leaflet. 

The Mix

A drop in service in Milton Keynes that supports emotional health and mental well-being. Open every Monday 14:00-16:30 at Unity Park Station, MK9 1LR. Visit The Mix website.

Domestic Violence Support

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, or the situation feels unsafe in your own home, help is available.

Call MK Act on 0344 375 4307 Monday-Friday 9am-5pm

National Domestic Abuse Helpline- 0808 2000 247 (24hr freephone)

Men's advice line- 0808 8010 327

LGBT National Domestic Abuse Helpline- 0800 999 5428

In an emergency call 999, press 55 if you are not able to speak.

Government support for victims of domestic violence. 

Victims First 

Live Life Social Prescribing

Social Prescribing is an approach to empower people to have the best wellbeing possible through engagement with the community.

Social Prescribing, Live Life provides a service for all adults 18+ living in Milton Keynes and is an NHS commissioned service by BLMK CCG.

Find out more in this leaflet about Social Prescribing and a Social Prescribing referral form.

Mental Health Support

BBC Headroom - Mental Health Toolkit

NHS Mental Health Resources and Apps
NHS Every Mind Matters Support

Samaritans MK Branch

MIND Milton Keynes

Toolkits to tackle loneliness
NHS advice on loneliness 

Drug and Alcohol Support for Children and Young People

Young Peoples Drug and Alcohol Service provides drug and alcohol support for young people aged 18 and under in Milton Keynes. Please email or telephone: ypdaservice@milton-keynes.gov.uk / 07557 317 317 / 07557 318 684 / 07557 317 331

The service is completely free and supports young people who are;
• Thinking about using drugs or alcohol
• Currently using drugs or alcohol
• Affected by a family members drug or alcohol use
Other services:

• Talk to Frank – the government’s drug advice website/helpline including information and advice for parents on how to talk about drugs with their children
• KOOTH – mental health support and advice for 11-19 year olds, available 365 days a year
• SHOUT – text SHOUT to 85258 24/7 free text service for anyone in crisis anywhere

Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- Have Your Say

Would you like to have a greater say in how your local hospital is run?

Governors can help people to have their say in how the hospital provides its services to the community, and influence the hospital’s future development, to ensure the hospital meets the needs of the community.

 

DAFS (Drugs & Alcohol Family Support)

DAFS run a voluntary support group for family members with an addicted loved one.

They meet fortnightly on a Monday 19:30-21:00 at the Old Bath House.

There's more information on the DAFS info leaflet.

Support for Eastern and Central Europeans

Barka UK is a registered charity and our main service is a Reconnection Project providing assistance with voluntary reconnections to nationals of Central and Eastern Europe who are homeless, rough sleeping, face mental health issues, have been released from prison and who may have no recourse to public funds.