There is a lot going on at The Ark Charity!

- You can now donate online - have look by clicking here!

- Bradville Community - Royal Wedding Street Party

- John Lewis make-over residents lounge!

- Centre:mk Ramshackle Rally

- "Leave a Legacy" appeal

- Completed refurbishments and improvements

- Completion Appeal

- Move On Fund

Bradville Community

The residents of Bradville raised £89 recently from their Royal Wedding Street Party. Everyone at The Ark was really impressed by all the effort that had gone into making the day a huge success for local residents and raising money for us. Thank you to everyone who organised the event and to all those who supported The Ark with your generous donations.

John Lewis Milton Keynes

Staff from John Lewis have been volunteering their time at Ark House recently and have painted the resident's lounge and donated a fantastic t.v. which the young residents really appreciate. It was a pleasure to have the team at The Ark and our thanks go out to all our John Lewis supporters.

Ramshackle Rally 2010

A group of drivers from Centre:mk took part in the Ramshackle Rally 2010 to Valencia to raise money for us.

In a recreation of the film, The Italian Job, red, white and blue minis set off from the centre:mk on a 1,400-mile trip to Spain.

The team did us proud and raised a magnificent sum of £8,000 for The Ark. The money will be put to good use in providing Education opportunities for our young residents and replacing furniture in Ark House and our Two Mile Ash flats.

Centre:mk does it again!

Earlier this year staff from centre:mk pledged to refurbish the resident bathroom. The work has now been completed and we are all extremely pleased with the result and now have a sparkling new shower-room.

CHRISTMAS 2009

The Ark Charity was the very grateful beneficiary of the donations to the Wishing Pool at the centre:mk Christmas 2009 display. Thanks to the generosity of the general public we received a welcome contribution to our funds of £8,259!

We intend to use this money as part of our “Move-on Fund” for our young residents to assist them in purchasing essential furniture when they move into their first home. The money will also help to carry out essential maintenance to our hostel and flats, and subsidise educational opportunities for the young people in our care. 

Collecting the coins from the pool was a mammoth task; we were supported throughout the evening by the centre:mk’s staff, Fire Fighters from Broughton Fire Brigade and Ark volunteers who all supported us throughout the evening, working in freezing temperatures.  We couldn’t have managed without their support.

Added to this, volunteers from the centre:mk have pledged to replace an entire bathroom at Ark House and to redecorate the front of the property. This support and generosity is extremely welcome and will improve the living facilities for our young residents for years to come, The Ark is looking forward to strengthening relationships with our supporters from the centre:mk in the future.

"LEAVE A LEGACY" APPEAL IS LAUNCHED!

We have just launched our Leave a Legacy appeal - visit the Legacy Giving part of this website for more details.

We hope to raise the profile of The Ark Charity throughout Milton Keynes and also to highlight the importance of careful estate planning for everyone.

Please have a look at the appeal and let us know if you have any queries. We very much hope that in these difficult economic times, our loyal supporters will be able to include us in their Will in order to make a lasting difference to the Ark.

Completed refurbishments and improvements

Ark House Refurbishment

We received a fantastic response to our 2006 - 2008 Refurbishment Appeal.

One of the most generous donations was from the Hilton In The Community Foundation, who funded a new kitchen at Ark House.

There is still a lot of work to be completed, however. Our full Completion Appeal goals are set out below. If you can help us please get in touch.

Two Mile Ash

Our properties at Two Mile Ash have been damaged by our unpredictable English weather. We have some damp on the exterior of the flats and they urgently require new front doors. Can you help us? Please contact us if you think you can assist in any way!


THE 2010 - 2011 COMPLETION APPEAL

We are continuing our Completion Appeal, which aims to finish off the great work mentioned above.

Many of the fixtures and fittings at our properties are now past their best and urgently need to be replaced.

We believe that the young people we support deserve to have clean, comfortable and safe homes. If you agree with us and would like to help us, we would be delighted to hear from you - please contact us for more details.

Our plans

Here is a full list and breakdown of estimated costs for our Completion Appeal -

Ark House

Our dining room is in desperate need of a makeover, we would love to refurbish the room to make it a more welcoming space for our young residents to socialise and create a welcoming space that they can invite their families to The Ark for tea and keep in touch. We would also like to provide our residents with a computer, a printer and computer desk so that we can provide a useful study area; as all our residents are studying at college and need facilities to enable them to complete their assignments to a good standard - £4000

Two Mile Ash
Installation of CCTV - £3000
New front doors - £2000 - 3000
Treatment of damp on exterior walls - £800

If you would like to help us modernise our proeprties and make a real difference to the lives of many young and disadvantaged young people, please contact us - we would love to hear from you.

MOVE ON FUND

Our Move On Fund is up and running, with thanks to the proceeds received from the Wishing Well Appeal. Many young people have benefited from the fund and we have been really pleased to be able to provide them with the necessary basics to live in their own homes when they leave Ark House.

We are continuing to fundraise for our Move On Fund so that we can help many more young people set up a home they can be proud of.

We all know how hard it is to set up a home for the first time. Our service users find the process particularly difficult as they do not have the financial and emotional support that many of us take for granted. It is often the case that our residents move away from our properties without any household items of their own. We would like to use the Move On Fund to purchase essential items for our service users.

Some young people may benefit from funding when they begin a training course or apprenticeship. Chef's whites, hairdressing equipment and textbooks all cost money - we hope that the Move On Fund can help plug the gaps.

We strongly believe that....

.... every young person deserves a chance in life and everyone should all have a bed and equipment to cook a meal.

.... young people are more likely to thrive and move on with their lives if their basic needs are catered for.

.... everybody has the potential to lead a fulfilled and happy life. Some people just need a helping hand.

The young people we support want to become valuable members of society but they need financial help in order to reach their goals.

Please get in touch if you agree with us. Or you can donate online now!

Watch this space for details of how our Move On Fund grows!