The  Village Centre Appeal

The 10-acre village opens in 2012 and will combine a mix of 300 affordable homes for local older people.

The Appeal will provide the Village Centre, in the heart of the community. It is a place where people can meet and socialise with friends and village neighbours and access an excellent range of social and leisure facilities - right on their doorstep.

Health and Social Inclusion

Facilities (full list below) will include our award-winning Well-being Centre, led by a specialist nurse and Enriched Opportunities Suite to support residents with dementia. We'll support people to take part in stimulating activities, including arts and crafts, physical fitness and various other learning and workshop programmes.

We will also provide opportunities for people to take on unusual activity challenges and visit places of interest outside the Village. Residents can create and take control of their own lives with full support and can also involve their families and friends.

"These facilities are not luxuries. They are essential to maintain and improve the physical, mental and emotional well-being of residents. The Village Centre is all about proactive living - really living."

Facilities the Appeal will provide:

Assisted Bathroom
Enriched Opportunities Suite (to support residents with dementia)
Cafe Bar
Communal Parking Areas
Craft Room
Fitness Suite with Gym
Freeman's Quiet Lounge
Greenhouse
Indoor Bowling Green (within an enclosed Winter Garden)
IT Suite
Guest Suite
Hairdressing and Beauty Salon
Landscaped garden Area
Laundry
Library
Reception Area and Main Street (with communal seating areas)
Relaxation Room
Restaurant
Village Hall
Village Shop
Well-being Suite
Woodwork Suite

View the Village Centre here.

'ExtraHope' for an ExtraCare Village

Residents from our first Milton Keynes Village, Lovat Fields, have joined forces with Friends (older members of the local community) to raise money for the Shenley Wood Village Appeal. They have formed a group with a constitution and called themselves ExtraHope.

ExtraHope is raising money through a series of initiatives including running a 'buy a brick' campaign, applying for grant funding and supporting ExtraCare events such as the business challenge.

They set themselves an initial target of £10,000 and are well on the way to raising that sum, and next year anticipate raising even more!!

How ExtraCare is supporting MK's older people

Quiz Night: ExtraHope held a quiz night recently for the Shenley Wood Village Appeal. The event was sponsored by Crispin Rhodes and Coaction Management who organized the quiz and Dominos Pizza provided pizzas for the interval.

Teams came from local businesses including Tollers Solicitors, Shoosmiths, Blue Cube Star 21, Women in Enterprise and BNI plus Friends and Residents. A local group, the Red Hat Ladies, made up a team, and they all came dressed in their red hats and purple attire. The Red Hat Ladies are a social group made up of residents, Friends and ladies from the Milton Keynes community.

The evening was a great success, raising over £1,500, with everyone having a fantastic time and asking when the next event would be.

Stuart Angus from Shoosmiths said: "It was a very entertaining and enjoyable evening despite our team not winning, but when it is for such a good cause it really is the taking part that counts."

Pride in MK Awards: For third year running, ExtraCare sponsored the Older Achiever Award at the Pride in MK Awards. Over 500 people attended the hugely successful evening with 11 different awards representing a range of categories, each with heart-warming stories.

This year, the Older Achiever Award was won by Ted Brown. Ted is over 80 years old, but is still a power lifting master, achieving seven world and over 28 British titles in his career, despite his tiny frame.

Ted's philosophy is straightforward: "Do what you can, while you can, as there will come a time when you can't."

Congratulations to Ted and the highly-commended Neville Billington.

Comic Relief: ExtraCare has been awarded £30,000 from Comic Relief to support intergenerational work in Milton Keynes. Residents and friends from Lovat Fields and Shenley Wood Village, and students from Oakgrove and Hazeley Schools will be working together across a range of interests.

Initial projects will include setting up a garden at one of the schools, a history project on and around the political changes during the second world war, a reminiscence group and a project based around technological changes that have occurred during the past 70 years.

Projects will be recorded through video and audio programmes and there will be a link with hospital radio, allowing residents and friends to provide content for a wider audience.

Business Challenge: ExtraCare's successful Business Challenge has successfully engaged local companies in the the Milton Keynes fundraising drive over a number of years now.

The challenge is simple. We give each participating company or organisation £50 and three months to grow that sum to support our Appeal - as much as is legally and ethically possible.

It's a great team building opportunity for staff and colleagues. You may even win but if you don't, you can't fail - taking part ensures you're supporting your local community and provides valuable local profile for your organisation.

To support the challenge or any of the fundraising initiatives that continue to provide vital support for older people in Milton Keynes contact Alison Whittingham on 02476 506011 (mobile 07720 553 672) or email alison.whittingham@extracare.org.uk

"This pioneering new concept, developed by ExtraCare, represents the future of older people's services." Ian Philp, Former National Director of Older People's Services in England