Camphill MK wins the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards for Arts & Culture.

This year’s theme for the event was ‘Celebrating Diversity’, announced earlier this year by organisers, Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership. As a result, Camphill MK was selected as a finalist in two award categories: Charity of the Year and Arts and Culture. A first for the charity. The panel were taken by Camphill MK residents’ creativity, the support they are given to develop their work, and the charity’s impact on the broader community.

Milton Keynes businesses and charities are recognised each year through the Business Achievement Awards. In March 2023, 100 enterprises were invited for a dazzling awards ceremony at Stadium: MK with a three-course dinner, black tie attire and speeches from leaders in enterprise.

The awards were presented under the categories of innovation, customer service, and professional services, among others, with Camphill MK finalist in the Charity of the Year category and Arts & Culture.

“Every year, competition for our Charity Award is incredible tough, and this year it was more competitive than ever. To win, an organisation must be exceptional! So, given that our theme this year was Celebrating Diversity, I am delighted to see an organisation that champions support for our diverse community, win. Our independent judging panel recognised that Camphill MK offers such high-quality arts & cultural activities, it has become a vital part of our city’s landscape. Camphill MK is rightly the winner of our Charity of the Year Award!” said the chair of the awards Nicholas Mann.

Camphill MK is a community of 70 adults with learning disabilities and autism. They have onsite pottery, weavery, gardens, a bakery, a cafe and theatre workshops. Residents engage in creative and horticultural activities daily and have become regular participants in IF: Milton Keynes International Festival and visitors to MK’s cultural attractions.

“It has always been important to us to have high-quality workshops for our residents to build their confidence, dexterity and creativity, as well as give purpose and meaning to their activities,” Workshops Manager Julia Funge told us. “Over the past two years, we have increased the number of individuals we can support and hope to continue to expand our offer over the coming years.”

With the popularity of the creative workshops, Camphill MK has now created creative courses for the general public led by ceramicists Andrew MacDermott and Emi Fujisawa. These courses are speedily being booked and show just how valuable the facilities are for the wider Milton Keynes.

Camphill MK has started their facilities expansion scheme to create sixty new accessible bedrooms for adults with disabilities. As the new rooms begin to be built, fundraising will build a new onsite Arts Centre with purpose-built pottery, weavery, upcycling centre and sporting facilities.

Work created by the residents is on sale in the onsite vegetarian café (open Monday – Friday), on their Etsy shop and at their annual craft fair in November, as well as various events all over Milton Keynes.

More detail has been shared in the Camphill MK Blog: https://camphillmk.co.uk/camphill-mk-wins-mkbaa-award/