Milton Park to donate Christmas event money to two local charities

With our usual Christmas events having to be cancelled this year due to events beyond our control, we are truly sorry that this December Milton Park isn’t able to host its usual festive celebrations.

However, the Milton Park team felt strongly that instead it would be good to donate the money that would have been spent on hosting the annual Christmas market, wreath-making workshops and other festive events to two deserving local Didcot charities.

The two charities are:

1. SOFEA, which continues to provide long-term food solutions through its Community Larders for vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals and families, especially those who are struggling financially, with poor health and isolation due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Richard Kennell, founder and CEO of SOFEA, said: “We are so grateful to MEPC for this very generous donation. Having started our first Community Larder at the Marlborough Club in Didcot, we grew a network of 49 Larders distributing over 70,000 emergency food boxes across Oxfordshire during the first lockdown, including nine Larders and almost 10,000 food boxes in South Oxfordshire, all based on the original model and community engagement of Didcot.”

SOFEA continues to work with Community Groups and local authority partners to identify other communities in need, where a Larder can be set-up and delivered each week.

To donate to SOFEA, please visit their Community Larder fundraising page:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sofeacommunitylarder

2. Play2Give is a fundraising organisation supporting, raising money and awareness for many Oxfordshire charities and currently has its popular Sleigh2Give campaign.

The very first Santa Run in 2017 at Milton Park that was run by The Park Club raised funds for Play2Give alongside the Oxfordshire MS Therapy Centre, which was a brilliant event with around 150 Santas.

Andrew Baker, founder and CEO, Play2Give said: “A big thank you to Milton Park. There has been significant long lasting impacts that P2G has achieved over the years including sponsoring our very own patient room on the teenage ward at the Oxford Children’s Hospital, which is named ‘The Play2Give Room’ after £40k was raised over many years to fund that room. We hope that our events will return with renewed strength when it is safe to do so in 2021.”

To donate to Play2Give, visit their “Sleigh2Give” appeal page.

Please keep safe and we hope to see you in the New Year.