Marking one year since Milton Keynes officially took on city status, awarded by Queen Elizabeth II as part of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Milton Keynes City Council is providing all city schools with free City Status Activity Packs.
The bright and attractive City Status Activity Packs are suitable for all age ranges. They’ve been designed to inspire young minds to think about their home city in new ways while having fun. Activities include ‘create your own imaginary guide to MK’, ‘design a celebratory hat’, ‘plan a modern time capsule’ and much more.
The packs are housed in a specially commissioned box made by Bletchley-based G Ryder & Co, and also include a replica of the Letters Patent – the official document declaring Milton Keynes a city - reproduced on vellum by William Cowley, who are based in Newport Pagnell. This historic firm supplies vellum to the Royal Household for formal announcements such as marriages.
The first school to receive a pack was The Willows School and Early Years Centre in Fishermead presented on 18 October by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Countess Howe (pictured, with the school assembly). Countess Howe was joined by The Mayor of Milton Keynes, Cllr Mick Legg and the Mayoress to present the pack.
The City Status Activity Packs were designed by the artist-run organisation White Wall Yellow Door who specialise in creating cultural resources for children. It’s the latest project organised by the city council in a series of events and activities to mark the honour of city status. The packs will be distributed to all schools in MK, throughout October and will also be available as a free online resource www.make-miltonkeynes.org
In October last year, the city council helped to stage a grand finale to the City of Codes & Light Festival organised by Milton Keynes Islamic Arts and Culture, which featured free displays and performances headlined by Sam Ryder. In February, His Majesty King Charles III visited Milton Keynes to meet the diverse range of community groups and organisations who were involved in the city status bid.
“City Status is more than just a label – it gives Milton Keynes the recognition it deserves and is already proving its value with even more major businesses looking to invest here. Most importantly it will help us deliver on our vision to develop MK as a global city with endless opportunities for future generations.”