Following the announcement of the sale of The Point by Hammerson, two charities resident in The Point – ReturnMK and the Somali Outreach Project – launched a £10 million crowdfunding drive to buy the building and turn it into a community asset.
The announcement gathered a lot of attention both in local media as well as regionally, with a feature shown on ITV Anglia News.
The owners are trying to sell the building, they have earmarked it for residential but we think it should remain in the community for the community. So, basically doing exactly what we’re doing today with our charity status and all the other charities within The Point, delivering the services that the community needs.
Jason Lawrence, CEO ReturnMK
It’s for the young people to come together… if we lost The Point that means we lost our heart because we have been fighting for it for the last 10 years. But last four years we have been using this place in the centre, an icon for Milton Keynes, especially for the young people. So if we lost this it means we lost out heart.”
Abdi Abdullahi, Co-founder, Somali Outreach Project