Branch-out mk CIC

24/12/2024

Finally made a wreath for our door!

Yule is a time of celebration, of giving thanks and welcoming a new chapter into our lives, but especially welcoming the returning light.

Wishing you all a wonderful festive season whatever your belief system. Together we are all stronger.

21/11/2024

Today we heard the terribly sad news that our friend and social enterprise colleague John from the Reuse Centre has taken his own life. We wish to extend all our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to his family and friends.

He was always a kind and generous man, who helped us out on many occasions, especially when our van broke down! A strong soul who had overcome many personal obstacles and just wanted to help people through his social enterprise, he was not perfect, but none of us are.

But the increase in rent from Milton Keynes Community Foundation was just too much on top of everything else. He fought hard to keep his enterprise going and often would gift donations to struggling families. For someone who cared so much for others where was the care when he needed it most?

Where is the support for social enterprises like his? Like ours? For CIC’s. We are not Charities, we are ‘not for profit businesses’. That doesn’t mean we are raking in money left, right and centre. We are organisations that take any money we make and reinvest it for the social good. This usually involves working extremely long hours with next to no support and burdening a huge responsibility to our users that we support.

Organisations like Milton Keynes Community Foundation should take a long, hard look at themselves. They have a responsibility to support vulnerable people and yet they are hiking up rents, pushing people out of business and in this case, the worst possible scenario to push them over the brink. Yes times are hard and everyone is feeling the pinch but this is not how an award winning social enterprise should have been treated.

Admittedly it’s hard at the moment for charities, the high street and all small businessses, but it’s especially hard for social enterprises who are caught in the middle, with no support locally, no support from grant making foundations and no support from government, and yet we represent almost one in 42 of all UK businesses with 131,000 SE’s in the UK who employ around 2.3 million people.

‘Social enterprises have a collective turnover of around £78 billion and generate more than £1.2 billion in profits, of which £1 billion is reinvested into their social and environmental missions.

Social enterprises are businesses that trade for a social or environmental purpose. They can be found in almost every sector, including: manufacturing and trading goods, providing public services, running community energy and transport companies, providing training and employment, and delivering specialist services and hospitality venues.

Social enterprises contribute to: Reducing economic inequality, Improving social justice, Environmental sustainability, Boosting the national economy, and Supporting wider society’ (Social Enterprise UK - https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/all-about-social-enterprise/ #:~:text=Social%20enterprises%20are%20businesses%20which,justice%20and%20to%20environmental%20sustainability)

If you’ve read this far I thank you and I would ask that you take a moment to think of John
RIP John Mann

14/11/2024

We are very excited to announce that we have found a supplier of glitter that is finally 100% plant based.

So you can still have sparkle in your life, and goodness knows we need a bit of that at the moment!

25/10/2024

Fabulous autumn flowers, just look at these amazing colours!

The Shop on The Square, Wolverton will be open on Saturday from 10am to 4pm so come and grab some before they’re gone.

Also, this will be your last chance to get some Halloween decorations as next week we will unfortunately have to be closed.

19/10/2024

We turned this pumpkin over yesterday

Surprise!

This is a phenomenon called pareidolia
(https://www.artsandmindlab.org/pareidolia)

“Once considered exclusively a symptom of psychosis, pareidolia is now recognized as part of the normal human experience. In particular, our brains have evolved to detect faces quickly, which explains the human tendency to see faces everywhere, including in inanimate objects like electrical outlets or slices of toast”.

If it had looked like a famous person (remember Chesus the cheesy wotsit that resembled Jesus) we could have been onto a winner 🎃😂

10/10/2024

Halloween is coming, it’s the most fabulously wicked time of the year!
These are some of our new products. So come and take a peek in The Shop on The Square, Radcliffe St, Wolverton if you dare 👻
Open Thurs - Sat (plus Sunday 13th October for the Wolverton Market).

03/10/2024

The thing about sympathy flowers is that they are the last gift you are giving to your loved one, and as such we want to make them perfectly fitting.

They are a wonderful way to capture the spirit of the person you loved and will always love without having to say a word.

This 5ft tribute was for a unique gentleman who painted gorgeous paintings in many shades of predominantly red and green. Bold, abstract and beautiful.

He loved to go for walks studying the seasonal flowers, foliages and seed heads in the hedgerows as he wandered along, and also enjoyed his garden.

Every tribute we make is eco friendly, sustainable and compostable. It can and should be taken home afterwards to sit in the garden. This one will probably shed some seeds thereby starting the natural cycle all over again.

I like to share the photos of how I make these to hopefully help and inspire others. I used to use moss but have recently trialled Oshun pouches from
These are compost based in biodegradable bags. I also used hazel as the frame, egg cartons and twine.

01/10/2024

Fresh & dried combo for Kate.
Loving the Autumn vibes.
Love-lies-bleeding is just so mad it has to be grown every year!

27/09/2024

An interesting BBC article has come out regarding the high cost of importing roses from Kenya. Currently the industry is touting these imports as more sustainable than Dutch flowers as they are grown without supplementary greenhouse heating, however, we need to look at the bigger picture to see the real costs involved.

These imported roses are a lost leader in our supermarkets, purely placed at the front of the store to grab your attention. There is no indication as to their provenance or methods of production, as there is currently no legislation requiring this. The consumer is at best ill informed and at worst being greenwashed.

In contrast British flower growers grow seasonal flowers, without chemicals, paying a living wage and ensuring ethical working conditions with all legalities adhered to, including health & safety.

In addition some, such as ourselves and Organic Blooms, are social enterprises who support vulnerable adults with a working environment where they can blossom through learning new skills, improving self confidence and making new friends. We are community focussed businesses who make profit make purpose.

Next time you reach for those roses to celebrate a special occasion ask yourself where did these flowers come from and who produced them? Better still ask the supermarket. We can see where our bananas come from so why not our flowers? Thank you for reading.

Women work long and gruelling hours to grow the flowers sold across Europe.

25/09/2024

These flowers and seed heads are all grown and dried by us. These were for a funeral wake, it was important that they could be taken home afterwards to provide a lasting momento.

14/09/2024

Quince & Rhubarb fresh from plot to shop today.

Also beautiful dahlias & sunflowers grown within walking distance!

Come and find us at ‘The Shop on the Square’, Wolverton 😁

05/09/2024

19/08/2024

Two fabulous finds last week on the plot!

20/07/2024

It’s Saturday and a sweet pea giveaway!

A bunch of sweet peas fresh from the plot with any purchase today.
Make sure to pop along to The Shop on the Square, 9, Radcliffe St, Wolverton.

We stock our own grown flowers, British grown sunflowers, houseplants, garden plants, gifts, soaps, incense and more.
All plant based, all natural, all fabulous!

We are open from 10am to 4pm.

20/07/2024

Our volunteer Mary spotted this little guy this week on the plot, utterly adorable!

This is why we don’t use chemicals like w**d killers or pesticides.

We take care of the soil by adding well rotted compost and keeping the beds mulched.

Gardening organically cares for Mother Nature and she rewards us with little moments like this.