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History
Old Building - Kiln Farm New Building - Walnut Tree
MK SNAP was established in 1991 following a change in the way The Government funded places on training programmes. Previously the Government paid for attendance on a course; but then expected the outcome of a qualification. This meant that a large number of people who were unable to get a qualification were suddenly left with no access to training.
A group of people with the help of Milton Keynes Council, the Training and Enterprise Council and the Community Foundation were able to set up and start running MK SNAP in an industrial unit on Kiln Farm working with individuals 16+ with learning difficulties (known as “service users”).
At this time the service users attending numbered around thirty five. However over the years this group has widened to include those recovering from a Stroke or Head Injury, with a Visual Impairment, Autism, Downs Syndrome, Epilepsy and Wheelchair users. Many are unable to access more traditional and mainstream training and learning, due to their current ability levels and/or emotional or behavioral difficulties. We are also working with five Special Needs Schools taking pupils on day release.
The continuing growth in demand for places meant that we had reached full capacity in our Kiln Farm unit and had people waiting for places. In 2003 we set out on an ambitious project to raise money for a brand new purpose built Centre. In July 2008 we moved into our new Centre in Walnut Tree. This is much larger and gives us the opportunity to increase the number of people we can accommodate and work with.
Currently we have over a hundred people registered who attend the Centre during the week and this number is increasing. The centre allows us to develop and deliver new additional services that we have been asked to provide, these include: Independent Living Skills, Photography, Office Skills, Cookery, Horticulture, Environmental Studies, IT Skills
MK SNAP’s aim is to identify the needs of the individual, to develop their skills to enable a natural progression to finding suitable employment and to become more independent; not just within the family environment but to successfully take on employment and be part of the community.