Since March 2022, several members of Milton Keynes Fawcett have been out and about in the community, speaking to local women about their experiences of life in the city.

We have been gathering women’s views by asking a simple question ‘What is it like to be a woman in Milton Keynes?’ We have worked in partnership with Community Action: MK and Voices of Women MK, a broad partnership of women’s organisations in the city.

These informal conversations have taken place, usually at coffee time, with individuals or small groups, in the places where they normally meet. We have visited a number of settings, including community centres, mother and baby groups, the local college and refugee support groups.

Of course, we ask women if they are happy to engage, and we have found them to be very comfortable when talking about the effectiveness of different services in the city. We have spoken to about 50 women of different ages and different ethnic backgrounds, seeking permission to take anonymised notes. Unsurprisingly, similar issues recur, with areas like health, education, safety and transport being prominent.

Now that we have managed to capture these voices and stories, we are trawling through our notes and collating the findings. These will be written up and presented as evidence to support our ongoing campaign to secure better services for women in Milton Keynes.