Thirteen years ago, Carys Underwood, Social Media Manager at Destination Milton Keynes (DMK), the official tourism organisation for the city, woke up in the middle of the night with a germ of an idea. What if it were possible to create a day on social media to help people across the city and beyond share their love for Milton Keynes? And with that idea #LoveMK Day was born.
Over the next decade it has become the biggest one-day social media celebration of all things MK, starting small, with support from the public, stakeholders, businesses and DMK members, it has gone on to be a key milestone each year for harnessing the pride that many have in the place they call home.
#LoveMK Day helps to promote Milton Keynes as a leisure and business destination but it’s much more than that.
Carys explained: “Over the years Milton Keynes has been much maligned by the press and mainly by people who have never been here, and who just don’t get it. My wacky idea was a way of letting everyone who values the things that make MK special – like the green spaces, roundabouts and grid roads – shout about them and be rightly proud of them.”
Across the years so many people have been involved, from mayors and celebrities, schools and businesses, sports teams and community groups, as well as loads of ordinary people just wanting to help share the love.
The main hook has been the use of the hashtag. When it started, the aim was to get #LoveMK trending on Twitter (now X), but the creative juices started flowing and using the hashtag became a challenge for people. There have been pizzas with the hashtag on, cakes, flowerbeds, pies, Lego, and it even made it into a Minecraft world. The more creative you could be the better – back in 2013 it was even cut into a lawn.
One of the more spectacular creations was a giant MK made out of deckchairs within Queen’s Court at centre:mk. It looked amazing in the spring sunshine and was used on Anglia TV. There have also been some incredible stories to come out of the day. Back in 2015, DMK wanted to see how far around the world the #LoveMK Day phenomenon could go and, as a result, received photos from as far away as Perth in Western Australia and Route 66 in California. In 2016, the #LoveMK Day community came together to help reunite Emilia and Simon with their lost wedding ring, and in 2021 the landscaping team at MyMiltonKeynes supported the day by planting a very special flowerbed which grew to create the hashtag.
Even during the pandemic lockdowns, the day still went ahead, forging strong community links through social media. A special colouring sheet featuring iconic Milton Keynes landmarks was created for families to download and proudly display in their windows, and others painted unique #LoveMK stones for other people to find.
Over recent years, the day has expanded to other social channels including Facebook and Instagram, with everyone encouraged to use the hashtag for a chance to win fantastic prizes throughout the day, all donated by DMK members. It’s estimated that across the 13 years the reach is in excess of 35 million people, with the hashtag being used over 100,000 times. Not bad for a germ of an idea in the middle of the night…
This year, Milton Keynes will be celebrating #LoveMK Day on Thursday May 1 and DMK wants everyone, including businesses, to get involved. Use #LoveMK on all your posts, and get creative with that hashtag – paint it, sew it, bake it, make it out of flowers, you name it – the team wants to see it!
Carys added: “After more than a decade of #LoveMK Day, the support shown for the day still surprises me; everyone wants to get involved and you can, at any level. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, just use the hashtag when you post on socials that day… but if you want to bring out your creative side and post a photo, that would be amazing, or if your business wanted to create a special offer just for that day, then we’ll help get it out there – just get involved and help spread the #LoveMK.”
To find out more about Destination Milton Keynes or #LoveMK Day head to its social media pages @DestinationMK or go to www.destinationmiltonkeynes.co.uk
