While we admire and support the Christmas campaigns that we see pop up in December, we also know that help is urgently needed all year round, each and every year. As some people pack away after the festive break, we are still here.
Our support is not limited to a food package, but it leaps beyond - we form connections, we listen and respond to everyone who steps through our doors. We open up a warm, safe, environment which aims to feel like a home away from home.
For us to continue to thrive and grow, and keep supporting as many people as possible, we are asking you to become a Friend of Cooking Champions. Even a donation of just £5-10 per month can make a HUGE impact on the lives of those who come through our doors.
Pop to our People's Fundraising page to donate, and we promise to keep you updated with how your support is making a difference. Thank you, we appreciate you! Team Cooking Champions
News, comment and features
Articles are shown in publication date order - most recent first.
A new request has been made for volunteers to help run a church-based winter shelter and a second training event for volunteers has been arranged.
The new request comes from the Vicar of All Saints Edmonton, where the shelter would operate on Sunday nights between 2nd January and 13th March 2016.
The two dates for training sessions are:
Saturday 7th November 10.30am - 1.00pm at St Luke's Clay Hill, Phipps Hatch Lane, EN2 0HL. Link for directions: clayhillparish.org.uk/luke.html
Saturday.......
Healthwatch Enfield is surveying opinions about the provision of adult social care in the borough.
Does a care worker come to you or your relative’s home?
Do you think you may need a home care service in the future?
If you answered yes to either of those questions we really want to hear what you think of adult social care in the borough. Please follow this link to complete the survey........
"Enfield 229" has issued a second bulletin with information about its campaign against drastic reductions in Enfield Council's Museums and Archives Service (see this earlier article). The campaigners are now expecting a decision by the end of November, but say that there have been contradictory indications about the proposed scale of cuts to the service.
Despite reassurances that "nothing has been finalised yet", the campaigners claim to have learnt that plans are in place to delete all.......
Haringey Council is reportedly considering closing Wolves Lane Garden Centre as part of the cost savings measures it is having to make in response to cuts in central government funding.
Unlike most garden centres, which are almost entirely focussed on sales, the Wolves Lane Centre has several important community roles:
it provides training in gardening skills to help people with physical and/or learning difficulties or seeking employment
it provides work experience for schoolchildren
it.......
The charity London Wildlife Trust is appealing to householders to reverse the trend towards paving over gardens, especially front gardens from which rainwater spills onto roads and into drains. The following article is reproduced from the Trust's website.
We are losing our gardens at an alarming rate. The allure of free off-street parking, a bigger bike shed or simply the idea of a low maintenance space in our busy modern lives has left our city’s gardens in crisis.
In London,.......
Transport for London (TfL) is continuing to develop its ideas for the routing of the proposed Crossrail 2 rail link and is putting new proposals out for public consultation. A recent development with implications for our readership concerns the routing of the spur between Dalston and New Southgate.
The main section of Crossrail 2 will run in a tunnel between Tottenham and Clapham Junction, via Dalston, Angel, Euston/St Pancras, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria and Kings Road Chelsea. .......
Halloween is nearly here and the days are numbered for our favourite spooky staple, the pumpkin!
Two in five of us will buy one, carve it and then throw it away even though they can be used to make all sorts of delicious food.
Enfield Council is backing the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) and environmental sustainability charity Hubbub who are holding a ‘Pumpkin Rescue Festival’, to reduce this type of food waste.
Everyone is welcome to come along to one of the events listed.......
If you think a local park, sports field or other green space is "the UK's Best", you have until 4th November to submit a nomination to the organisation Fields in Trust.
Fields in Trust is dedicated to protecting "vital open spaces all across the UK" and many parks, sports fields, playgrounds and other open spaces are members.
For the first time this year members of the public will be able to nominate open spaces (not necessarily Fields in Trust members) for a new award UK's Best Park - As.......
Voluntary groups have until 3rd December 2015 to apply for funding from the 2016/17 Enfield Community Wellbeing Fund. The following information is extracted from the application guidance document.
Enfield Council continues to recognise the crucial contribution that strong and healthy communities can make to the lives of people in our Borough. It is committed to strengthening the ability of organisations and individuals in our Borough to positively change lives and our communities and make.......
A children's hospice which cares for children in Enfield is planning to expand the number of children it can support at one time.
Haven House Children's Hospice, based in Woodford, East London, was set up in 2003, since when it has provided care and support for more than 600 families in North and North East London, West Essex and East Hertfordshire.
"Vision 2020", Haven House's ambitious expansion plan, would see its capacity increase from just over 300 to 500 children a year. However,.......
A winter shelter scheme for people who are suffering from homelessness is seeking to recruit volunteers and raise funds to cover operating costs. Several churches in Enfield borough will be used as shelters, including St John's in Palmers Green.
All People All Places
The winter shelter scheme is run by All People All Places, a charity with a remit to serve people who have issues caused by homelessness. All People All Places, which has been running a similar scheme in Haringey since.......
A play to be performed this week at the Dugdale Centre traces the lives of two notable women from Edmonton - one thought to be a witch, the other a saint.
Calling it a "play" doesn't really do it justice - The Determined and the Damned includes especially written lyrics, a live band, films clips and animation.
Local theatre group InterACTion has assembled a cast of 25 people to present the two lives. Three different actors play the "witch", three more the "saint". Reflecting.......