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.
During March and April North Enfield Food Bank provided more than 35,000 meals to vulnerable families across the borough, three times the amount in the same months in 2019. In the first week of May North Enfield Food Bank passed the milestone of 50,000 fed since opening in 2012 - a milestone that wouldn't have been possible without the continued support of the Enfield community and beyond.
This week's blues playlist was compiled by regular St Harmonica's attendee and locked-down percussion maestro, Pete Abernethy. He describes it as 'an attempt at charting the changes of the sound, techniques, and styles of drummers/percussionists and bass players over time'. It definitely has rhythm ...
The government has told local authorities that it expects them to take urgent measures to reallocate roadspace away from cars to provide more room for walking and cycling 'as swiftly as possible, and in any event within weeks'. They are to include 'pop-up' cycle lanes with light segregation features, more school streets, lower speed limits, pedestrian and cycle zones that exclude motor traffic, low-traffic residential neighbourhoods, and bus and cycle corridors along key routes into town and city centres. Enfield Council's 'Streetspace Plan', announced last week, will incorporate measures of this sort - residents are able to upload their own suggestions on the council's Consultation Hub.
University College London's School of Behavioural Science and Health is carrying out a survey-based study into the psychological and social effects of Covid-19. People in the UK aged 18 and over are invited to take part. This study will involve answering a 15-minute survey and then answering a shorter 10-minute follow-up survey once a week whilst social isolation measures are in place.
Jacob Karlsson, a research fellow in the LSE's Department of Geography and Environment is conducting research on the perception of, and attitudes on, density among residents in outer London boroughs and is inviting PGC readers to fill in an online survey. The study will be composed of a series of pictures of buildings and developments which respondents will have to rate on two different scales.
Throughout their existence, the Friends of Broomfield Park have been helping make the park 'green' in the modern environmental sense of the word. Last week they published a document outlining their work to date and what they are planning for the future. Also highlighted are the FoBP's community and educational roles.
Transport for London's Streetspace Programme, announced on Wednesday, is intended to rapidly transform the capital's streets to accommodate a possible ten-fold increase in cycling and five-fold increase in walking when lockdown restrictions are eased. Many boroughs have already started on their own similar schemes - Enfield's was announced on Tuesday. Measures of this kind have already been endorsed by the prime minister and business secretary.
Enfield Council and its partners have set up a dedicated domestic abuse hub to help tackle increasing numbers of cases caused by the COVID-19 lockdown. The free phone number 0800 923 9009 is available Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.
The sixth St Harmonica's lock-down playlist has been compiled by John Crowther and features music by people who have played at St Harmonica's - including a performance commissioned specially for Virtual St Harmonica's (recorded at the musicians' home, of course)..
Enfield Council's Fostering Service team has launched an urgent appeal for foster carers, as the Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in more vulnerable children of all ages being in need of foster care.
The Building Bloqs open workshop in Edmonton is being used by Helpful Engineering UK to produce visors for staff at several hospitals and care homes, police officers and other key workers at a rate of up to 500 a day. Everyone involved is an unpaid volunteer. Helpful Engineering UK have launched a funding appeal on the Go Fund Me website to raise money to buy materials.