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.
Earlier today the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness, chaired by Jo’s friends Seema Kennedy MP and Rachel Reeves MP, launched a report on its findings in Batley alongside Jo’s family.
The report marks the culmination of the year-long commission that Jo started before she was killed. Amongst the report’s findings are that:
9 million adults are often or always lonely;
Loneliness is as harmful to health as obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day;
There is currently a gap in.......
Enfield Refugee Welcome brought their first Syrian refugee family to the borough earlier this year. In their Christmas message to supporters, they report that the family are doing well. They are now planning to settle a second family, but need various volunteers.
To find out how families are selected and how the settlement process works, watch the fascinating interview with Tony Carroll at the bottom of this article.
With the support of our amazing band of volunteer befrienders.......
A message from Defend Enfield NHS: "The NHS is under immediate threat and everyone who appreciates its benefits and wants them to continue needs to consider helping pay for a court case against the Health Secretary."
Exaggerated alarmist language from a bunch of amateurs? Well, it's true that the local NHS defence group can boast only one retired consultant among its members, but the court case that they are urging us to support was taken out by four leading experts on the NHS - Dr.......
The publisher of the Enfield Independent, Newsquest Media, will be one of the main beneficiaries of a scheme whereby the BBC will spend £8 million a year to improve the reporting capabilities of local newspapers throughout the UK. Among the 37 reporters allocated to Newsquest is one who will cover the boroughs of Enfield, Barnet and Haringey.
Friends of Alexandra Palace Theatre have been publishing videos about the restoration work. There are three introductory films (the first is number 2 for some reason)...
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...and a new film showing progress to date.
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Friends of the.......
Work on installing sprinklers in the 54 high rise tower blocks managed by Enfield Council will start in the new year. The project, expected to cost in the region of £8 million, or £3,000 per property, will be paid for by Enfield Council, but the authority is lobbying the government to fund the scheme which has been introduced in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in Kensington and Chelsea, which claimed the lives of 71 people. Although Enfield Council managed blocks are.......
Following two exhibitions nearer to home, Palmers Green artist Patrick Samuel's work goes on show this week at a cinema and gallery in east London.
Clash of the IconsAn exhibiition by Patrick Samuel12 December 2017 - 16 January 2017Genesis Cinema, 93-95 Mile End Rd, London E1 4UJ
Exhibition Launch
12 December 2017 at 7pm
Patrick will also be showing a short film about his creative journey since he started his daily art therapy in December 2016, as well as playing music he composes when.......
Volunteers from the Green Party in Enfield and Epping Forest are collecting blankets, sleeping bags and other warm items to distribute to refugees living in terrible conditions in northern France. If you have items to donate, you can take them to addresses in Palmers Green, Forty Hill, Waltham Abbey or Buckhurst Hill. Collection of items will finish on 16th December. The message below is from Bill Linton of Enfield Green Party.
You have probably been horrified by the callous.......
Public consultation on the draft of a new London Plan (more formally, the Spatial Development Strategy for Greater London) will run from 1 December this year until 2 March 2018. There will be a consultation event at Enfield Civic Centre on 12th January, and other events in central London. These will take the form of briefings followed by question and answer sessions. For full information about how to comment and about the subsequent Examination in Public see.......
The following information was provided by London Councils. If you have a Freedom Pass and receive an address confirmation letter DO NOT IGNORE IT or you may lose your Freedom Pass.
From this week letters are being sent to Freedom Pass holders who our records indicate may have moved home. Letters will be sent to a person’s new address, if known, and to the address listed on the Freedom Pass database. The letters will ask them to either confirm they are still living in London and.......
A new report by the London Assembly's Transport Committee presents the conclusions of a study into the problems faced by people on foot and on bikes when they are faced with travelling along or crossing main roads in outer London, particularly at major intersections.
Hostile Streets - Walking and cycling at outer London Junctions concludes that even very recent junction improvements, such as removal of the gyratory system at Archway, have seriously neglected the interests of everyone except.......
At a ceremony at Lords cricket ground last week, Marc Ellun, Chair of the Friends of Tatem Park, was declared Community Champion 2017 by Fields in Trust. The national charity presents this award to "those who really make a difference to their local green space, going the extra mile organising events, or encouraging others to get involved".