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
Two years ago Palmers Green resident Joseph, then aged 14, wrote a highly personal and persuasive letter to his local councillors suggesting that young people would greatly benefit from a skate park in Broomfield Park. A group of local parents have now begun a campaign to fulfil Joseph's vision and have launched an online petition. Friends of Broomfield Park have said that they would welcome a feasibility study and more detailed proposals and will be interested to hear what their members and other local residents think about the idea.
When at the end of 2020 Friends of Broomfield Park announced the launch of their Tree Project, they were surprised (and delighted) when individuals and businesses offered to donate trees for planting in the park. Obviously, they didn't turn down the offers and are now seeking further donations so that they can make their planting plans even more ambitious and turn Palmers Green even greener.
Gardener Vic Black writes that people have told her that at one time there were up to 12 gardeners tending to the flowerbeds in Broomfield Park. More recently, however, there has been no brigade of park staff to keep the beds in check, so many were sadly reclaimed by the weeds. And that would probably still be the case, if the Friends of Broomfield Park had not stepped in...
Vic Black, one of the volunteers who have been maintaining and replanting the historic long border in Broomfield Park, is a qualified gardener and is available for work redesigning or just tending gardens in the Palmers Green/Bounds Green area.
An award of £748,000 from the Mayor of London plus £425,000 from the Forestry Commission will enable Enfield Council and Thames21 to start work this autumn on creating a large new woodland area in the north west of the borough. The new trees - up to 100,000 in total over a three-year period - will play an important part in Enfield's plans to achieve 'net zero carbon' by 2040 while providing a major new public utility. The project will also allow the council to progress its long-term scheme for a walking and cycling route across the entire width of the borough.
Hopefully, it won't be too long before the general public can again visit our mini-Kew Gardens. But in the meantime, a flavour of Broomfield Conservatory's interior has been created outside for all to see.
The new wetlands in Broomfield Park have been shortlisted for an award by susdrain, a 'community' which supports the delivery and maintenance of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS).
In this video Louise Dennis takes us on a tour of Firs Farm - the wetlands, the ancient hedgerow and the Spinney, explaining their function and their importance.
During May Friends of Broomfield Park invited people to send them photographs for a Virtual Flower Show. For June the focus will be on trees, starting with this amazing shot by Tracey Kelly.
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.
As at 21st January 2,878 people had signed an online petition calling on Enfield Council to protect the golf course, woods and open areas at Whitewebbs.
Friends of Broomfield Park are celebrating the end of an event-packed year for Palmers Green's favourite park, during which more than 13,000 people visited to take part in activities including music, theatre, dance, storytelling, well-being, apple tasting, food and much more. Dates of the 2020 events are already on the Friends' website.