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
The online petition opposing a new gambling arcade in the centre of Palmers Green has now attracted just short of 4000 signatures in less than two weeks. The group of residents who first raised the alarm have christened their campaign Stop the Slot! and are continuing to question Enfield Council about the circumstances in which a 'bingo premises licence' was issued at the start of year to Merkur Slots to allow them to open a new arcade near the former Store 21 shop in Green Lanes. They will be asking all petition signatories to contact their councillors and will be giving interviews to local papers.
Formal consultation for phase 1 of the Connaught Gardens quieter neighbourhood is now under way. This relates to a small one-way system and 20mph zone in the north-western corner of the area designated as a quieter neighbourhood.
A newly published report by a group campaigning for improvements to housing conditions in Enfield says that current plans for new housing on brownfield land at Meridian Water, Upper Edmonton, will not provide an adequate amount of 'greenspace' for the 30,000 people that the council envisages living there.
A campaign opposing the opening of a 24-hour gambling arcade in Palmers Green has gained substantial support from local residents. By Tuesday evening, four days after its launch, nearly 2700 people had signed a petition to Enfield Council calling for a review of the gambling licence granted last month to a new branch of Merkur Slots in Green Lanes. The campaign has also attracted the backing of Enfield Southgate MP Bambos Charalambous, who has stated that he is "appalled" at the plans and has raised questions about the spread of high street gambling with the culture secretary.
In July last year a trade journal serving the "coin-op amusement, casino and igaming industries" reported that a German company was opening a "rash of new UK arcades" using the Merkur Slots brand name. It now turns out that one of the town centres where the rash will be breaking out is Palmers Green, and some locals are not at all "amused" about the prospect of the new arcade.
As part of the process of developing a new local plan for the borough, Enfield Council is currently running an important consultation which asks people about their vision for Enfield in the future. The deadline for responding is 24th February.
A green chain stretching from Broomfield Park all the way to Hazelwood Recreation Ground, allowing birds, butterflies and other pollinators to cross Green Lanes east/west - that's the vision of the Palmers Green Action Team. To get it started, they've launched a Spachive crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds needed to buy and put in place two trees to green the stretch of Green Lanes between the Triangle and the end of Hazelwood Lane
Ahead of the start of consultation on a new Walking and Cycling Action Plan, due to be considered by its Cabinet this week, Haringey Council has published a map of 25 low-traffic neighbourhood areas covering the vast majority of streets in the borough. Simultaneously, Haringey has launched the initial engagement phase for the three low-traffic neighbourhoods for which it has been allocated funding by Transport for London, including an LTN in Bounds Green which is adjacent to Enfield Council's Bowes quieter neighbourhood.
Enfield Council has re-opened its call for ideas about how to improve Southgate Circus and the streets immediately nearby. People are invited to highlight issues and make suggestions using MapBox. Let's Talk Southgate runs until the end of February.
At last Thursday's full meeting Enfield councillors rejected a call by the Conservative and Community First groups to remove the low-traffic neighbourhood schemes and allow through traffic to use all streets in the Bowes and Fox Lane quieter neighbourhoods.