Over the past several months the partnership of Enfield Homes and FECA have worked tirelessly to plan the 5 festivals which are being paid for by Enfield Council and staged throughout the borough this summer. Although today's event which was attended by aproximately 800 hundred people, could in some ways be seen as a belated celebration of the Audit Commission 2 star rating recently accredited to Enfield Homes, the reality is that we were celebrating community cohesion and resident involvement.
As intrepid young mountaineers abseiled the climbing wall, adventurous toddlers navigated the bouncy castle and squeals of delight could be heard over the pulsating beat that provided the exotic 'backdrop' for the Indian dancing which was so beautifully choreographed, the fun had begun.
For our 'eco-environmentalists' we had a farm on site for the day, something the children young and old adored. The old-fashioned carousel and slippery slide were the scenes of much enjoyment throughout the afternoon with excited youngsters and their parents expressing their disppointment once the day's events drew to a close. Another great attraction was the giant play letters that was used to gather information from local young people in the hope that we can be better prepared to consult with them in the future.
Bob Heapy Chief Executive of Enfield Homes was present thoroughout the afternoon along with a number of his team looking resplendent in their purple polo shirts complete with two golden stars. The Chairperson of Enfield Homes, Litsa Worrall, was also in attendance as were Board members Janet Billingsley and Frances Sidey. We should not forget our local dignitaries who also gave up their time to attend, and they included Cllrs Matthew Laban, Tony Dey, Kris Brown and local MP Andy Love.
We left little to chance in our intent to include all sections of the local community and in that endeavour we must give special thanks to Garrett Pennery, Faith Officer for the Metropolitan Police in the borough. PC Pennery also encouraged youngsters and their parents to take a photo opportunity dressed in full riot gear and we have some photos to prove it. Then along came Smarty Arty for the second time who involved all the young people in a very colourful multi-cultural flag waving dance.
We were also treated to a couple of unexpected musical renditions by members of our very own multi-talented Enfield Homes staff including the Chief Executive - think Britain's got talent? Watch this space Simon Cowell!!
This years 2nd community festival held for the first time at
Cowper Green in Southgate London N14
was a great success.
Held on the 26 July 2009
Although attendance numbers were slightly lower than expected the event still saw approximately 500-600 people – a good time was had by all.
With some of the previous day’s attractions being replicated, the new crowd at the venue in Southgate north London were not disappointed!The climbing wall that had been so popular the day before proved to be an exciting crowd pleaser.This time our glorious leader, Chief Executive, Bob Heapy made a valiant attempt to scale the wall, before conceding that perhaps the experts (the children) were best left to their fearless pursuit of the ‘mini’ south face of the Eiger.
Obviously, envious of the enjoyment the children had the day before staff members, thought it would be a good idea to join the youngsters on the ‘Slippery Slide’ – who were the big kids now??But hey it was all good fun!
The street dance troupe that mesmerised us yesterday were on show again - where do they get those moves??Fantastic!!
Just as she had done yesterday, the lithesome and graceful Indian dancer invited guests to join her in a dance, and this time one of the event organisers, Michelle Cox along with a number of other Enfield Homes colleagues decided to display their skills along with the kids from the local area.Folks, please, please don’t leave us. We know the limelight is calling, but don’t be hasty.
The man of the moment today has to be PC Garrett Pennery.With incredible ease our local peace-keeping officer led his planned activity with the kind of professionalism so often taken for granted.We can be sure that the timed races he encouraged our visitors to take part in will be spoken about for a very long time to come.
What will he do next?We’ll just have to wait and see.Dare I say it a good time was had by all?I can’t wait for the next event, can you?
With three more festivals to go - watch this space for updates!!
With two more festivals to go - watch this space for updates!!
THE BOROUGH'S TOP TALENTS
ENFIELD HOMES IS SEEKING THE BOROUGH'S TOP TALENTS
Enfield Council and Enfield Homes is seeking the borough's best singing, rapping and dancing talent aged between 11 and 23 for a top talent contest at the Millfield Theatre in Edmonton.
The competition, being run by the council's Community Safety Team and endorsed by Enfield Homes, will see an X Factor style event, where young people will perform before a panel of judges which will include representatives from the police, Enfield Homes, a Spurs player, a music DJ and other prominent figures.
The winning song/rap act wins two days at a professional studio to get their act recorded and the winning dance act will receive a years membership to the Pineapple Dance Studio in London.
All acts chosen to perform on the day will win £40 of HMV vouchers.
Cllr Matthew Laban, Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety said "This competition is a unique chance for every talented young person in the borough to have an opportunity to show their skills to an audience at the Millfield Theatre.
"There are some great prizes up for grabs and some good exposure for your act, so there is no time to lose. Register now to get involved. www.enfieldhomes.org
ENFIELD'S NORTH CIRCULAR RESIDENTS LEARN FUTURE PLANS
After 40 years of uncertainty, tenants living in properties on the North Circular Road have learnt about Enfield Council's future intentions on their homes.
The plans were discussed at a meeting, chaired by the council's Housing Scrutiny Panel with representatives from the council and TfL. The council and TfL are working together to find a solution for the 300 homes that are no longer required for TfL's Safety and Environmental Improvement Scheme for the North Circular Road between Bounds Green Road and Chequers Way.
The council is bidding for government funding to meet the estimated £80m cost of purchasing the properties from TfL and intends to work with housing associations to refurbish them. The outcome of the bid will be known in April.
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Urban Youth Work Summit
Organised by
Church.co.uk/Waterloo and Oasis UK, working with XLP, Jump and Youthwork Magazine.
Aims:
- Inspire the church to engage with the issue of young people and violence
- Equip youth workers and the church to progress in their response to youth violence
- Challenge the perception of young people
- Let people know the church is taking the issue seriously
- Provide space for partnerships to develop amongst delegates and organisations
Content
The conference will include workshops, seminars, keynote address, guest speakers, presentations by young people, and an evening celebration.
Speakers include young people from youth organisations, Steve Chalke, Patrick Regan, Jill Rowe, Martin Saunders (more contributors to be announced) and a special guest appearance by GreenJade.
Cost
Tickets cost £25 each, 2 for £40, or £10 concession price for those who are unwaged and can be booked here.
More info to follow
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Introducing the Collaboration Benefits Programme
Free Seminar, London
10:00am - 12:30pm, 4th Feb 2009,
Community Matters 12 -29 Baron Street N1 9LL
This seminar is an introduction to collaboration benefits, a new bassac programme, which has a particular focus on building the capacity of the community sector. The seminar will be of interest if you want to find out more about Collaboration Benefits, if you want to develop skills in supporting others to work together or you would like to see how you could be helped to develop effective collaborations and partnerships. We are particularly interested in involving those who are interested in delivering training to others on collaboration in the future, in this seminar. Once trained we will be able to support you finding work in this area.
Due to limited places please contact Keith Kibirango
on 0207336 9429/ 0845 241 0375
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Can you help?
Your chance to have your say about standards in social housing
The first thing the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) needs to do is draw up a brand new set of standards for all social landlords. These standards are very important, as the TSA will be monitoring how landlords do in achieving them – and taking action against any who don’t.
The TSA is going to listen to tenants across England to help them understand what you want to see in the new standards. It is calling this the National Conversation, and it will start on 19 January 2009.
This is your opportunity to help set the standards for all social landlords and make sure that services for tenants continue to improve. So do get involved.
There are lots of ways tenants can take part in the National Conversation. We will be holding a series of regional events for a number of tenants and other events for landlords. We are asking landlords to nominate tenants to the regional events and they will have details of how you can get involved.
We’d also like tenants to get involved in Local Conversations. To find out about events in your area, contact your landlord. Local Conversations don’t have to be formal – they could be a group of tenants getting together over a cup of tea in somebody’s home or in a community centre. If you’d like to organise your own event, from 12 January onwards, you can order a resource pack from the TSA on 0845 230 7000 (Option 1) and get more information on the website: www.nationalconversation.co.uk
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CONFERENCE NEWS
Enfield Homes held its first tenant and leaseholder conference at the Royal Chace Hotel the Ridgeway Enfield. The conference was attended very well attended by residents and for the first time a number of pupils and staff from Oasis Academy Enfield, also in attendance were members of the Enfield Homes Board, Enfield Homes staff and local Councillors the Federation wish to take the opportunity to congratulate Enfield Homes on this successful event.
The conference was opened by Litsa Worrall, Chair of the Enfield Homes Board and included a variety of speakers the morning session started with speakers including: Bob Heapy Chief Executive Officer of Enfield Homes and Michael Gelling from Tenants and Residents of England (TAROE). The closing session included a speech from Theresa Coyle a Homes for Islington Tenant Board Member speaking about 3* Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) a ‘Question and Answer Session’ and raffle.
There was lots to do and the conference held workshops in the morning and afternoon. Enfield Homes provided attendees with a choice of seven workshop topics including, major works, be safe, community engagement, community safety, options for repaying major works charges, spurs foundation and repairs reporting.
Enfield Homes provided workshops for the Pupils from Oasis Academy Enfield which were be safe, youth parliament, spurs foundation and engaging young people in our community halls.
These workshops were run by a variety of Enfield Homes staff and outside facilitators. Feedback forms received from attendees at the workshops indicate that the vast majority of residents and youth representatives found them to be very good, useful, informative, allowed them an opportunity to have a direct input and were well run.
Simon Cowell!!
