News
Press releases 2009
November 2009
30 November 2009
Community celebrates opening of refurbished hall
Residents of Eastern Enfield will celebrate the opening of the newly refurbished St Helier Hall, Eastfield Road, Enfield EN3.
The local community is invited to the opening celebrations which included ribbon cutting by Councillor Laban to mark the official opening of the hall, refreshments, face painting, activities for young people and information stalls on services provided by Enfield Homes.
Cllr Matthew Laban said, “I am delighted to be opening the newly revamped St Helier Hall, which is going to be a much loved and frequently used community building.
“It provides a great place to meet and hold functions right on your doorstep, and now it has been refurbished to such a high standard I look forward to seeing many more groups and clubs using its state of the art facilities.”
Work to the hall includes new roofing and roof lights; new external cladding; new windows and external doors; full refurbishment of the WC’s; full refurbishment of kitchen; redecoration; new flooring of all areas throughout; and a new suspended ceiling in the main hall. 100 people maximum can use the hall and there is a meeting room for 20 people.
The building will be home to all age groups and will be used by groups such as the Brownies, Guides, Cubs, Senior Citizens Club, and the lunch club.
Chief Executive of Enfield Homes, Bob Heapy, said: “We are delighted with the refurbishment. The hall is now a pleasant environment and social meeting place for more than100 people per week - a safe and welcoming facility for people to enjoy.”
Mark Bellas, from The Federation of Enfield Community Associations (FECA), who manages the bookings on behalf of Enfield Homes, was excited about the opening, “The re-opening of St Helier Hall is great for the community! We have a host of new activities starting up, including dance classes; one for children aged 4 years and older called ‘Jazz it up’ and line dancing on a Friday evening. We are also in the process of working with Enfield Children & Young Persons Service to secure funding for safety flooring at rear of the building, which will allow children to play safely.”
If you would like to book a community hall in Enfield please contact the Halls4All Team, on 0300 111 0121 or email halls4all@feca.co.uk. More information about community halls in the area can be found on the Halls4All website – www.halls4all.co.uk.
19 November 2009
Enfield selected for Mayor's Great Spaces Award
Enfield Council heard this week that Ponders End has been selected as the first on the list of 36 projects for the Mayor of London’s Great Spaces Award.
Enfield has secured £30k of funding. This will go towards feasibility funding, design and procurement advice.
Launched in the Spring, the Mayor’s Great Spaces is an initiative to revitalise some of the capitals unique public spaces. It will help develop some of London’s recognised and lesser known streets, squares, parks and riverside walks.
The Award will see Design for London, the London Development Agency and Transport for London working with Enfield Council to transform Ponders End streets and parks into places people will want to use all year round.
The announcement comes at a crucial time when Enfield Council is working intensively with partners and the community on proposals on how the area could develop in the future. The Ponders End Framework for Change, which sets out these ideas, is out to public consultation at the moment. It closes on the 18th December, so there is still time to have your say.
You can visit www.enfield.gov.uk/placeshaping to view and comment on the document. More detailed plans for three key development sites will be released in the form of Planning Briefs in the New Year.
Cllr Michael Lavender, Cabinet Member for Place Shaping said “We aim to make Ponders End a place people will want to come to. Streets need to be welcoming, safe and accessible, where children and young people can feel safe. Parks need to be well used and bring benefits to the community.
“We are meeting with Design for London next week to agree how to move forward with this, but it is a very exciting time for Ponders End.”
Bob Heapy, Chief Executive of Enfield Homes said “The quality of public space is very important when people decide whether to live, visit or invest in an area. High quality public areas can increase public safety and reduce anti social behaviour.
“To hear that Ponders End is to receive this Award money is excellent news.”