Transforming Our Futures

In this Podcast we talk to Dr Beryl De Souza about the different ways medics engage communities in a time of climate change. Beryl is a plastic surgeon but she is also a community activist. She works closely with the Enfield Racial Equality Council (EREC) and is a passionate supporter of the work they do in the diverse community of Enfield.

In the Podcast she talks about how medics can engage over the issues of public health and climate change and explains how climate change will and has already created a health crisis.

Medics of all kinds are getting increasingly concerned at the impact that climate change is having on air pollution, heat exhaustion, on well being and mental health and on the possibility of disease spreading as well as future pandemics.

She talks about the need for agencies to work together in collaborative networks and the importance of creating relationships with communities and individuals.

Trevor Blackman works for the Edmonton School Partnership but he also wears another hat in that his is involved in Maritime Radio a steaming radio station. He used to work with local radio in the BBC.  

Here Francis Sealey who also worked as a Producer in the BBC talks to Trevor about engagement in the media and how it has changed over time.  When Francis started there were no audio or video cassettes let alone streaming and the change over the years has been enormous.  

Both Francis and `Trevor talk about those changes and how they have affected the way we communicate in the new media.

In this Podcast we interview David McKelvey and Maggie Fay who are both medic - one a GP and another a nurse and they arrested for demonstrating outside of JP Morgan

In all six healthcare professionals were arrested after cracking eight panes of glass at investment bank JP Morgan’s offices in Canary Wharf as part of a non-violent protest.

JP Morgan is the world’s biggest funder of fossil fuels, having poured $384.2 billion into the sector since the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016. The financial services giant and investment bank funded the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $61.7 billion in 2021, the same year the International Energy Agency stated that new oil, gas or coal investment must end if the world is to reach net zero by 2050.

Heatwaves are known to pose a variety of health risks, including an increased risk of stroke, and heart failure. [6] Periods of extreme heat have also been linked to negative impacts on mental health and increased suicide rates, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change looking at data from the U.S and Mexico. [7] Experts have warned that thousands of people in the UK could die as a result of the coming heatwave, with both the vulnerable as well as the fit and healthy at risk.

Here we talk about the climate crisis, the role of civil disobedience and the dysfunctional nature of our democracy that seems unable to face the health emergency that we face through climate change

Here we interview Katies Knight about her efforts and that of others to achieve a “green NHS” that has sustainability embedded in all it does. Katie is a Paediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant in the North Middlesex Hospital and has taken a lead in forming a Sustainability Group within her trust.  .

Working together they try to collaborate with the Trust to ensure that the site of the Trust and its practices follow green principles in how the site is organised and in its procurement.  

Katie is passionate about climate change and tells us that many of the younger generation of doctors are increasingly feeling this way as they see the emergency of climate change threatening the health of the children they work with.  

We are pleased to do this interview with Katie and equally pleased that sh has also agreed to join our EnCaf Core Group.

In this interview we talk to Rebecca Nestor who is a member of the Climate psychology alliance and has become part of what is know as the Climate Cafe movement.

Rebecca talks about the growing anxieties that people are feeling about climate change and the stress and guilt they sometimes have of feeling helpless and concerned they can do nothing about it.

Climate Cafes were set up so that people could join with others to talk about their feelings and share their anxieties. They take different forms in the many locations where they are found and some develop into other forms as the cafe develops. One cafe for example turned into a book group.

But having a place where people can talk openly and freely with others is important and climate cafes fulfil a need that is growing as the impact of climate change is every more visible.

In this Podcast we talk to Andrew Samuels who is the Group CEO of WislPort and they have a team to help organisations set up a whistleblowing strategy and they also help individuals who want to whistleblow about wrong doing or unethical practices in their company or organisation

Often information about climate change, emissions, the success of offsetting and much more is not always totally transparent within local authorities. One way to address this is through creating gateways for employees to whistleblow.

In many local authorities there has been doubt about the information they give out on pollution or waste and recycling and officers are often pressured to only give out limited information or collaborate only with groups that support the ruling party of whatever colour.

Here we look at what whistleblowing is, how authorities and individuals can use it, how anonymity is ensured and who to contact should anyone feel so strongly that they see whistleblowing as their only way for the truth to be told.

In this Podcast we interview Stephen Cox about his second novel - Our Child of the Stars. Stephen uses science fiction to explore a number of crucial issue including family relationships, existential threats, personal ambition and the enduring quality of compassion.

Small-town USA, entering the Seventies. A childless couple Gene and Molly adopted a strange, wounded child of the stars they call Cory.

Molly is the main narrative voice – a passionate nurse fighting for her own extraordinary child. Cory is gentle, vibrant, excitable, endlessly curious and loving – and both joy and danger comes from his otherworldly origins.

In Our Child of Two Worlds a figure from the past brings uncomfortable truths and Gene and Molly face the terrifying loss of everything they took for granted. Humanity needs Cory’s people to return to save the Earth – but if they take Molly’s son, it will break her heart.

In this Podcast we talk to Sarah Eastwood who is the Emergency Planning Officer for the North Mid Hospital Trust.

We explore what emergency planning is around a crisis incident. However we also discuss what emergency planning means when the crisis is long term such as climate change and whether that needs a new way or working and also of thinking.

We loo at how working together in bottom up collaborative networks is important and how over time these need to be improved.

In this podcast we interview Maggie Brookes about her latest novel - Acts of Love and War: A nation torn apart by war. One woman caught in the crossfire.

1936. Civil war in Spain. A world on the brink of chaos . . .

Although this is a climate change site we like to promote the work of local authors and a world in conflict today and threatened by climate change this novel is highly relevant.

21-year-old Lucy feels content with her life in Hertfordshire - not least because she lives next door to Tom and Jamie, two very different brothers for whom she has equally great affection.

But her comfortable life is turned upside down when Tom decides he must travel to Spain to fight in the bloody Spanish Civil War. He is quickly followed by Jamie who, much to Lucy's despair, is supporting General Franco.

To the dismay of her irascible father, Lucy decides that the only way to bring her boys back safely is to travel to Spain herself to persuade them to come home.

It is a novel that looks at one of the seminal moments of the 20th century and how love expresses itself in extreme circumstances

Maggie is an ex-journalist, BBC TV producer as an historical documentary writer / producer / director and she has also been a creative writing lecturer, and is now full-time novelist and poet. Maggie was born in London and has been writing stories and poems since she was six. Her novel ‘The Prisoner’s Wife’ was published in March 2020, in the first Covid lockdown. She has published six poetry collections in the UK under her married name of Maggie Butt. Her poetry website is: www.maggiebutt.co.uk.

In this Podcast we interview Richard Gourlay who is the Director of Strategic Development in the North Mid Hospital NHS Trust. 

Here he talks about the fact that the climate crisis is a health crisis and the impact this has on his own Trust in the way they plan for the future and develop their services.  

Not only do they try to make their own site more sustainable but they also work with other statutory authorities and communities to tackle the problems that climate change will make worse like air pollution, the lack of green spaces and heat stress.  

They know that it is the most vulnerable and marginalised communities that will suffer the most and work in partnership to reach out so that there is a greater equality of health provision.  

Richard took up his current role in May 2016, having joined the hospital in February 2011 as General Manager for clinical support services and specialist medicine. From 2012 he led the hospital’s operational reconfiguration for the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Clinical Strategy. He has 20 years of acute hospital management experience, working predominantly across north London, managing medical and surgical specialties.

In this Podcast we interview Geof Jukes who is a music promoter who managed Kate Bush, Bob Geldof, Underworld and a number of other notable British musicians and bands.

But recently he has turned his attention to climate change and with his colleague Robin Bath has produced a book where through illustrations and photographs children tell their story about climate change, their hopes for the future and also their deep anxiety.

This book is now available for schools and many are already using it as part of their efforts to address climate change in the classroom. The response was enormous. Schools and even Tibetan monasteries were eager to share young people’s thoughts, fears and feelings on how climate change is rapidly unfolding to their peril, in art works which are heartfelt and creative

In this Podcast we talk to Geof about this and the campaign they are now launching around the work they have done.

In this Podcast Melanie Harwood from EduCCate Global discusses how climate change can be taught in schools. EduCCate Global has set up three levels of teacher training around climate change that focusses on how to teach it in schools using a cross curriculum method.

It is an essentially team approach to teaching climate change where the emergency of climate change is embedded in the total school. It is a system that goes beyond merely teach about mitigation and adaptation but engages students in a problem solving approach to taking action to transform their environment.

EduCCate Global has schools engaged in this across the world with several hundred in the UK.

In this Podcast we interview Rudi Page a policy implementation specialist for Workforce Development, Knowledge Transfer and a skilled facilitator within politically sensitive environments at Board and senior management levels.

Here we discuss how you can create dialogue to extend engagement hard to reach groups and we look at this around the important issue of climate change and public health.

Rudi has specialised in the initiation and strategic direction of programmes and projects that influence the way that individuals and organisations access, communicate and engage with and respond to education, healthcare, cultural learning, regeneration, business support and local economic development.

Rudi devised the “Synergy Project”, a strategic communication and development tool now being used by Government Agencies, Academia, Private, Public and Not-for-profit organisations.

The Synergy Model provides institutions with a cultural insight into the needs and aspirations of diverse communities (hard to reach groups), whilst building the capacity of ethnic communities to understand the wider political and strategic context within which they are placed.

Join us in this Podcast where we interview Gregory Cohn from the Charity Seeds For Growth.

They are an amazing organisation that works with disadvantaged communities and often tenants, through a series of activities and projects to help develop well being. These include community gardens, food co-ops, support for the unemployed and they also have a criminal justice initiative in operation.

They work towards reducing our carbon footprint and sustainability which they know at a time of climate change is vital for all our communities.

They started it all in Tower Hamlets but are now planning to expand their work throughout the UK

They are a great example of how the health and well being of disadvantage communities can be improved at a time of climate change through engagement and the development of community resilience.

In this Podcast we interview Chandra Bhatia. Of the Enfield Racial Equality Council (EREC)

Enfield Racial Equality Council’s mission is to actively promote and seek to implement a racially just, fair and equitable society which will enhance the quality of life for all who live, work and learn in the London Borough of Enfield.

We discuss how it started, what it does and how it has changed over the years as Enfield has become a much more diverse community of people.

How important is it to still fight for equality and how do the new challenges of climate change and the Borough East/West divide impact on the work that EREC does.

Join this Podcast with Anthony Fisher where we discuss the power of ideas.

Anthony is interesting as he says he has a “butterfly mind” and that the excitement of ideas is important in business, in our communities and in government.

Anthony founded Chela a company that supplies a range of specialist industrial cleaning solutions for the mass transport market but it has a research department that works to ensure that the products it produces are sustainable and with a low carbon footprint. In business he believe that having the idea about sustainability is the first step to creating a company that reflects it.

He is also a founder of Enfield poets and believe that poetry is a major way of communicating ideas and surpassing the constraints of conventional language.

Idea he believes are powerful and they can change the world.

Join us in this Podcast with Rembrandt Koppelaar where we look at the circular economy and how can be and should be applied locally. How do we move from a linear production mode where we produce, make and then waste to a circular one where we produce, make and then reuse is a central question when addressing climate change.

Rembrandt talks about how this could be done and especially how we can tackle waste without long term plans for incineration. Rembrandt is Head of the Circular Economy at Ecowise who ambition is to improve sustainability in urban ecosystems by continuing to develop smart analytics and cloud-based software solutions

Rembrandt is a senior expert in Circular Economy, Economics, Modelling, environmental material/product assessment, and techno-economic analysis. He holds a PhD degree from Imperial College London’s Centre for Environmental Policy and is experienced in leading work packages in large EU projects. He also has published two books and several articles about the future of energy, materials, society, technology, and the circular economy.

An Interview with Kristiana Heapy

In this webinar we interview Kristiana Heapy who works with a coalition of Friends of Parks groups across one London Borough.

Friend’s groups across the borough of Enfield have come together for the first time to collectively ask everyone standing in 2022’s council election to commit to protecting and enhancing Enfield’s green spaces.

The Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have highlighted how important local, easily accessible green spaces are to the mental and physical health of Enfield’s residents. Further to this, greater awareness of the climate crisis and the impact of years of destruction of the UK’s natural habitat has resulted in more people wanting to protect green existing spaces and grow precious native natural habitats.

However, there have been concerns by many volunteers in local community groups that warm words on the importance of green spaces have not been met with action and investment by councillors of all political parties and none. Green spaces are not a nice to have, they are essential to the wellbeing of all Enfield residents.

The Enfield Friends’ Collective has therefore launched the ‘Love Our Parks’ Manifesto. We ask all those standing for election to sign our manifesto and talk with Friends groups in their area about what they want

In this Podcast we interview Ruth Donaldson the Director of Commissioning in the North London Central Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in the NHS

They are developing some interesting and innovative ideas in how you deliver health and social care in times of increasing and complex difficulties and here we discuss some of these idea.

In doing so we look at the relational welfare model developed by Hilary Cottam in her book “Radical Help” and discuss how we can move from the top down impersonal welfare model that has been in operation since the middle of the last century to one that is more personalised and patient/client centred.

It is really encouraging as the CCG is developing some interesting projects, collaborating with other statutory agencies and civil society and understand fully that the future delivery of health and social care has to be a whole society endeavour if it is to work for the benefit of all.

Join us in this Podcast with Tamsin Ellis and Zoe Garbett. Tamsin is a GP and Zoe is the Assistant Director, Communities in the North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group (CCGO)

In this Podcast we will be discussing the World Heath Organisation’s (WHO) declaration that the climate emergency is a health emergency and how this can be tackled at a local level.

Tamsin has been involved in Sustainable Healthcare and Greener Practice London which brings together GPs to address the climate emergency. And Zoe has established a network of statutory health organisations and civil society groups to do this as well.

We will discuss what they have been doing both to help mitigate climate change as well as develop strategies to adapt to the changes that will happen because of greenhouse gas emissions.

We will also discuss the importance of establishing collaborative networks to address the climate emergency in a strategic way.

Join us in this Podcast interview with Alex Tambourides the CEO of MIND in Enfield and Barnet. MIND provides local services in Enfield and Barnet working with people who use all mental health services to help shape and improve what we do.

They have an expert team to advise, shape, educate and lead on campaigning and creating mental health service provision ensuring across the two boroughs.

In this webinar we will look at some of these problems and especially that of social isolation. Many people especially those older are living alone and these creates for many mental health problems.

This has increased since the COVID crisis and the climate emergency will make this problem far worse.

How can we tackle this and create communities that are resilient and networks that are adequate to tackle this problem.

In this Podcast when we interview Nick De Bois about his first novel “Fatal Ambition.”

Nick who was the MP for Enfield North has joined a handful of ex MPs who have taken to writing a political thriller. Tom Watson and Chris Mullin had already successful launched their novels before and now Nick has joined them.

It is a gripping novel that combines a global conspiracy, betrayal, corruption, naked ambition and even murder. At times you would be forgiven in thinking this is real and not a product of a vivid imagination. 

Nick who’s been there first hand at the highest levels of government and in the heart of the establishment is very well placed to portray in novel form the machinations of government but not just because he had been close to government. Nick like one of his fellow MPs of some years ago, John Biffen, was always semi detached from government and the strictures of party politics. 

This semi detachment has enabled him to weave into his novel some critical questions about the nature of our democracy and political system and this gives the novel a cutting edge. In the framework of a story the novel raises questions about how decisions are made, who makes those decisions and whether the electorate is manipulated by those who do.

Nick has already written a memoir called “Confessions of a Recovering MP” which also sheds some light on the “noises off” stage in politics and this novel adds to that never ending story of political intrigue.

In this Podcast we interview Paul Everitt the former head of arts and culture at Enfield Council.



Paul is a well respected character across the London Borough of Enfield and beyond and is well know in art and entertainment circles and in this webinar we will interview him about his past job, the manner of his leaving and his hopes and plans for the future. The Enfield Dispatch reported that,



“Paul’s redundancy from the council was made as part of an internal restructure, with his job role made obsolete. He was placed on gardening leave in the summer prior to his official redundancy in October. The civic centre restructure included a shake-up of council arts venues and the way they are managed, which Paul had opposed and voiced concerns about.
Talking about some of the issues he dealt with at the council prior to his departure, Paul described a “toxic culture” of “bullying and intimidation” and said: “When you are working in that toxic culture you are in a state of fear, you don’t trust every part of the organisation and it closes in around you. There is nowhere to go. A survival instinct kicks in.”



Paul said that although other roles were being made available within the council it became clear “they wanted me out of the organisation” and that being put on gardening leave “meant there was no proper transfer” to the council’s new culture team. He added: “My whole career is about culture, so being in charge of street cleaning didn’t really appeal to me.”
We will discuss this with Paul and also his new position with Love Your Doorstep and his position on the Enfield Climate Action Forum’s Task Group.

In this Podcast we interview Clare Moloney who is involved in a project called Hinterlands.

Hinterlands is a national arts programme promoting wellbeing and connecting communities, with participatory events along three remote rural, urban and suburban waterways: Pontymoile, Sheffield and Enfield & Tottenham.

Hinterlands forms part of the national Arts on the Waterways portfolio of Trust-led, partnership and third party projects, which aim to support and promote:

artistic quality and ambition: to work with high quality contemporary artists across art forms and support upcoming practitioners

being local: to build closer connections with communities, particularly those that are underserved

collaboration: to nurture more co-creation and work with agile, inventive practitioners and collectives

resilience and sustainability: to follow environmental responsibilities and to leave as small a carbon footprint as possible.

We will discuss how art and waterways can help people express themselves and also how at a time of climate change they can get a better understanding of the impact of climate change and what can be done

Join us in the interview with Sam Bentley-Toon of Thames21 on Monday November 8th at 11.00am.

Thames21 is the voice for London’s waterways, working with communities to improve rivers and canals for people and wildlife.They mobilise thousands of volunteers every year to clean and green the capital’s 400 mile network of waterways. Thames21 aims to transform neglected waterways into areas that everyone can use and enjoy, by using innovative and tailored community approaches.

They have developed projects in Enfield where London’s first beaver reintroduction is taking place at Forty Hall. They are also part of Enfield Council’s Restoration of Enfield Chase project to help create one of London’s newest woodlands and at Pymmes Park they will be managing habitat to make sure the wetlands are functioning as they should.

We will discuss this with them and also their work around climate change. Wetland restoration and rewinding are a part of their mission to create natural regeneration as well as resilience.

They believe that river groups must work collaboratively across the globe and put pressure on governments, businesses and society to take swift action on rivers to tackle the impacts of climate change on communities.

In this Podcast we discuss with local author Sangeeta Waldron social responsibility and business.



Sangeeta believes in the power of serendipity for business, writes for international news platforms on sustainable business news and sits on different boards, which has included the UK Taskforce for Women In Enterprise



Sangeeta has just published her book Corporate Social Responsibility is Not Public Relations where she argues that corporate social responsibility is more than public relations. She tells us,



“When companies feign interest in company responsibility to improve their bottom line, it is known as greenwashing; a term that was coined in the 1980s to describe shameful corporate environmental claims. It has since become a familiar term for companies pretending to be interested in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to improve their bottom line.
We know that people like to support companies that are socially conscious, so when a corporation greenwashes they’re setting themselves up for failure. Feigning interest in social responsibility can have short-term benefits, but if — or rather, ‘when’ — you’re discovered, it can have a lasting negative impact on your reputation”



Many companies are becoming more sustainable and are taking seriously their responsibility to the planet and how important this is we will discuss with Sangeeta in this webinar

In this Podcast we interview Michael Wailing of Border Crossings

Michael runs an Enfield-based arts organisation called Border Crossings. One of the things they organise is a Festival of Indigenous cultures called ORIGINS. The current edition is very focussed on climate issues. They will be at Cop26 with a totem, carved by a Totonac artist from Mexico .

Many indigenous communities face environmental insecurity, corporate aggression and the criminalisation of indigenous lifestyles and social protests.

We discuss with Michael how Border Crossings encourages intercultural dialogue between artists, audiences and communities, working through theatre and the arts to facilitate mutual understanding, creative collaboration and positive development

Vincent Sheehan describes himself as a classical music analyst, writer of weird rock songs, Church of England priest and teacher. Growing up in a musical family, Vincent was immersed in an eclectic array of music from an early age learning to play the violin at primary school in Hertfordshire and being taught to play the guitar by his guitarist Dad. Music was always going to play a major part throughout his life. Vincent studied music at Liverpool University, trained to be a music teacher at Middlesex University, trained to be a priest (Church of England) and gained a theology degree at St Mellitus College. Vincent is now a Primary School teacher at Freezywater St. George’s and Associate Vicar at St Peter’s Grange Park.

In this Podcast we will explore three particular songs played through guitar and violin that has influenced Vincent Sheehan’s life thus far. We will also explore what philosophers have said about music and how important it is in our everyday life, having major influences in the direction of our life and the decisions we make both consciously and unconsciously.

Music is and originates from a unique sort of science. As such, it intertwines with our everyday lives and shapes us. Whether it is in a public place or the comfort of our homes, music makes a difference. Without it, influential German philosopher Nietzsche said, “life would be a mistake”. Plato once said “music is a moral law. it gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” 

In this Podcast we interview Anthony Fisher the founder of Chela and Mario Elia their marketing manager.

Chela is a company that supplies a range of specialist industrial cleaning solutions for the mass transport market but it has a research department that works to ensure that the products it produces are sustainable and with a low carbon footprint.

They work towards ensuring that their supply market is also sustainable and work with their customers to not only sell their products but also have a training arm to help their green agenda.

Anthony Fisher who founded the company believe that collaboration between companies to achieve a sustainable future is an essential business model in the 21st century

You can find out more about Chela and what they do on the website at www.chela.co.uk 

In this Podcast we talk to Clare Donovan about how she set up Cooking Champions to help those in need and how it has now expanded into a project that has served 40,000 meals to local people.

Cooking Champions is an Enfield based, food focused social enterprise. The emphasis is on supporting local business and they work with the Enfield Food Alliance - a network of food organisations working together to improve access to healthy food.

Clare not only tells us about what they do but also about their ambitious plans for the future

In this Podcast we will be interview Natasha Robinson about her studies, her concerns and her hopes for the future - and ask he whether these concerns reflects those of her generation.

Students are becoming increasingly concerned about their future in a time of climate change. So many are studying climate change both at undergraduate and graduate level. They do this not only to increase their knowledge but also because they want to make a difference. They want to do something about climate change and help create a more sustainable future.

Natasha is doing a Masters that looks at how you can best get the message about climate change across to citizens and particularly whether Festivals are an active means of doing this. She also wants to find out whether events like Festivals can lead to further action once the events are over.

Natasha wants to get involved in community action once her research is over so she can translate her ideas into practical action and so we will also explore with her the relationship between ideas and action.

In this Podcast we interview Diana Finch about how she and her colleagues created local networks to restore the local economy to Bristol.

The problem is that mainstream economic thinking is still based on a theoretical approach where economics is considered in isolation from people and planet.  The well-being of the people, the natural resources that we use to make our goods, the pollution and waste we create - these are all considered external to the economic model

Diana believes we urgently need to change our economic system so that it respects the planet's ecosystem and addresses social inequality.

With others Diana created the Bristol Pound and is committed to developing projects to do to address social inequality and to also ensure our economy works within the constraints of our finite plane

In this Podcast Jane Maggs and Ian Harvey will discuss how local voices can be heard and how communities can be engaged.

Two years ago it was revealed that a 17-storey redevelopment was being proposed in Southgate that would substantially alter the look and feel of the town centre, a designated conservation area. Jane, as vice-chair of Southgate District Civic Voice (SDCV), led a campaign to ensure the views of local people were listened to.

She helped organise a community planning weekend in a local church to encourage the wider community to come together to discuss and respond to the application. Jane then contacted Civic Voice, a national charity representing the civic movement, to seek their help in facilitating a series of workshops to give local people a better understanding of the issues at hand – more than 250 people subsequently attended.

So we will be interviewing Jane and also Ian Harvey from Civic Voice about the initiative they set up of a community Panel and whether this can be replicated in Enfield as an important tool for wider engagement.

Civic Voice is the national charity for the civic movement in England. They aim to make places more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive and to promote civic pride.

In this Podcast we interview Councillor Isidoros Diakides on the Edmonton Incinerator and his views about being a representative from Haringey on the North London Waste Authority (NLWA)

Recently at a meeting of the NLWA several deputations were made to the meeting held there expressing objections to the development of an enlarged Incinerator in Edmonton, North London.

The NLWA is made up of representative of seven North London Boroughs and Councillor Isidoros Diakides is one of the representatives from Haringey.

After the deputations Isidoros asked for a discussion of members there because he said he felt disturbed by what he had heard but his request was turned down by the chairman.

In this Podcast we will ask him about the doubts he had and whether the NLWA is a truly accountable body and whether that accountability is open and transparent.

Are you curious to know about how the climate emergency is being taught in the national curriculum?

In this Podcast Katie English will discuss with Helen Karamallakis how climate change is addressed in schools and how it should be.

This webinar will explore the experiences of secondary school teacher Helen Karamallakis. Helen has worked in education for over 36 years, specialising in the science and health and social care fields.

During this time Helen has witnessed the horrors of climate change and how it is being taught in the national curriculum. We conclude by asking: “what can be done in schools to highlight the importance of the climate emergency?”.

In this Podcast we talk to Sarah Cotton from the Palmers Greenery that is a cafe in a local park but plans to be much more.

At a time of climate crisis when action is needed to confront an emergency for our planet small actions are as important as any as they create awareness, help to change culture and lead to further action. So we talk to Sarah about her plans to turn her cafe into a centre of learning and action and how she wants to do this in partnership with others.

In this Podcast we talk to Martin Drewry who is the CEO of Health Poverty Action.

Health Poverty Action is a progressive international NGO established in 1984. They take a strongly justice-oriented and approach - developing strong community roots, creating comprehensive and integrated public health systems, and addressing the social and political determinants of health.

They work in solidarity with people around the world who are pursuing change, often working in their own communities. Together they demand health justice, and challenge the power imbalances that currently deny people their rights. They believe health is not just the absence of disease, but a combination of physical, mental and social well-being.

They draw strength from the knowledge that we are not alone, but part of a global movement for health justice – the People’s Health Movement (PHM). The PHM is today’s embodiment of the primary health care movement that achieved groundbreaking success at the UN Alma-Ata Conference in 1978. Such was the power of this moment, that 40 years later the radical vision it set out continues to rally health workers and policymakers worldwide.

We will discuss in this podcast the imbalances there are in the world today, the nature and scale of the problem and what can be done to address it

In this Podcast we talk to Cllr Ayfer Orhan who has spent two years of abuse and harassment after wrongly being accused of anti semitism. The Labour Party nationally exonerated her but took two years to do so and the High Court ruled that such delay amounted to being unlawful.

In March 2019, Cllr Orhan posted a tweet that questioned a drilling contract in the Golan Heights, which had apparently been awarded to a private energy company. The Golan Heights, an area internationally recognised as belonging to Syria, is currently occupied by the State of Israel.

Following the publication of the tweet in 2019, the Leader of Enfield Council Cllr Caliskan issued a public statement, carried by various media outlets, labelling the tweet “anti-Semitic”. That allegation has now been rejected by the Labour Party. Cllr Caliskan also claimed that Cllr Orhan had been “suspended” from the Labour Group.

Despite an intervention from the national Labour Party, which clarified that Cllr Orhan was merely under investigation and could continue as a Labour representative, Cllr Orhan says that the council leader’s remarks triggered an “avalanche of abuse” against her, which formed part of a “culture of bullying and harassment”.

Over the past two years, Cllr Orhan has been subject to strict confidentiality requirements but now is able to speak freely about the incident and the abuse aimed at her and the stress caused.

This is a shameful episode in Labour Party history both at a national and local level and it is important that it should never happen again

We have already done an online hustings of the main candidates for the Bush Hill Park by-election (minus the Labour Candidate who declined.)

Here we will do a short interview of one of the other candidates John Dolan of the Trade Union & Socialist Party (TUSC)

You will be able to view it here on Enfield Voices and make comments

This is a Podcast hustings for the main candidates standing in the by-election on July 1st in the Bush Hill Park Ward.

We felt it important to hold the Hustings not just for those in the Bush Hill Park Ward but because whoever is elected will be making decisions for the whole Borough it was also important that all In Enfield could hear their views. It is a shame that Labour turned this opportunity down as democratic engagement is so important.

Three of the Candidates, the Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens all accepted but Labour declined.

We discussed some of the big issues that will confront all candidates when the whole Council is being elected in 2022 - so this is a curtain raiser of what is to come

Join us in this Podcast we interview Jackie Weaver about her campaign to bring back civility to local government

Jackie Weaver famous for chairing the Parish meeting at Handforth Parish Council has agreed to do a webinar with us where we will look at her campaign to have Councillors removed from their position if they breach the Council Code of Conduct.

Jackie faced abuse when she chaired a meeting of Handforth Parish Council and then shot to national fame through the manner in which she dealt with it. It has made her start a campaign for civility in local government.

Here in Enfield we have seen the Leader in breach of the Council Code of Conduct on two occasions and Council meetings have descended into chaos with filibustering and heckling to prevent some Councillors making their voice heard. The Enfield Council chamber has become a bedlam rather than a deliberative chamber.

Other local authorities have also behaved in a way that is partisan, hectoring and that shows little respect to rational debate.

How can we change this and how across the UK can we get Councils to behave in a civil way is what we will explore with Jackie.

In this Podcast we talk to Sue Halawa of the Skills & Training Network (STN) about her work.

The Skills & Training Network is a no profit organisation that offers education training, advocacy, mentoring, careers advice and guidance, outreach, job brokerage, and projects to support young people and adults and to help them to make the most of their skills/ abilities and expand their aspirations in life.

They work with disadvantaged young people and especially with the migrant community. They also offer welfare advocacy and advice.

STN was set up to serve the community and we take the responsibility to help disadvantaged people in the local communities. They provide individual and community support.

In this Podcast we talk to Vicki Pite who until recently was a Councillor in the London Borough of Enfield. However she resigned from the Council because she felt unable to serve the people in her Ward when faced with a rigid and autocratic local authority.

When you have given your life to politics what happens when the door is shut and you are a Councillor no longer and when you still have a passion for politics and improving the life and well being of those around you.

Is there a life after formal Party politics or are you shut out in the cold. This is what we hope to discuss with Vicki. Is it a case of being shut out or an example of being liberated. Party politics can be a nasty business with bickering and inflated egos and the constant battle for power of ten takes over from the pursuit of principle.

Can being free of this create a new life where you are liberated to express your views and not be whipped into submission by the controlling Party elites. Can being free allow you to create alliances with civil society more freely and effectively? In other words does freedom from Party politics give you more influence as you work with civil society to make a difference.

These and other issues we will be discussing with Vicki and try to discover is life without the Party a better life.

In this Podcast that we will be offering in partnership with the Enfield Over 50’s Forum. There will be a presentation by and an interview of Tim Dixon

Tim works with IEAGHG that studies and evaluates technologies that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions derived from the use of fossil fuels.

One of these technologies is carbon capture and we will be discussing this with him. Is carbon capture now essential if we are to meet the Paris targets of keeping temperature rises below 1.5% by the end of the century.

And can it be developed fast enough when some scientists are arguing that the 1.5% increase in temperature will happen in the next five to ten years with a trajectory of 4% by the end of the century?

And are the new and developing technologies around carbon capture sufficiently developed yet to ensure they work successfully.

And finally is carbon capture and excuse for not reducing emissions or something that will complement that reduction.

In this Podcast with Charith Gunawardena we will discuss the role of the Councillor and how important it is for Councillors to be free to develop innovative ideas and to engage openly with their communities.

We will talk to him about this and his views on housing, the need to have adequate consultation with communities and the importance of holding Council decision makers to account especially through scrutiny.

In this Podcast we talk to Delia Mattis about racism in the UK and how she attempts to combat it in her own locality in Enfield North London.

Delia is a leading member in her locality of Black Lives Matters which became a global movement after the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police, and which took place on May 25, 2020.

Through her activities in Black Lives Matters and her engagement in local politics Delia has been involved in a number of local campaigns as well as having a national profile.

In this Podcast we talk to Kathleen Kelley about her work in LocalMotion “to support local people to address social, environmental and economic priorities selected and driven locally and derive as much learning as possible from that process”.

The circumstances facing communities and charities across the country are increasingly difficult. The long-term and continuing squeeze on funding to local government and for local services against a backdrop of long-established regional differences, has left charities – themselves resource constrained – increasingly having to pick up the pieces.

Kathleen Kelley is now working with a number of independent funders who have been investing and supporting charities to survive and adapt for a number of years but they know that there is more they should do to support and boost the potential of people and communities, and crucially to do so through a place-based approach.

Kathleen through her work is keen to understand how to be more effective collectively in supporting issues facing communities across the UK and how this might change practice

Kathleen has led the development of the National Lottery Community Fund’s partnership funding approach, establishing strategic partnerships across the charitable, public, private and funder sectors. More recently she was Assistant Director of Communities and Social Policy at Greater London Authority implementing the Mayor’s strategies on Social Integration and Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion. Previously she worked at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for 10 years