How Enfield Clubhouse was developed.
Enfield Club House was founded in 2006 and based on the American Clubhouse model which seeks to demonstrate that people with mental health issues can successfully live and work in the community, regardless of the nature or severity of their mental health problems.
The charity was originally based in a house in Winchmore Hill, Enfield, opening for three days a week and provided a range of activities such as cooking, gardening, IT, art and music. Funding from National Lottery, Local Authority and charitable donations helped us to get started for the first three years.
Since 2009, funding has come from its members receiving personalisation budgets and we relocated to Enfield Community House to help keep rental costs down.
Many of our members have been with us from the beginning and we continue to welcome new members as our capacity to provide therapy led activities grows.
Our Achievements
We have supported our members to get set up in local voluntary activities and several have gone on to continue this work in addition to, but independent of, Enfield Club House.
Within Enfield Club House, two of our members are Trustees, one member is a paid admin staff and another, a local potter, is now paid to deliver one of our classes. Two of our members are in paid employment.
2022
May
We were awarded a grant from Meridian waters community fund so that we could pay one of our members, an experienced potter, to deliver classes as an additional therapeutic activity. Maia – Chris has been a member of Enfield clubhouse and contradicts his severe diagnosis by his ability to use clay as a therapeutic expression and a bridge to the art world and wider community.
Chris regularly sells his beautiful pots at Forty hall farmers market and various other markets in London.
The funded ”Clay Field” will allow other members from Enfield clubhouse 1st hand experience of this therapeutic gain.
Our community allotment became official and is signed off by the Allotment Committee! We are thinking about ways in which we would like to use our produce that will help us connect with other people and organisations in the community.
March
We started running an art therapy group on Tuesdays in room 8 of Community House, Fore Street, N9 0PZ
This group has proven to be popular as it offers and opportunity for Art and chat!
We provide a safe community space where everyone is welcome to bring and share difficulties, (especially around isolation and loss due to the pandemic), have a cup of tea, make art and make friends.
Everything is confidential and is kept in the room, trust and respect is key. This group is open to outside members of the community and is helping us link to other organisations who value this service for the support of their members.
2021
September
We started our own community allotment project in Enfield, building a seating area, raised beds, preparing ground and planting produce ready for spring 2022. This gave us something to look forward to and a new outdoor space to be. We benefit from being in nature, learning about food and sharing a healthy lunch, exercise and socialising with other plot holders.
May to December
Thames 21 offered to engage with our members in different locations throughout Enfield.
We started 'Volunteering on Fridays' with the Thames 21 Waterways project in Enfield Town Park.
field. Many of the activities entailed clearing streams, cutting back overgrown vegetation, and clearing ponds.
All of the activities have a strong emphasis on maintaining environmental awareness.
April
We set up a community allotment in Edmonton for a local National Lottery Funded, resident led Big Local project. With the help of a volunteer lead we cleared and dug over the land, built a communal seating area and successfully grew produce.
We were extremely proud to be able to donate some of our produce to The Pantry, a local food scheme, and star in a feature article in the local newspaper, Enfield Dispatch.
Working at the allotment was one of the first time many of our members had socialised in a year, since the first Covid lock down. This project gave us opportunity for exercise, socialising in a safe socially distanced environment as access to our ClubHouse base was still off limits.
2020
During lock down we secured a grant which allowed for each member to receive a digital tablet and deliver some one-to-one training with those already familiar with online technology. We helped them grasp the new Zoom concept, thus opening up the ability to socialise in our new digital world, particularly as we did not have access to our base during this period.
Key staff appointments: Dan Croker was employed as Club House admin and Chris and Dan join as trustees.
Enfield Club House was founded in 2006 and based on the American Clubhouse model which seeks to demonstrate that people with mental health issues can successfully live and work in the community, regardless of the nature or severity of their mental health problems.
The charity was originally based in a house in Winchmore Hill, Enfield, opening for three days a week and provided a range of activities such as cooking, gardening, IT, art and music. Funding from National Lottery, Local Authority and charitable donations helped us to get started for the first three years.
Since 2009, funding has come from its members receiving personalisation budgets and we relocated to Enfield Community House to help keep rental costs down.
Many of our members have been with us from the beginning and we continue to welcome new members as our capacity to provide therapy led activities grows.
Our Achievements
We have supported our members to get set up in local voluntary activities and several have gone on to continue this work in addition to, but independent of, Enfield Club House.
Within Enfield Club House, two of our members are Trustees, one member is a paid admin staff and another, a local potter, is now paid to deliver one of our classes. Two of our members are in paid employment.
2022
May
We were awarded a grant from Meridian waters community fund so that we could pay one of our members, an experienced potter, to deliver classes as an additional therapeutic activity. Maia – Chris has been a member of Enfield clubhouse and contradicts his severe diagnosis by his ability to use clay as a therapeutic expression and a bridge to the art world and wider community.
Chris regularly sells his beautiful pots at Forty hall farmers market and various other markets in London.
The funded ”Clay Field” will allow other members from Enfield clubhouse 1st hand experience of this therapeutic gain.
Our community allotment became official and is signed off by the Allotment Committee! We are thinking about ways in which we would like to use our produce that will help us connect with other people and organisations in the community.
March
We started running an art therapy group on Tuesdays in room 8 of Community House, Fore Street, N9 0PZ
This group has proven to be popular as it offers and opportunity for Art and chat!
We provide a safe community space where everyone is welcome to bring and share difficulties, (especially around isolation and loss due to the pandemic), have a cup of tea, make art and make friends.
Everything is confidential and is kept in the room, trust and respect is key. This group is open to outside members of the community and is helping us link to other organisations who value this service for the support of their members.
2021
September
We started our own community allotment project in Enfield, building a seating area, raised beds, preparing ground and planting produce ready for spring 2022. This gave us something to look forward to and a new outdoor space to be. We benefit from being in nature, learning about food and sharing a healthy lunch, exercise and socialising with other plot holders.
May to December
Thames 21 offered to engage with our members in different locations throughout Enfield.
We started 'Volunteering on Fridays' with the Thames 21 Waterways project in Enfield Town Park.
field. Many of the activities entailed clearing streams, cutting back overgrown vegetation, and clearing ponds.
All of the activities have a strong emphasis on maintaining environmental awareness.
April
We set up a community allotment in Edmonton for a local National Lottery Funded, resident led Big Local project. With the help of a volunteer lead we cleared and dug over the land, built a communal seating area and successfully grew produce.
We were extremely proud to be able to donate some of our produce to The Pantry, a local food scheme, and star in a feature article in the local newspaper, Enfield Dispatch.
Working at the allotment was one of the first time many of our members had socialised in a year, since the first Covid lock down. This project gave us opportunity for exercise, socialising in a safe socially distanced environment as access to our ClubHouse base was still off limits.
2020
During lock down we secured a grant which allowed for each member to receive a digital tablet and deliver some one-to-one training with those already familiar with online technology. We helped them grasp the new Zoom concept, thus opening up the ability to socialise in our new digital world, particularly as we did not have access to our base during this period.
Key staff appointments: Dan Croker was employed as Club House admin and Chris and Dan join as trustees.