The morning started quietly at Pymmes Park VC. Staff were setting up for the day, residents drifted in for support, and the usual rhythm of the centre hummed in the background. Then word spread: the Leader of Enfield Council, Councillor Ergin Erbil, was on his way.
For us at ECP, visits like this aren’t about ceremony — they’re about honesty. And that’s exactly the tone Trevor Blackman, our CEO, wanted to set.
When Councillor Erbil arrived, Trevor greeted him not as a politician, but as someone who needed to hear the real stories of families in Edmonton and Ponders End. They walked through the building together, past the youth hub, the wellbeing rooms, and the spaces where community groups deliver support every week. Trevor explained that these rooms aren’t just services — they’re lifelines.
As they stepped outside into the crisp air of Pymmes Park, Trevor shared a story that stays with many of us.
He talked about a young person who arrives at school exhausted every morning. Not because he stays up late gaming, but because his family were placed in temporary accommodation two hours outside the borough. Every day he wakes before dawn, travels across London, and returns to a home that is overcrowded, unstable — sometimes even rat-infested. And yet, he still tries.
“When housing fails, everything else falls away — education, wellbeing, opportunity. None of it stands up if you don’t have a safe place to sleep.”
Councillor Erbil listened. Not politely — but properly. He asked questions, leaned in, and wanted to understand how deep the issue runs. Trevor was clear: Enfield must push ahead and build on land that isn’t green belt, creating real, affordable homes for local people so families aren’t pushed miles away from their lives.
As they walked, the conversation widened:
about welfare support…
about schools struggling to hold young people who are stretched thin…
about youth opportunities and the pressure on services…
and about how partnership — true partnership — is the only way forward.
Trevor showed him how ECP works alongside local groups across Edmonton and Ponders End, building programmes that respond not to theories, but to lived realities. Councillor Erbil saw how deeply rooted this work is, how connected the teams are to the community, and how much strength sits in the voluntary sector when it is trusted and supported.
By the time they returned to the front of the centre, something had shifted. This wasn’t just a visit. It felt like the start of a renewed commitment — an understanding that Enfield’s challenges need both political will and grassroots honesty.
Trevor smiled as the Leader left.
“It’s good when people see the real Enfield,” he said.
“And even better when they want to help us change it.”
And that’s what today felt like:
A story of two leaders walking the same path — one step at a time — towards a borough where every family has a chance to thrive.