The money will help the long-running charity employ two members of staff, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Enfield Caribbean Association (ECA) is hoping to grow and sustain its community activities after receiving over £100,000 in lottery funding.

The small charity, based at Community House in Edmonton, won the grant from The National Lottery Community Fund.

The money will go towards acquiring an office space and employing two members of staff; a charity manager and an administration officer.

ECA chair Oveta McInnis said the funding will help the trustees become more “strategic”.

Currently the charity, which started in 1986, is run completely voluntarily, with six trustees being supported by an army of 25 volunteers.

Oveta said: “We’ll have someone who’s able to do the hard graft so that we as the trustees can be more strategic.

“We knew if we wanted to sustain what we were doing over the long-term and go to the next level we needed funding to do that.”

The charity holds careers talks for young people in schools, events celebrating Black History Month, and runs a luncheon club for the elderly to reduce social isolation.

The charity’s work is also far reaching, helping to raise money for the people affected by Hurricane Beryl which wreaked havoc in parts of the Caribbean over the summer.

Following the successful bid, Oveta said: “Support and donations are always welcome as it enables us to do the things we do for example with the elderly, its running the exercise class and the luncheon club every Friday.

“We can offer greater discounts on the activities so people can attend, with the elderly it’s about reducing social isolation and supporting networking.

“With the young people, it’s going into schools and doing career days, funding professionals to come into the schools and give talks, it’s great to have that.

“Other things we do include helping support our friends in the Caribbean to rebuild their homes after the recent hurricane, which was devastating to places such as Dominica and Carriacou in Grenada.

“Having an office space and two members of staff will make a big difference to us.”

In response to the “fantastic result” trustee Cedric Levy said: “The trustees had to work very hard to secure this funding.

“We are all now incredibly excited about the opportunity for transformational change that this National Lottery funding will provide. We look forward to working with our community and partners to make that change a reality.”

For more information on ECA and to become a volunteer:
Visit Enfield Caribbean Association

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