Alexandra Sacker_CARE DIRECTOR

Alexandra is the founder of a relationship-led care-at-home company rooted in Ponders End. Though initially surprised that the council would fund an arts project, she felt honoured to be asked and spoke with seriousness about the responsibility of care, community, and home. She has lived and worked in Ponders End for over a decade and describes it as a deeply multicultural area. This diversity directly shapes how her company operates. Carers are matched to clients not just by availability, but by background, culture, language, and temperament. Familiarity matters. Trust matters. Care, she says, must come from the heart. Alexandra places empathy above formal qualification. She believes she can assess it within minutes of meeting someone, relying on intuition as much as experience. She speaks often about reading people, following hunches, and balancing science with instinct. Not everyone can be a carer, even if most people have cared for a loved one at some point. With each client, a carer gives a part of themselves, and resilience and thick skin are essential. Originally from the mountains of Switzerland, Alexandra speaks about home as the place where memories accumulate rather than a fixed geography. She describes how the fabric of family has changed over time, particularly as people live longer and aging becomes a longer, more complex process. Dementia, she notes, can alter personality, turning familiar people into strangers, which makes continuity of place even more important. Now divorced and living alone, with her two daughters having flown the nest, Alexandra describes having her life back. She draws strength from a support network that includes family, friends, and the wider Ponders End community. She emphasises the importance of familiarity of surroundings, especially for older people, and sees home as a safe haven, the centre of the universe, and a crucial condition for happiness. She speaks about care as an evolving process. Getting older is adapting to change. Homes must adapt too, physically and emotionally, to changing needs. The post-war generation is now being cared for, and questions of dignity, respect, accessibility, and long-term provision are becoming unavoidable. For Alexandra, home sits at the intersection of memory, heart, and death.

This is Southbury Art Trail

‘This Is Southbury Art Trail’ is a new creative placemaking initiative celebrating the Southbury and Ponders End neighbourhood shaped by community, resilience and industry. The new public art trail weaves together 3D portraits, poetry, and local voices to honour Southbury’s identity and bring everyday stories into the public realm.

DYSPLA, an award-winning art studio in Enfield, was commissioned by Enfield Council to deliver this innovative digital art and 3D sculptural project working with 30 community members, to shape this bold new public art trail and offers a wonderful opportunity for local people to come together and shape who they are, where they live and how their work is shaping the area.