Almaz Burgess_LAUNDRESS

Almaz is the owner of the Southbury Laundrette and one of the quiet pillars of the local community. Since arriving in the area in 2003, she has built a space that functions as far more than a business. Southbury Laundrette is a place where people are welcomed, fed, listened to, and recognised. Originally from Ethiopia, Almaz later lived in Egypt, where she found love before eventually settling in Ponders End, which she now calls home. She describes adapting to English humour and sarcasm when she arrived, but language has never been a barrier for her. She has an instinctive ability to understand people regardless of their level of English, and her natural warmth allows her to connect easily across cultures. She often describes herself as someone who blends wherever she goes, making friends not only for herself but also for her shy husband. Her approach to life and work is rooted in her culture. Hospitality, kindness, and conversation are not strategies, but instincts. In Ethiopia, she grew up surrounded by people, animals, and shared labour. Her family farm was green and self-sustaining, with goats, chickens, lambs, fruit, and coffee. Nothing was imported, and abundance came from care and community rather than profit. The laundrette reflects this ethos. Almaz offers tea, coffee, doughnuts, and cake throughout the day. People come not just to wash clothes, but to talk. She met some of her closest friends there, simply because they came in to do their laundry. She saves abandoned clothes and sends them to the Catholic church. She hosts barbecues out back and invites every customer. That spirit of welcome has never changed. Almaz believes loneliness comes from not talking. “If you don’t talk, you are lonely,” she says. For her, the laundrette is a way of giving time, and in return, time is given back to her. Though she values moments alone, she needs people, and they keep her going. She says she will never retire. The laundrette is her home as much as her house.

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.