Elizabeth Thompson_COMMUNITY WORKER

Elizabeth Thompson is a community facilitator who’s spent the last decade building spaces where women can speak, be heard and be themselves. Her connection to Ponders End began in 2014 through a small keep-fit community group, and grew into deeper community development work with Ponders End Community Development Trust, first as a volunteer and then as staff. She now runs Sisters in Mind out of The Qube on High Street Ponders End: a women-led group designed as a safe, confidential place for women to express how they feel without stigma. Elizabeth believes many women, especially those shaped by older expectations and restrictive cultural roles, have been trained into silence. Her group counters that by offering tools, structure, and opportunities to rebuild confidence. Sessions include circle time where each woman can name where she is emotionally, supported by the group, and signposted towards help where needed. The impact of her work is visible: she’s watched women arrive in tears and gradually find enough safety to speak, lead sessions, and carry that confidence back into their homes and families. She’s clear-eyed about Ponders End itself. She describes the street atmosphere as gloomy and male-dominated, with cultures often existing side-by-side rather than mixing. In response, she’s shifted away from tokenistic celebrations and instead runs extended cultural sharing, where women talk about their countries, food, flags, and faith, with the hope that acceptance filters outward. Elizabeth’s power comes from experience: growing up with a mother who lacked voice, learning to name injustice, and becoming even more outspoken as she aged. As a mother of two sons, she challenged schools directly when needed, determined her children would not be stepped over by stereotypes. Her message to young people is steady: learn who you are, know your history, value yourself beyond appearances, and practise your voice until it feels like it belongs to you.

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.