Love is in the Air at the Willow

	Love was certainly in the air last night, as over 100 public spirited individuals gathered together at the Willow Restaurant in Southgate to celebrate Valentines, and raise money for the wonderful North London Hospice.  The evening was a tremendous success, not just in terms of money raised, but also in terms of the relationships that blossomed and bloomed as the evening progressed. The host Dani Frangimore of Sprint Printers and Stationers was overwhelmed by how well the evening went off and by the generosity of the businesses that supported her efforts. Signature Sounds were responsible for the banging tunes that got people on the dance floor as soon as they were able, and the venue was enhanced by the beautiful cupcakes from Cakes by Soulla and the ballons supplied & set up by Sabella Floral Designs. My photographs from the evening can be viewed here, or on facebook here (guests, don't forget to "tag" yourselves so that your friends and family can see how fierce you all looked last night!). As a further fund-raiser, full sized image downloads can be purchased from Daniel Davies Photography for only £10, with all proceeds going to the North London Hospice. There really were so many photo opportunities for me last night, I had an absolute blast photographing such a friendly bunch.    Thank you from me to everyone who made my job so easy. Dan P.s. Don't forget that this is the place to promote anyone or anything who helps make Enfield such a fantastic place to live and work.   There's no charge(!) so if you know of someone, then please put me in touch with them; just add a comment in the space below and I'll get on to it.  I'd love to help them!

Dani is the Valentines Queen!

What with today being the centre of everything romantic, it seemed that today was the perfect time to photograph Dani Gavriel, who not content with her hard work for Sprint Stationers, is also up to her eyeballs in final preparations for Sunday's Valentines Ball at the Willow restaurant in Southgate.

The ball will be raising funds for the wonderful North London Hospice.  It should be a great night, what with the Willows' lovely food and sophisticated ambiance and the always excellent music provided by the guys at Signature Sounds.  I personally can't wait to tuck into the towers of red & black cupcakes that Cakes by Soulla will be setting out (if you're coming, don't be late or they might all be gone!).

I asked Dani why she put herself forward for all this work, and she explained that her family had had a private fundraising event for her 25th birthday, raising money rather than passing gifts and that this had inspired her to put on something on a more public level.  Dani had personal experience of the tireless efforts of the hospice, and so thought they'd be the perfect charity to raise money for.

So earlier today I popped down to Sprint's busy Oakwood branch, where I found a small space in amongst their extensive stock.   We found an appropriate cup and saucer from Sprint's wide range of valentines gifts, and sat down to take this lovely portrait:






Unfortunately, it's too late for you to purchase any more tickets for Friday's ball, but there are still opportunities for people or businesses to offer prizes to be given out on the night - what a great piece of positive PR that could be!   You can also make a donation to the hospice via this direct link.

I hope to see everyone this Sunday & be ready, I'll have my camera!

Dan

Cathy Underwood - Expanding the boundaries of yoga in Enfield and beyond

As regular readers will know, the We Love Enfield Photo Blog is constantly on the lookout for people who are just doing that little bit extra, and using their skills to put something into the mix that helps make Enfield such a great place to be.    One such person is the wonderful Cathy Underwood, who has expanded her yoga teaching business Yoga4Mums in a number of great directions.

Last night I went to Merryhills Primary School, one of a couple of venues that Cathy teaches from in order to help raise funds for local schools (the other being Forty Hill School), but what really inspired me to want to make a portrait of Cathy was the work she's doing under the "Yoga4Care" banner.

Cathy is committed to extending the reach of Yoga throughout the community and Yoga4Care provides classes for special needs and learning disabled, mental health and all other vulnerable groups.     Cathy says; "Yoga is an exercise that is suitable for all age groups and abilities.  Our teachers are trained in all areas of special needs and mental health with a sensitive and practical approach and we tailor classes to small groups and individual needs."

Equally importantly, Yoga4Care also provides classes for those caring for people with special needs.  Again, it's over to Cathy for an explanation;   "We appreciate the dedicated attention and care that carers, parents and families provide each day.  Therefore, we have devised a simple yoga programme that can help relieve physical and mental stress and replenish energy."

Cathy can be contacted on 07957 272066 or via her twitter feed @Yoga4Mums.    

We salute you!

Dan P.S. Do you know of anyone who we should be featuring on the We Love Enfield Photo Blog?   Fill out the comments form below if you know of anyone or anything deserving of a feature.