Community news roundup: 21st-27th March
This week’s community news roundup. Got a story to share? Email your news and photos to community@thejngroup.com
Fancy dress walk in the sun
Immanuel College held its annual sponsored walk in Cassiobury Park, Watford. Students and teachers wore fancy dress, with money being raised for a training suite for Magen David Adom volunteers in Israel, some of whom came to the school to address the students. Mrs Amdurer, the Middle School’s deputy head, said: “Charity work plays a large part in College communal life and the walk was a memorable team-building experience. Everyone had a wonderful time, spirits were high and the sun shone.”
News in Brief:
- A special shabbat
The London Cantorial Singers gave a special pre-Shabbat performance to members of the Stepney Jewish Community Centre on Friday afternoon. Centre manager Jamie Field said: “They were fantastic, took requests, interacted with the members and sung beautifully non-stop for about an hour. It was a really enjoyable event and members absolutely loved the Shabbat atmosphere. One member asked to wear a yarmulke for the first time in 30 years!”
- Danny Cohen’s World Jewish Relief support
BBC television director Danny Cohen addressed 100 young World Jewish Relief supporters at Google Headquarters in London. Speaking of his support for WJR, he said: “It’s an organisation run by Jews, which supports both Jews and non-Jews and I like that. Being Jewish is an important part of my identity; I went to a Jewish school and keep kosher. At work I have to be objective, so I leave my faith at home.” The event raised more than £3,000 for WJR’s key programmes in the former Soviet Union.
- Marathon No.28 for Edgware runner
Marathon veteran Flora Frank from Edgware completed her 28th race in Jerusalem, in a time of 7:08:55. Running for both Emunah and Norwood, the latter a charity close to her heart as her late brother was a resident at Ravenswood, Norwood’s home for adults with learning disabilities. She said: “It was a great challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. If the signposting had been better and I hadn’t got lost, I’d have finished half an hour earlier!” Nineteen-year-old Natalie Jacobs (inset) raised £3,600 for Kisharon, finishing in a time of 2:23.
- E-traders initiative Specialist learning disability charity
Langdon has launched its E-Traders initiative, which helps people with learning disabilities find employment. Dianne Martin, Langdon’s director of operations, said: “The launch of E-Traders underlines Langdon’s commitment to providing opportunities for people with learning disabilities to learn about the world of work.”
- Kisharon therapies
Kisharon has taken on nine student therapists from Goldsmiths University and the Institute of Integrative Arts and Education, who are gaining work experience by running sessions in art, dance and movement, and integrative arts therapy lessons. Joe Coogan, Kisharon’s director of operations, said: “Our adult service users are benefiting greatly from these therapies, which help them to express themselves more easily while students get the chance to work in a professional setting under expert supervision.”
- Youth swap screens for great outdoors
The stars of Sky Atlantic’s Jews on Bikes. Photo: Eric Schaffer
A group of teenage boys recently took part in Chabad’s annual week-long skiing trip near Fort William in Scotland. Rabbi Moshe Muller, who led the trip, said: “This is an all-in Jewish living experience – for many, a week of eating kosher and enjoying activities through interaction without screens and technology is a unique experience.” Youth from the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation and St John’s Wood Synagogue, spent Shabbat at Gilwell Park campsite in Chingford. Youth director Sam Freeman said: “It was amazing to see our youth so enthusiastic about Shabbat.”
- Jews on Bikes
THE STARS of Sky Atlantics TV’s Jews on Bikes visited Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors Centre. Organiser Richard Adler said: “I wanted fellow bikers to meet members and ask questions about the programme and our ride to remember.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
