Community-news roundup!
Community-News Roundup! Email your story to community@thejngroup.com
Sun, sand and Simcha!
Camp Simcha’s summer scheme, Keshet, kicked-off its first fortnight with a host of activities, including a trip to a lego workshop and games at JW3’s beach.
Camp Simcha UK chief executive Neville Goldschneider said: “For some of the children we support, the summer can be long and boring – and stressful for their mothers and fathers. The Keshet days are a massive boost to them and to their parents.”
Norwood residents are bowed over
A GROUP OF residents from Norwood were bowled over when they got the chance to take part in a cricket taster session at Wokingham Cricket Club. The session was delivered by two of the club’s coaches and included catching, bowling and batting practice. The session was run as part of Norwood’s Sports England funded project Change the Game, which aims to give people with learning disabilities more opportunities to take part in sports, as well as a chance to get fit and healthy. Andrea Ford, Sports Manager at Norwood said: “Wokingham is one of our local cricket clubs, so we were delighted when they offered to run this session for the people we support. Everyone had a brilliant morning, even those who were new to the game.”
LSJS ‘entering another world’
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis was on hand to officially open the “The Marc Weinberg Community Library” at the London School of Jewish Studies. Renamed in honour of a former trustee who died of Leukaemia aged just 35, Mirvis invited the community to “come and use this amazing resource”, which contains the largest collection of Jewish books in the UK. It is designed to be one of British Jewry’s most significant resources, incorporating the historic Jews’ College Collection with more than 70,000 volumes of Judaica and Hebraica. Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, Dean of LSJS, said: “We wanted the library to be for young and old, so we built a ‘film studio’. The Discovery Studio is a fully immersive educational environment for children to experience books coming to life. It’s like entering another world.”
IDI tripping the young fantastic
The Israeli Dance Institute held its second Early Year’s Dance Festival, as 350 children from Reception and Years 1 & 2 enjoyed a one-and-a-half hour dance programme, called “Israel – hamishpacha sheli” (Israel – my family), which is devised for younger children by the IDI. The Lee Valley athletics centre hosted pupils from Kerem, Rosh Pinah, Independent Jewish Day, Alma Primary, Eden Primary, Hasmonean Preparatory and Mathilda Marks Kennedy Schools for what is one of the IDI’s educational pillars, which serves to promote a different image of Israel through its performing troupes.
Sydmar lodge has some oomph!
Sydmar Lodge care home in Edgware has launched Oomph! A series of exercise classes for their residents, which promotes health, wellbeing and happiness through a programme of inclusive physical activity, it also offers them a wide-range of health benefits.
Sydmar Lodge activities co-ordinator Robert Speker said: “The Oomph! exercise classes have a very positive effect on the staff and residents at Sydmar Lodge, with everyone having a great time. We look forward to running more sessions in the future.”
US gifts some much-needed nosh
Charity GIFT and the United Synagogue’s Project Chesed marked the third anniversary of their partnership by organising a food collection day across London. Under the GIFT US Food banner, 18 US communities collected much-needed food for local Jewish families needing assistance. Collections were also made at two schools, Mathilda Marks Kennedy and Etz Chaim. 
Collecting £5,000 worth of food, which will be distributed to almost 2,000 people across London, Michelle Minsky, head of US Chesed said: “We know that times are tough right now and we will continue to do all that we can to help people who are in need.” Michelle Barnett, director of GIFT said: “It was heart-warming to see how many volunteers turned out in support of this joint initiative.”
Kisharon cyclists raise £5,000
Eight cyclists raised more than £5,000 for Kisharon, when they took part in the 100-mile Prudential London to Surrey ride. Edward Levey finished first in a time of 4:50:58, and was followed by Ashley Fulton, Lawrence Whitefield, Mendy Freundlich, Simon Selouk, Alex Schajer, Leon Angel and Russell Tenzer. Money they raised will go towards Kisharon’s services for children and adults with learning disabilities. Kisharon chief executive Dr Beverley Jacobson said: “What a feat! I’m so proud of you all.”
Week in pictures
Forty young professionals enjoyed a whisky tasting evening at the Hendon Synagogue, Raleigh Close. The evening raised more than £1,600 for vital search and rescue equipment for Israel-based ZAKA volunteers.
Members of the 4th Hendon Brownies show off balloon butterflies they made in a session with Verona Chard of the Musical Balloon Band.
Year two Beit Shvidler pupils received their new chumashim and siddurim at their Simchat HaChumash celebration, where they displayed their knowledge to parents in preparation for learning chumash in Year Three.
André Grossman has been awarded a Long Service Award and Emblem for more than 50 years’ continued service as a Group Scout Leader, initially with the 41st Hackney Scout Group in Stamford Hill and subsequently the 19th Southgate Scout Group.
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.
