Jewish refugees and Mitzvah Day volunteers knit blankets for the homeless

Jewish refugees including Holocaust survivors have been knitting the squares that form the blankets for homeless people in Manchester, as temperatures around the UK plummet to below zero.

Members of the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) together with volunteers for Jewish charity Mitzvah Day got busy ahead of the blankets’ distribution to homeless charity Street Treats in the north-west of England on Saturday night.

AJR’s head of volunteer services Fran Horwich thanked the knitters, adding: “It is so good to see our beautiful blankets going to people who will not only appreciate the love that went into creating them, but also enjoy the extra warmth they will provide.”

It is the latest in a series of similar social impact initiatives by Jewish charities. Last month, Jewish teens from dozens of schools collected, sorted, and packed a huge collection of winter clothes for homeless shelters and food banks in Barnet and Camden.

The event took place at the ImpACT Youth Community Kitchen, alongside TikTok rap star Formz, where volunteers from schools such as Immanuel College also washed and chopped vegetables to make hundreds of portions of soup for shelters.

It brought together charities such as Crisis, Centrepoint, Goods 4 Good, and Barnet Together.