Charity helping poverty-stricken Eastern European Jews raises record £18,000

A small charity set up by a Jewish woman in north London to send basic items to Eastern European Jews living on the poverty line has thanked supporters for raising a record £18,000.

Borehamwood-based Goods for Good, founded by Ros Bluestone, managed to raise enough money to send four ten-tonne lorries laden with shoes, clothes, bedding and sanitary towels to countries like Ukraine and Moldova as well as to refugees further afield in places like Kurdistan and Africa.

Individual and corporate supporters attended the fundraising supper for the charity, which sends overstocked goods donated by UK businesses and individuals to vulnerable communities and refugees, with £12 million-worth of goods given so far.

The charity also sends regular containers of aid to Israel. Bluestone said: “Not many members of our community realise the extent of poverty there. Many affected are holocaust survivors, or new immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

“Sadly, Government funding doesn’t cover the children for decent clothes and footwear and they often feel ostracised at school. Being a small, under-funded charity, we struggle to raise the funds for the logistics.”