Inspirational young volunteers honoured at Yoni Jesner awards

The 2026 Yoni Jesner Awards, organised by social action charity GIFT in conjunction with the Yoni Jesner Foundation, welcomed 350 guests to the Arts Depot in north Finchley on 30 June. 

Glaswegian Yoni Jesner was a 19-year old student and youth leader whose life was tragically cut short in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in 2002. The awards were created by his family in his name to ensure his spirit of selflessness and giving lives on, inspiring a new generation of young people to do more.

Year 7 and Year 8 students travelled from as far as Manchester and Brighton to take part, with 15 schools represented on the night.

Gesher special educational school and young people from Brighton and Hove Jewish community attended for the first time, alongside pupils from JFS, JCoSS, Yavneh College (Borehamwood), Yavneh Girls School (Manchester), Hasmonean Boys School, Hasmonean Girls School, City of London School, Immanuel College, Henrietta Barnett, Haberdashers and North London Collegiate School.

Every student celebrated had completed a minimum of 20 hours of volunteering, with many going further and achieving 50 or even 100 hours. There were 220 award completions and over 6,000 hours volunteered across a wide range of charities and community causes.

Introduced by GIFT’s programme director Shira Joseph, Yoni’s mother, Marsha Gladstone, opened the evening with a deeply moving address about Yoni and the remarkable legacy these awards have inspired. She urged the students in the room not to let this be the end of their volunteering journey, reminding them that the habits of giving they build now can shape who they become.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis spoke of how the family’s response to tragedy has never been one of anger or bitterness, but one of inspiration. A conscious choice to take something devastating and turn it into something positive. The spirit of the evening, he said, was captured in a single phrase: “The joy of giving”.

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Yoni 1000 award, which recognises students who have gone above and beyond, not just completing their hours but making a lasting impact.

This year’s recipients were Kol Tov, a musical group who began their journey through the Yoni Jesner awards in 2012 as The Four Sons. Rather than stopping once they received their certificates, they continued and grew, eventually changing their name to Kol Tov, meaning ‘good voice’ and ‘all good’ in Hebrew, and raising over £100,000 for charity through music.

The award was presented by Zahra Berg, the mayor of Barnet. Wowing the audience with an acapella performance on the night were Asher Levy, Noam Bernstein, Nathan Kelion, Gideon Caplan, Ben Caplan, Shimon Hurst, and Yonah Citron.

Barry Colman, GIFT’s high school manager, has ensured that as part of the programme, Yoni’s story has been shared with more than 1,800 students.

He said: “The atmosphere was one of pride, inspiration and excitement. These young people have given thousands of hours to support the vulnerable and strengthen our community, embodying the values Yoni Jesner lived by. It has been an enormous privilege to work alongside Marsha Gladstone, whose passion and commitment has ensured Yoni’s legacy continues to inspire a new generation.”

The next cohort of Yoni Jesner awards will be launched for students in Year 8 in the 2026 Autumn term.

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