Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish School crowdfunding campaign raises £350K
The bulk of the amount was raised over a 36-hour period, with parents and staff gathering in the school's main hall to collect donations
A crowdfunding campaign ending today has raised £350,000 for Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish School.
The description for the campaign launched on the online platform Charity Extra at the weekend laments “the combination of overstretched government funding along with an ageing Grade II listed building and tired facilities.”
The bulk of the sum was raised over a 36-hour period, with parents and staff gathering in the school’s main hall on Sunday to collect online donations.
While their parents put in calls, children decorated masks and tried on costumes ahead of Purim, which starts next Monday. Volunteers returned to the school on Monday evening to collect more donations from donors.
A group of donors, most of them anonymous, doubled every pound donated to the campaign.
They included the Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish Primary School Trust, Avril and Jonny Manson, and the group Friends of Mathilda Marks-Kennedy.
The money raised will go towards purchasing new classroom furniture and technology, building mental health and well-being facilities and revamping the playground and school halls.
Caroline Kleinman, a parent who spearheaded fundraising efforts, said: “Seeing everybody all together on Monday night working tirelessly to help support this initiative and watching everyone, the excitement in the room, and the coming together of all the families was a very unique thing to witness.”
“We had quite a lot of alumni that helped us. We had ex members of staff and ex pupils that were helping us with our campaign,” she said.
But she added: “It would be great to reconnect with more alumni. We’ve already started with a Facebook group and a LinkedIn group.”
Dozens of grandparents attended a breakfast at the school on Monday, attended by the Hendon MP Matthew Offord, pictured above, to mark the school’s 60th anniversary.
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.
