More than £1million raised at World Jewish Relief dinner

London’s Guildhall played host to 400 guests at the annual World Jewish Relief fundraising dinner on Monday evening, raising more than £1 million in the process.

Diners heard BBC News presenter Emily Maitlis explain how cyclists who rode 600 miles from Berlin to London for the anniversary of the Kindertransport raised more than £200,000 for the charity, whose predecessor organisation led the 1938-9 rescue efforts.

Jonathan Ornstein, director of the JCC Krakow, described the resurgence of Jewish life in a city devastated by the Holocaust, the centre having become “primary caregiver for more than 60 Holocaust survivors living in Krakow” but also “a hub for young Poles discovering their Judaism”.

The charity helps Jews and non-Jews across the world, with a focus on poor Jewish families in Eastern Europe, where it pays for home repairs, medicine, social networking and employment support.

WJR chair Dan Rosenfield said: “Celebrating our achievements is not enough. We will not be satisfied. We will instead be inspired to do more, to do better. We must and we will commit to finish the job we started, never to rest until we eradicate Jewish poverty for good.”