OPINION: A morning in the life of the people who make Jewish Care feel like home
New chair Marcus Sperber joined frontline care staff to see for himself the work they do daily to support residents
We enter the new financial year facing additional financial burdens on an already stretched charity and social care sector. The 1.2% rise in employers’ NI and the lowering of the NI threshold in the Budget add a massive £1.1 million to Jewish Care’s annual wage bill. Many of our care home residents are funded by already financially squeezed local authorities, and we need to find ways to bridge the gap to meet the true cost of care.
Despite these financial pressures, I’m proud that we continue to align our pay with the London Living Wage to retain and reward the exceptional people who make our work possible. I spent a morning on the frontline with some of them to see our critical work in action at Jewish Care’s Otto Schiff care home for people living with dementia at the Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus.
Representing 54 nationalities of all faiths and none, 550 of our 1300-strong workforce are frontline care staff. They have a shared purpose – to ensure we give people in our community the care, dignity, and respect they deserve within a Jewish environment.
I’m excited and ready to pick up my uniform from Registered Manager, Kemi Ariba at 7.30AM. On the way to the morning handover meeting, I stop to talk to one of the care team who is starting her day. She tells me that she is going to the funeral of a gentleman she cared for over the past six years. He didn’t have family and she was clearly saddened by the loss, however expressed this as an important part of her everyday role in providing compassionate care.
We join Allan, Sonia, Maria, Leezette and Kemi and as I listen to their handover. I feel a deep sense of pride and responsibility in being involved with this vital part of our work. It is clear that the team holds decades of experience and expertise in providing 24/7 professional care as they share essential information about each resident’s wellbeing and holistic needs with warmth and clear clinical insight.
We move up to the care home floor. There is a calm atmosphere and I’m surprised to see many residents already up and dressed by 8.30am, taking great pride in their appearance, some of them looking as if they could be ready for shul on Shabbat.
The staff are like family to the residents, enabling them to feel safe and cared for, with personalised preferences catered for; knowing who likes a bit more butter on their toast or a bit more jam. They bring calm, positive energy and a sense of humour with their care along with a real passion for their work.
I am greeted by some of the residents with warmth and curiosity as I assist with making breakfast. I chat with Doreen Reindorp, 97, a great-grandma who worked in Salford as a seamstress and a shop assistant. She says she loved chatting with customers, which is evident as she‘s a wonderful conversationalist with a great sense of humour.
Betty Escane, 92, who was evacuated to Cornwall went to school in St Austell where I often go for holidays and we compare notes. She worked in women’s wear in a London department store before being a full-time mum, proudly sharing that her late husband worked in the film industry. Her son, Mark, calls to say good morning and to check in with his mum.
Rabbi Junik, our pastoral and spiritual lead comes to make a pastoral visit to the residents, creating another ripple of positivity.
I chat with Marjorie Don, 94, the scales of justice on her door refer to her being a qualified at the Bar before raising three daughters, later becoming a lay Magistrate and full-time Chair of industrial tribunals in London, then travelling the world with her late husband to visit her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The people I meet rejuvenate me and my experience instills an even stronger conviction of the urgent need to continue to provide this essential Jewish care for our community.
- Marcus Sperber, Chair, Jewish Care
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