‘Tea-cember’ campaign to help infertile Jewish couples

A charity working with Jewish couples in the UK who are struggling to conceive has said its forthcoming Tea-cember fundraising campaign next month should help others understand the difficulties infertility can cause.

Chana’s initiative follows National Infertility Awareness Week earlier this month, in which public figures shared the own stories in the hope of breaking long-standing stigmas.

Now in its fifth year, organisers said Tea-cember “started off as a nice social idea, to gather friends for a tea party in someone’s home,” but that it had seen huge growth, after an outpouring of public and communal support.

Last year, more than 2,500 people took part in 133 events, raising £53,000 for the charity, where bosses said one in six Jewish couples face problems, commensurate with the national average.

“The money raised last year was superb, but the awareness for couples struggling with infertility was priceless,” said Chana project manager Louisa Goott, noting that there were events as far away as Antwerp and Gibraltar.

“Tea-cember is all about bringing people together over a cup of tea and a piece of cake to do whatever we can to help couples with fertility issues have the families they long for.”

Anyone considering opening their home to host an event can contact the organisation for an information pack.