Vote for the Bridge to Israel community organiser award
The inaugural MDA UK Bridge to Israel Awards will be held on Monday 27 April 2026 - and Jewish News readers have the chance to vote for the recipient in one of the categories
Jewish News readers have the chance to vote for the recipient of the community organiser award at the inaugural MDA UK Bridge to Israel awards being held in April, with six worthy nominees to choose from.
As the name of the award suggests, the prize in this category will be awarded to “an individual, organisation or projects for organising the community to build bridges with Israel.”
Read about the different nominees, then click on the link at the end of the article, which will take you to a page where you can have your say on which of the six should win.
1) Borehamwood Vigil
In the days following the events of 7 October, Eddie and Ronit Hammerman, along with Josh Moont and Lara Lipsey of Borehamwood & Elstree United Synagogue, founded the Borehamwood Vigil. Every Friday for two years, the Borehamwood Vigil assembled in Borehamwood town centre — come rain or shine. Those present held shoes, posters and orange balloons to represent those murdered and taken hostage. Among them, week after week, were Mike and Lisa Marlowe — parents of Jake Marlowe, who was murdered at the Nova festival while rescuing fellow festivalgoers. For many in the community, the weekly gathering became a point of connection and comfort at an extraordinarily painful time.
The vigil was broadcast internationally, attended by the Chief Rabbi, and became a model of visible, sustained communal solidarity — continuing without interruption until the return of the last hostage. The organisers also welcomed representatives from MDA to speak to the assembled community about the vital humanitarian support MDA was providing in Israel. The team have since launched Voices of the Vigil, a monthly event continuing to support Israel and the Jewish community. As the Chief Rabbi said: “I have no doubt that in the annals of the Jews of this country, special mention will be made of this Friday vigil as an example of British Jewry at its finest.”
2) Birthright
Taglit-Birthright Israel has for over two decades brought young Jewish people from across the world to Israel on free ten-day educational trips, fostering a connection between diaspora communities and the Jewish state.
After briefly suspending its programme following the 7 October attacks, it resumed trips in January 2024 — bringing more than 43,000 participants from around the world, including young British Jews, on its various programmes in the period since. At a time of rising antisemitism on campuses and growing pressure on Jewish students to distance themselves from Israel, that decision to continue sustained a vital bridge at a moment when it mattered most.
Birthright’s recent partnership with MDA UK has also seen it break new ground. By powering MDA UK’s January 2026 Volunteering Mission — and opening that trip to participants of any background aged 18 and over — Birthright enabled a broader cross-section of people to experience MDA’s lifesaving work in Israel firsthand, creating a new generation of advocates who might otherwise never have had such an opportunity.
3) Maurice Stone
Maurice Stone founded the Israeli Dance Institute in 1979 and has spent the decades since building it into one of the most distinctive vehicles for bringing Israeli culture through dance to people across the UK and beyond. Each year, the IDI’s festival brings together some 1,500 children from Jewish schools across the country, while its performing groups take Israeli dance into both community and interfaith settings.
At the heart of the IDI’s work is the Machol Europa summer course, which trains teachers and youth leaders from Jewish communities around the world — including in the Baltic States, Ukraine, Turkey, Romania, Cuba and several South American countries. For communities that are isolated or under pressure, that work of keeping a live connection with Israel and strengthening Jewish identity has taken on renewed significance since 7 October 2023.
4) Cynthia Hollinsworth
As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Cynthia Hollinsworth has channelled her personal history into a lifetime of community action in Cornwall. For many years she has been at the forefront of Holocaust education across the county — visiting schools, speaking at public events and working alongside faith leaders, Christian churches and interfaith organisations to ensure that the stories of survivors are remembered and understood by younger generations.
In a part of the UK with a tiny Jewish community, this work has required both dedication and creativity. Since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, Cynthia mobilised that same network of Jewish and Christian friends and allies in a remarkable show of solidarity. In towns across Cornwall — from Truro to St Ives — small groups have gathered regularly, sometimes on windswept beaches or in public squares, holding photographs of the hostages still held in Gaza, determined that they should not be forgotten. She has also spoken on radio and television to raise awareness of those taken captive and the families left behind.
Among the most moving moments of these vigils was the involvement of a 93-year-old local woman who, week after week, held a poster of hostage Matan Angrest. Photographs of her standing in solidarity from the far south-west of Britain were sent to his mother in Israel — a small act of compassion from a remote corner of the country that created a powerful human connection and offered real comfort to his family.
Cynthia is also founder of Cornwall Friends of Israel, which grew from a WhatsApp group into a network for advocacy and solidarity. She has been nominated by a number of individuals for her determined and deeply personal commitment to community organising.
5) Brighton Vigil (Heidi Bachram and Adam Ma’anit)
Heidi Bachram and Adam Ma’anit founded Brighton’s Yellow Ribbon Campaign in the immediate aftermath of the 7th October attacks. For Adam, the attacks were deeply personal. His niece Maayan, aged 18, was murdered by Hamas in her home on Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and her father — Adam’s cousin Tsachi — was taken hostage into Gaza.
From November 2023, they worked tirelessly to keep the hostages in the public eye — organising a daily vigil and public memorial in Palmeira Square, believed to be the only daily vigil of its kind in the UK. The memorial was subjected to more than fifty acts of vandalism and completely destroyed on five separate occasions; each time, they rebuilt it. Among other awareness-raising events, including projecting photos of the hostages onto the Brighton cliffs, the vigil continued until the last hostage was home.
For many in Brighton’s Jewish community, what Heidi and Adam built was more than a vigil — it was a point of unity and connection, maintained over two years at considerable personal cost. MDA UK is proud to recognise that dedication tonight.
6) Ricki Stone
When the news broke on 7 October 2023, Ricki Stone’s response was to act. Taking two months of unpaid leave from work, she flew to Israel to volunteer and kept busy from morning to night doing whatever was needed to support those affected by the attacks.
Back in the UK, she has continued that commitment through fundraising for MDA UK — running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in 2024 and now training for the London Marathon, pushing herself physically to do her bit. To date she has raised over £10,000 for MDA UK. Those who know Ricki testify to her commitment to supporting her community and her incredible efforts for the people of Israel.
For your chance to vote for the winner of this award category, click here:
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