Young Jews launch scheme to give ‘summer camp experience’ to refugees

Young British Jews have launched a new youth movement which aims to give those seeking a new life in the UK the equivalent of the ‘summer camp experience.’

The project, called Our Second Home (OSH), will see Jewish teens working with young refugees and asylum seekers in the UK over a four-day camp, with a programme of activities including arts and sports.

Young Jewish volunteers drawn from youth groups, including Noam Masorti, will spend the time with fellow youngsters from places like Afghanistan, Sudan and Albania, running activities. Organisers said it would “train leaders from among the participants themselves to take over during the next three years”.

OSH director Linnet Kaymer said the aim was to create “a relaxed, fun atmosphere and the kind of communal development that make youth movements so powerful”.

Kaymer added that the camp “will help with young refugees’ confidence, independence, and self-development, giving them tangible benefits for their education and later lives… It’ll be an exciting experience, within the ‘home-away-from-home’ setting that only a residential away from the city creates.”

Ahead of the official launch event on 19 April at the Migration Museum Project, OSH founder Amos Schonfield said the project exemplified Jewish values.

“I wouldn’t be who I am without my youth movement,” he said. “By creating the same empowering experiences for refugees and asylum seekers here in the UK, we are working to support the next generation of leaders in these communities.”