Before moving back to Australia next month, former Y-UJIA fundraising committee chair Laurence Marshbaum wanted to stage a final charitable event for UJIA.

So together with friends Sara Simmonds and Sarah Sopher, the 30-year-old put on a cocktails and canapés event at Mortons private members' club in Mayfair. They raised £13,000 in the run-up and a further £2,000 on the night from the 60 guests. The money will fund a faculty room at the UJIA-supported Tel Hai Academic College, near the border town of Kiryat Shmona.

The college is acknowledged as a centre of academic excellence and is the largest employer in the Upper Galil.