Community
Star volunteers enjoy their night in spotlight
Gift, Jewish Women's Aid and World Jewish Relief supporters won key Jewish Volunteering Network awards
December 13, 2019 12:15
Gift, Jewish Women's Aid and World Jewish Relief supporters won key Jewish Volunteering Network awards
December 13, 2019 12:15A light was shone on the work of the community’s unsung heroes at the Jewish Volunteering Network’s annual awards.
More than 250 people, representing 42 charities, attended the ceremony at Allianz Park, Barnet, at which 50 trophies were presented.
The outstanding volunteer award went to Dimitri Raziev, who has run the Gift charity’s tutoring club for seven years. He was praised by Gift founding director Michelle Barnett as “a truly inspirational giver”.
The outstanding team award was presented to the volunteers who operate the Jewish Women’s Aid helpline.
JWA chief executive Naomi Dickson paid tribute to the “amazing group of 50 women who volunteer regularly and are the first point of contact for women experiencing domestic abuse who have nowhere else to turn.
“They and their predecessors have kept the helpline running for almost 30 years, supporting thousands of women.”
The overall lifetime achievement prize recipient was Vienna-born Harry Heber, a former optician and Kindertransport refugee who has provided more than 60,000 prescription glasses to vulnerable Jews across the globe via World Jewish Relief.
WJR estimates that Mr Heber has devoted some 8,500 hours to the project over the past 20 years. He has persuaded suppliers to donate frames and lenses.
He sees it as a way of giving back to the organisation which helped bring him to Britain (WJR was then known as the Central British Fund).
But beyond that, “it gives great satisfaction to know you’re helping people in a much worse situation”.
Hosting the night, journalist and broadcaster Samantha Simmonds recalled her childhood introduction to volunteering in Leeds through JYVS (the Jewish Youth Voluntary Service).
Reflecting on the ceremony, JVN chief executive Nicky Goldman said: “It’s important to fully understand the power of volunteering. Volunteering makes people happy and is an essential part of the Jewish and wider community.
“We are truly grateful for the contribution all volunteers and volunteer teams make for their charities.”
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