The JC's own Mitzvah Day project was completed on Monday as staff visited the Gift charity's Hendon warehouse to help pack barely worn footwear for its Step Up scheme.

Through Step Up - the brainchild of Hasmonean pupil Noah Rubin, 14 - almost 3,500 pairs of shoes have been cleaned and distributed to refugees in countries as far afield as Kurdistan, asylum seekers and those in London homeless shelters. Step Up's Maxine Elias said: "The great thing about Mitzvah Day is that it gives an opportunity to lots of people who don't have access to volunteering. We encourage the volunteers to tag shoes with a message for the recipients so they know where they have been sent from."

Noah Rubin said he had wanted to do a charity project for his barmitzvah - "and something that not many people have done.

"Shoes are a basic need and it makes me feel proud to know that so many people are taking part."